Welcome to this short body scan.
The body scan is typically done in a lying down position,
But can also be done sitting with the feet flat on the floor,
The spine upright,
Or it can also be done standing.
Ask yourself what it is that your body needs right now and what posture is best for you.
And the invitation within this body scan is to be gentle with yourself,
Seeing if you can release all judgments,
And instead offering yourself compassion and curiosity.
And so let's begin by lowering the eyes and turning inward towards the breath.
And perhaps taking two or three slow,
Deep breaths to come into this moment,
Allowing yourself to feel the entire breath from the beginning to the middle to the end.
And then allowing the breath to return to its natural rhythm and just noticing the breath and the sensations of the breath.
And now beginning to notice where is it that you feel the breath the most in the body?
Is it the airflow in and out of the nostrils?
Perhaps it's the chest,
The lungs filling with air and then emptying on the out breath.
Maybe it's the belly inflating and then deflating.
Maybe it's somewhere else in the body and placing all your focus on this place in the body that you feel the breath the most.
And now taking that focus and bringing it all the way down the left leg to the sole of the left foot.
Noticing what sensations are here in the sole of this left foot.
Maybe there's tingling,
Pulsating,
Warmth,
Maybe pain.
Or maybe a lack of sensation.
And seeing if you can notice these sensations without getting caught up in any content of thought.
If thoughts do arise,
You can acknowledge them and be present with them.
Ah,
Thoughts are present.
And then you can intentionally move the attention back to the bottom of the left foot.
And now we'll begin to open our attention to the entire left foot.
Taking note of anything that's present for you.
And you might be pulled away from this experience by sounds,
Thoughts,
Or emotions.
And they might even take you into a story.
And over and over again,
We can see if we can recognize that we've wandered from our present experience and gently guide ourselves back to the present moment.
And right now,
That's having all the focus on the left foot.
And now beginning to move up the body further to the left lower leg,
Exploring anything that's here to explore.
And now opening up to the knee and the left thigh.
Taking time to experiencing all of these areas with curiosity,
As if this is the first time you've ever noticed the left knee and thigh.
And then taking our attention and bringing it all the way down the right leg to the right foot.
And if you have any pain in the body,
You might see what it's like to breathe into it.
Experiment with this.
Letting the pain know that you do see it,
That you know that it's there,
And breathing with it.
You might even send it some compassion.
May I hold this pain with compassion.
And if there's no pain or a pleasant feeling,
Acknowledging this.
Ah,
This is a neutral feeling,
Or maybe it's a pleasant feeling.
And then we'll begin to release the right foot and move up the right leg to the right ankle and the entire lower right leg.
Noticing the muscles,
The skin,
The bone,
Knowing those are all present in this lower right leg.
And now beginning to move up the leg further to the knee,
The right thigh.
Paying attention to what's here for you,
Scanning these areas as an observer of the body.
Bringing kindness and gentleness as we move to the hips,
The buttocks,
The pelvis,
An area of the body we engage with every day,
Whether we know it or not.
And bringing kind attention to these areas.
And now moving this focus up the body to the trunk of the body,
Beginning with the back,
The lower back,
Middle and upper back.
And then the front of the body,
The abdomen,
The ribs,
The chest,
Scanning the sides of the trunk of the body.
What's here for you?
Not trying to have any particular experience,
But just being with what is here now,
Fully present with this trunk of the body.
And now beginning to scan down the left arm to the left hand,
Lowering this hand and the fingers,
And moving up the arm to the wrist,
The lower arm,
The elbow and the upper arm,
Scanning this left arm for any sensations.
And now taking our attention across the body to the right arm and all the way down to the right hand.
You might even notice the temperature of the right hand.
Is it warm or cold?
Or maybe medium?
And now taking this journey up the right arm,
The right wrist,
The forearm,
The elbow and the upper arm.
You might even notice clothing on the arms.
What sensations do you feel in this moment?
Now releasing the right arm and moving up to the neck and the shoulders,
Both places where there can be areas of stored tension,
And noticing what's here for you.
And if there is tension,
You can see if you choose to release this tension,
Knowing that you don't have to do anything.
You can choose to release it or choose to be present with the tension.
You might even label it as pleasant,
Unpleasant or neutral for whatever you might be feeling in the shoulders and the neck.
And now moving up to the jaw,
The chin,
The mouth,
The cheeks,
The nose,
The eyes,
The forehead,
And then including the entire head,
Knowing that our brains are housed in this head.
And now we'll begin to release the focus on the head and open our awareness to the entire body,
Not looking for any sensation,
Allowing sensation to come to us in moment-to-moment awareness.
What do you notice?
Does any area of the body call out to you?
Listening to the wisdom of the body,
Listening to your own wisdom.
We don't need to make anything different than exactly as it is in this moment.
And you might even take a couple moments to send gratitude to the body,
To thank it for what it does do for you every day.
What does it do?
You can even send compassion to the body.
May I hold this body with compassion and kindness and gratitude.
May I hold this body with compassion,
Kindness,
And gratitude.
And now we'll begin to release this body scan and move back to the breath for a couple of moments,
Anchoring to this breath,
Just noticing the rhythm in and out.
And then whenever you're ready,
Gently and without rushing,
You can open the eyes.
And I invite you to stay here for a couple of moments to really take in the experience that you just had and this continuing experience of life.
