Body Scan Meditation For Presence

A body scan practice, which can be used lying down or sitting up. To allow you to experience presence through the physical body and focus on each individual body part as I name it. You don't need any additional equipment for this practice, just a quiet place to lie or sit down.

Transcript

Today we're going to bring our awareness and our focused attention to our physical body.

So before we begin,

It's important that you place your body in a position of ease.

Whether that's in a comfortable seated position or whether that is to make yourself comfortable lying down,

But so that we will be able to observe the body without necessarily being distracted by needing to move physically or any uncomfortable physical sensations.

So go ahead and organize your body in a position that feels easy and comfortable and I'll give you a few moments to do that.

So and once you've organized your physical body into a position of ease if there are any last little fidgets or movements that you need to do absolutely feel free to go ahead and do those and should you become uncomfortable it's important to know that you can change position at any time.

Close down your eyes so that we can focus our awareness and our attention on our physicalness so that we're not distracted by things that we can see.

And you may notice that throughout this practice of scanning the body that you may become engaged in thinking or emotions you may find that the mind runs away with a story or a judgment or a narrative about particular experiences you're having or parts of your body and it's important to know that all of that is normal and the invitation today is instead of running deeply down the story path is to come back to an awareness of your physical body and as we scan through each body part we'll bring our awareness or our attention to focus on that particular body part and then with our awareness in that part of the body we'll simply allow that part of the body to relax to release you don't need to physically move you don't need to squeeze anything do anything other than to simply be still and rotate your awareness from body part to body part as I name them and settling yourself into your position of ease and then bringing your awareness to your right big toe to your right second toe to your right middle toe the right fourth toe and the right little toe all of the toes on the right foot the top of the right foot the sole of the right foot the top of the right foot the sole of the right foot your right ankle your entire right foot the right shin the right calf the right knee joint the front of the right thigh the back of the right thigh the inside of the right thigh and the outside of the right thigh the right hip joint your whole right leg your whole right leg what is your experience of your whole right leg as you become more aware of that part of your body simply note it and move your awareness to your right buttock the right side of your pelvis the right side of your lower abdomen the right side of your lower back your right waist the front of the right rib cage the back of the right rib cage the right shoulder blade the right collarbone the whole right side of your torso the whole right side of your torso and as you are aware of the whole right side of your torso what is your experience what do you notice bringing your awareness now to your right thumb your right index finger the right middle finger the right fourth finger and the right little finger the palm of the right hand the back of the right hand the right wrist the right wrist your whole right hand the front of the right forearm the back of the right forearm the right elbow the front of the right upper arm the back of the right upper arm the shoulder joint can you be aware of your whole right arm what is your experience of your whole right arm what is your experience of your whole right arm before bringing your awareness now to the right hand side of your throat the right hand side of your neck the right lower jaw the right upper jaw your right ear the right cheek the right hand side of your nose and your right nostril your right eye the right eyebrow and the right hand side of your forehead the right hand side of the back of your head the right hand side of the top of your head can you expand your awareness to include the whole right side of your body what is your experience of your whole right side bringing your awareness now to your left big toe to the left second toe the left third toe the left fourth toe and the left little toe all of the toes on the left foot the sole of the left foot the top of the left foot the left ankle your whole left foot the front of the left shin the left calf the left knee the front of the left thigh the back of the left thigh the inside of the left thigh the outside of the left thigh the left hip joint be aware of your whole left leg and as you become aware of your whole left leg what is your experience what do you notice and move your awareness to your left buttock the left side of your pelvis the left side of your lower abdomen the left lower back the left waist the front of your left rib cage the back of your left rib cage the left shoulder blade the left collar bone the whole left side of your torso and as you are aware of the whole left side of your torso what do you notice moving your awareness to your left thumb the left index finger left middle finger the left ring finger and the left little finger the palm of the left hand the back of the left hand the left wrist your entire left hand the front of the left forearm the back of the left forearm the left elbow the front of the left upper arm the back of the left upper arm the left shoulder joint and can you be aware of your whole left arm what is your experience of your whole left arm what is your experience of your whole left arm the left hand side of your throat the left hand side of your neck the left lower jaw the left upper jaw the left ear the left cheek the left side of your nose and the left nostril the left eye the left eyebrow the left side of your forehead the left side of the back of your head the left side of the top of your head can you be aware of your whole left side of your body as you are aware of the whole left side of the body what do you notice what is your experience of your left side and can you expand your awareness to include both sides of your body the left and the right side your whole body and as you become aware of your whole body can you experience all of your body all of the physical sensations all of the feeling of your whole body and as you become aware of the whole body can you start to honour all of the parts that make up your whole body letting your awareness rest in the whole body for a few moments more the entirety of your physical being from the top of your head to the tips of your fingers and your toes the entire body of your body from the top of your head to the tips of your fingers and your toes and from this beautifully attentive state of your physical being can you bring the same attention now to deepening your breath to bringing some subtle movements back to the edges of the body perhaps rubbing the thumbs over the fingertips perhaps pointing and flexing at the ankles maybe a big stretch if it's appropriate and then slowly from this physical reawakening as you bring movement to where there was stillness beginning to open your eyes and return into your day with a new appreciation for your whole body

Reviews

Really good body scan