Body Scan: Mindfulness

In this meditation, the listener will be guided to scan their entire body, part by part, and enter a state of greater presence and relaxation. The track incorporates peaceful music and helpful guidance to those that hear.

Transcript

During this meditation,

Remember that you are aiming to fall awake,

Not fall asleep.

Allow this to be a nourishing time.

Don't try too hard to relax,

But just let yourself experience the meditation as it happens.

Allowing things to be exactly as you find them.

Letting go of any judgmental or critical thoughts that might arise.

When practicing the body scan,

The key point is to maintain awareness in every moment and awareness of your breath and the sensations in your body,

Region by region,

As you systematically scan the body from your feet to the top of your head.

Let's begin.

Lie down on your back in a comfortable place where you will be warm and undisturbed.

Allowing your eyes to close gently and your arms to be next to your body with the palms facing up.

Allow your legs to gently fall open and allow the body to become heavy and grounded and settled into the earth.

When you are ready,

Bring your awareness to the physical sensations of touch or pressure where your body makes contact with the floor.

On each out breath,

Allowing yourself to sink a little bit deeper.

Taking these few moments to feel your body as a whole from head to toe.

Now,

When you are ready,

Bringing your attention to the belly.

To the rising and falling of your belly with each in breath and out breath.

Not trying to manipulate the breath in any way,

But just letting the breath breathe itself.

Feeling the abdomen expand as the breath comes in and feeling it deflate as the breath goes out.

Noticing the rhythmic movement of your belly as you breathe.

And with each out breath letting go of any thoughts or tension that you might be holding on to and allowing yourself to sink deeper and deeper into the floor.

Bringing your full attention to your breathing and the movement of breath into and out of your body.

Now having connected with the sensations in the abdomen,

Bringing the focus or spotlight of your awareness down the left leg,

Into the left foot and out to the toes of the left foot.

Focus on each of the toes of the left foot in turn.

Bringing a gentle curiosity to investigate the quality of sensations you find.

Perhaps noticing the sense of contact between the toes.

A sense of tingling,

Warmth or maybe no particular sensation at all.

Seeing if you can direct your breath to your toes so that it feels as if you are breathing into your toes and out from your toes.

Imagining the in breath moving down from your nose into your lungs and then continuing through your belly and down the left leg all the way to the toes and then back again and out through the nose.

Now move your attention to the left foot and whatever you notice in this region.

Becoming aware of the sensations in the bottom of your left foot,

The heel and the top of the left foot.

Finding your breath traveling down your left leg to the left foot and then back up your leg and eventually out the nose.

And when you're ready letting go of the left foot.

Really shifting awareness to your left lower leg.

Pay attention to the shin in front and the calf muscles in the back.

Not just the surface but deep into the bones and tissue.

Experiencing your lower leg as it is.

Not trying to make it any different.

And on the next out breath let go of the awareness of the left lower leg.

Gently shifting the attention to the left knee.

Feeling the sensations in your kneecap and the sides and back of your knee and breathing into whatever sensations you find there.

Sensing what's present in this very moment.

With your next out breath letting the knee go and shifting your attention to the left upper leg.

Noticing the sensations present in your thigh.

Letting it be as soft and relaxed as possible.

And letting go of any tension on the out breath.

And now with your next exhalation shifting your attention from the left leg and moving your attention to your right leg and the feelings in the toes of your right foot.

Feeling the sensations in each of your toes.

Noticing the sense of contact between the toes of the right foot.

Bringing a playful curiosity about the quality of the sensations you find.

Perhaps noticing a sense of tingling,

Warmth or coolness.

Or no particular sensation at all.

Now imagining the breath traveling down from your nose,

Through your lungs to your belly,

Down your right leg and to your right foot.

Letting your breath pass out right from your right foot all the way back up to your nose.

Noticing whatever is present here.

And with the out breath letting your right foot dissolve in your minds eye.

And when you are ready just letting go of the sensations in your right foot as you shift your attention.

Becoming aware of your right lower leg.

Noticing the sensations there and breathing in and out of your lower leg,

The calf and the shin.

Noticing if you can detect sensations deeper in the muscle or bone.

Now when you are ready letting go of the right lower leg and bringing your awareness to the right knee.

Experiencing all aspects of the right knee.

The kneecap,

The sides and back of the knee.

Just as it is.

Letting your breath pass in and out of this region,

Noticing any and all sensations.

And then letting go of your knee as you shift your attention to the right thigh and the entire region of your upper leg.

Be as precise as possible about the sensations there.

You might feel a warmth or tingling,

A heaviness or lightness.

Bringing the breath to this region.

And with the out breath letting go of your leg and bringing your attention to the pelvis.

Becoming aware of the entire pelvic region from one hip to the other.

Noticing where your buttocks meets the floor.

The sensations of touch and weight.

Becoming aware of the hips themselves,

Breathing with the entirety of your pelvis.

Letting the pelvis soften and releasing any tension with the breath.

Becoming totally present in each moment and content to just be right here as you are right now.

Breathing in and with your next out breath letting go of the pelvis.

Now shifting your awareness to the lower back as it connects and comes out of the pelvis.

Allow the breath to penetrate and move through this whole region.

Breathing into this area on the in breath and letting go of any tension or tightness on the out breath.

The next exhalation letting this region dissolve in your mind's eye.

Letting go of the lower back and shifting your attention to the upper back.

Feeling the sensations in this region.

You may feel the rib cage expand with each in breath.

You may notice the ribs in the back and in the front going all the way around the spine.

Now,

Returning your attention to the belly.

Experiencing the rising and falling of the belly as you breathe.

Switching your awareness to the chest as well.

Feeling the movement of the diaphragm.

Feeling the chest as it expands and contracts.

The rhythmic beating of your heart within your chest and the lungs expanding on either side of your chest.

Meaning every organ in the body being nourished with oxygenated blood.

And with the next exhalation gently shift your attention to both hands at the same time.

Bringing your awareness to the fingertips.

Feeling the sensations at the tips of your fingers and thumb.

You may feel pulsations of the blood there.

And now expanding your awareness to your whole fingers,

Feeling each one separately.

Allowing your breath to travel out to your fingertips and back again.

And letting your fingers dissolve as you bring your awareness to the palms and the back of your hands and wrists.

Again feeling the sensations there.

Becoming aware of any and all sensations in your hands with openness and curiosity.

Now moving up to the forearms and elbows.

Feeling any and all sensations there.

Directing your breath into and out of this region of your body.

And then shifting your attention to the upper arms.

Becoming aware of your arms all the way up to your armpits and shoulders.

Breathing into this area of your body as you open and relax to whatever you find there.

And with the next exhalation letting go of any tension and shifting your attention to the neck.

The back of the neck,

The spine and the neck region and the throat.

Realizing what it is like to swallow and what it is like to feel the breath in the back of the throat.

Now shifting your awareness to the face.

Bringing your attention to the jaw and chin.

Breathing into this region.

Noticing if your jaw is tight or relaxed.

Noticing the tongue.

Noticing your lips and mouth.

Being aware of your teeth and gums.

The roof of the mouth.

The back of the mouth and throat.

Now shifting awareness to the nose and the breath as it moves in and out of the nostrils.

You might notice coolness or warmth,

A tingling at the tip of the nostrils.

Notice the sensations that are created by the breath as you breathe.

And becoming aware of your eyes,

Noticing the eye bones and the space between your eyes.

Noticing the entire region around the eyes.

Allowing the breath to come up to the eyes.

Breathing into the area of the eyes.

Now bringing awareness to the sides of your head,

Your ears,

Your temples.

Letting this area relax and then dissolve.

And then becoming aware of your forehead.

Breathing into your forehead.

Letting it soften.

If you sense any tension associated with this area,

Just notice it and open to it.

And now breathing with the entirety of the face as if the breath is coming up from underneath.

On the out breath,

Letting the entire face dissolve.

Letting the face relax and be at peace.

Now becoming aware of the back and top of the head.

Breathing into and out of this region.

And focusing on a spot at the top of your head.

The crown.

And imagining that this spot can open up and that you can breathe through the top of your head.

Breathing in and out right through the top of the head.

Letting air and energy move in and out.

And now imagining that you are breathing from the top of the head right through the body and out the bottoms of the feet.

And then breathing in the bottoms of the feet and out through the top of your head.

Allowing the breath to continue to move in this way the entire length of your body in and out.

Experiencing your entire body breathing.

Experiencing your entire body as a whole.

Lying in a state of stillness and deep relaxation.

Seeing yourself as complete and fully awake right now.

Being whole and complete in silence and stillness and in peace.

Now,

Allowing your breath to become a little deeper as you slowly bring your awareness to your external surroundings.

But allowing yourself all the time you want to just be here.

And when you are ready to arise you might begin by wiggling your fingers and toes.

Slowly opening and closing the eyes.

Slowly and gently inviting some easy stretching and body movement.

Allowing this calm wakefulness to go with you as you resume the activities of your life.

And remembering that this state is always accessible to you at any time by simply bringing your attention to the breath and the body.

30 you you

Reviews

Meditation itself is very good, but there are some distracting noises like phone vibration and microphone touch noise.