A 30 Minute Body Scan

Body scanning involves paying attention to parts of the body and bodily sensations in a gradual sequence from feet to head. By mentally scanning yourself, you bring awareness to every single part of your body, noticing any aches, pains, tension, or general discomfort.

Transcript

This is a guided body scan meditation.

So taking some time to prepare for the body scan,

Finding a time and a place where you can be by yourself,

With yourself,

And able to give yourself a time of nurturing,

A time of tuning into your experience,

However that is.

And so choosing a place where you can lie down,

If you're happy to lie down,

If you'd rather sit in a chair,

And finding a chair,

And letting people know around you that you wish to be undisturbed,

Perhaps turning the phone off,

Setting up the conditions where you will be able to devote yourself more wholeheartedly to this practice,

And seeing this as a chance to spend some time for you,

Some time on your own,

Attending to experience without needing to get anything right,

Without worrying about getting it wrong.

And although these kinds of judgments may appear in your mind,

Realizing that the body scan is a practice where the task is to simply pay attention,

To notice whatever is arising in the body and the mind,

And to follow the instructions as best you can.

So coming to lie down on a mat or a thick blanket,

On the floor or on the bed if it's not too soft,

Just arranging your body in a way that gives you the most sense of relaxation and comfort.

So you might choose to have the knees bent and the feet flat on the ground.

This can often be a good support for the lower back.

You may want a little bit of extra padding somewhere on your shoulders or under the lower back,

Letting the arms rest side by side or resting on your body.

Letting go of tension where you can.

And if it helps,

Giving some support to the back of the head,

A blanket or a paperback book,

Not too much,

But sufficiently to allow the back of the neck to feel long so the chin isn't pointing upwards.

Making sure you're warm enough.

Perhaps you need a blanket.

Perhaps you need more clothing.

So setting yourself up in this way.

You need not do anything.

Remain sitting at your table and listen.

Just wait.

You need not even wait.

Just become quiet and still and solitary.

And the world will offer itself to you to be unmasked.

It has no choice.

It will roll in ecstasy at your feet.

Now,

Having heard this,

These lines from Franz Kafka.

Starting to take attention to the whole of the back of your body,

If you're lying down.

The contact that your body's making with the floor from the back of the head through the shoulders on the back.

Butteks.

The legs.

The feet.

Starting to tune in.

Starting to move up a little more closely to the feeling of your body here.

Now,

Resting on the ground or sitting in a chair.

And being aware of whatever is presenting itself to you.

Without having to chase any particular experience.

We're not trying to make anything happen.

We're not trying to make ourselves relax.

Although that may happen.

You may fall asleep.

And if you do feel drowsy.

Seeing what effect this has.

Perhaps trying to keep your eyes open some of the time to revitalize your energy.

And of course.

If you get uncomfortable,

Please move.

And in this moment.

At this time.

Making a commitment to stay with the practice right through to the end.

Whatever happens.

It's OK staying with it.

Staying attentive to whatever.

Noticing any urges to stop to get up.

To suddenly make a cup of tea.

To suddenly send an email or do something else.

So just noticing these feelings of impatience.

And knowing that we can feel these impulses and still desire to stay here until the end of the body scan.

Now starting to feel your breathing.

Starting to fill the breath,

Entering the body,

Leaving the body.

Breath coming in through the nose,

Perhaps,

Or the mouth.

The feeling of the air moving from the world outside into your body.

And with every movement,

You can feel as your body responds to each in breath and each out breath.

Letting your breathing be just as it is.

Whether it's deep or shallow,

Fast or slow.

Smooth or rough.

Allowing your breathing to be just as it is.

No need to change anything.

No striving.

Just this breath coming in.

And this breath going out.

And now as we follow an out breath.

Leaving the body.

Moving your attention down your body.

Down into your right leg from the right hip,

The thigh to the knee,

The calf,

The ankle.

All the way down your right foot.

And the contact of your right foot to the ground,

The heel.

All the way out to the ends of your toes.

And if you can,

Bringing this quite detailed particular attention.

To the feeling of your right foot.

The big toe and the little toe.

The toes in between.

Any sense of weight or warmth or tingling or itching.

Any contact with clothing.

The sense of pressure and touch.

How your feet feels with contact on the floor.

Allowing it all to be just as it is.

And if we can feel no particular sensation coming back,

No particular feeling.

And just noticing what that's like.

Okay.

Nothing much here.

Letting that be okay.

Letting that be good enough.

Guiding attention now.

The bottom of the foot.

The top of the foot and the ankle.

The ankle bones,

The ankle joint.

Shifting your attention up into the lower leg from the ankle to the knee,

The calf muscle.

The shin bone.

Perhaps a sense of a muscle hanging.

Contact with clothing.

Temperature.

Tightness in the muscles.

And you may find already that your mind has wandered away many times into the future,

The past.

Planning,

Wiring or scheming.

And that's completely natural.

This is just what our minds do.

And we are not trying to stop this.

But when we notice it,

Starting to train our attention to come back to wherever the guidance is in the body scan.

And in this moment.

Coming back to the lower leg.

Your right leg and your right knee.

The knee joint,

The shape of the knee,

The kneecap.

The back of the knee.

Aware of surfaces.

Skin,

The muscles.

Sensing deep into the joints,

The ligaments.

And then up into the thigh.

The right thigh,

The long thigh bone.

The large thigh muscle wrapping itself around the thigh bone.

And what sensations are here?

Being curious,

Exploring your right thigh.

Whatever's there or not there.

Whatever you're aware of.

Tuning into it.

And moving up the thigh to the hip on the outside,

The groin on the inside.

Being aware now of the whole of the right leg from the hip all the way down the thigh.

The knee,

The calf,

The ankle and the foot itself.

And as you take your next in-breath.

Perhaps playing with the possibility that the breath can travel from the middle of the body.

All the way into the right leg.

All the way through the leg.

As if it was hollow and all the way out to your toes.

So the in-breath moving down the leg.

And all the way out to the toes.

And as you breathe out,

The breath being drawn back up from the toes.

And playing with this if it suits you.

If it doesn't suit you,

That's completely fine.

Just being aware of the whole leg stretching out from the hip.

And then with the next breath out,

Shifting attention across the pelvis.

Taking awareness down the left leg.

At the thigh,

Knee,

The lower leg,

The ankle.

And out to the left foot.

And here just noticing the heel,

The left sole of the foot and the toes,

The big toe.

How is it on this side of the body,

The little toe and the toes in between?

And as much as we can,

Exploring with exquisite detail any and all sensations here.

The spaces between the toes,

Warmth or coolness,

Tingling,

Itchiness.

Contact with the floor.

And again,

Skin against socks or tights.

And again,

Perhaps nothing at all,

That's completely fine.

Just noticing what's here for you in this moment.

And again,

Allowing it all to be just as it is without trying to make it different.

Noticing any judgments,

Thoughts.

It's not okay,

It's not enough,

I'm not feeling enough,

I'm not doing as well as I should be.

Just noticing these thoughts,

These judgments appearing in the mind and coming back to your left foot and any sensations along the bottom of the foot.

And then along the top of the foot,

The ankle.

Ankle joint to the lower leg,

Calf,

The shin.

And if at any time during the body scan you find you're getting overwhelmed or lost or you feel the need to step back from your experience,

Perhaps it's too intense.

It's always completely fine to override what I'm saying.

Coming back to breathing sensations in the centre of your body,

Finding a home there.

Finding a sense of refuge and peace by returning to it any time that you need to.

The breath coming in and the breath going out.

So coming now back to the left leg,

The left knee.

Complicated joint tinge,

Takes us upstairs,

Helps us walk.

Back of the knee,

Sides of the knee.

And then up to the thigh,

The thigh bone,

Thigh muscles.

The shape of the big thigh muscles wrapping around all the way up to the hip area,

The groin on the inside.

And so once again,

Aware of the whole of the left leg and the possibility of the breath travelling down the whole length of the leg,

Hip to the knee,

The ankle,

Foot.

So the in breath moving all the way down into the toes of the left foot and then being drawn back up from the left foot as you breathe out.

Letting the breath sweep down the left leg,

Bringing your awareness,

Bringing your interest and curiosity into the whole of your left leg.

Breathing down the leg as we breathe in and breathing up the whole leg as we breathe out.

And then as you next breathe out,

Letting go of the left leg and bringing tension to the pelvis.

In the middle of the body,

The bones of the pelvis,

The organs within the curving shape of the pelvis cradling the soft organs.

Breathing into this area now and breathing out.

And then starting to move the tension to the lower back,

The base of the spine,

Back of the waist,

An area that many people feel some discomfort in.

And then moving up from the spine,

The middle of the back,

Up to the area of the shoulder blades.

Just noticing any sense of movement here,

Connection with the floor as we're breathing in and breathing out.

Just noticing the whole of the chest filling with breath and breathing out from there and then coming round to the front of the body,

The front of the torso.

To the area of the abdomen,

The belly.

And aware of any sensations here.

Perhaps with the in breath stretching and then falling back relaxing with the out breath.

Just trying to breathe naturally here,

Breathing normally.

Just whatever is happening and staying in touch where your mind goes and bringing it back when you need to.

Be aware of how you're feeling.

Aware of judgments coming in about how things should be and how they're different from how they are.

Settling back into the next breath.

The next in breath and the next out breath.

And if you can,

Feeling it down there in the abdomen.

Starting to shift your attention up the front of the body to the solar plexus,

The organs within,

The intestines,

Up to the ribs,

The lungs filling and emptying with air.

Just feeling the movement to the rib cage,

The heart,

Your heart beating within.

And if you can,

Allowing this experience to be just as it is,

Bringing interest,

Curiosity.

A sense of adventure and exploration to this mysterious thing we call the body.

We can so often neglect it.

And not pay it sufficient attention.

The body scan is an opportunity to become better acquainted,

More familiar,

More intimate with our bodies.

And now moving attention from the chest,

The rib cage to the top of the chest,

The collarbone and out to the shoulders.

Another area that many of us feel tightness,

Tension and discomfort.

Becoming aware of your left shoulder,

Your right shoulder sensations here.

How do they feel?

Any differences?

And moving the attention now down the arms,

Down the left arm,

The right arm.

And all the way out to your fingers,

To the left hand,

The right hand,

Tips of the fingers,

Thumbs,

The nails,

The knuckles.

The air moving between the fingers.

Perhaps contact of your hands,

Of the floor,

Your body or the blankets.

Perhaps they're feeling light or feeling heavy.

Warm or cool.

Tender or relaxed.

Whatever you're finding,

Whatever you're feeling there in your hands.

And then the wrists and the forearms up to the elbows.

Perhaps contact to the elbows with the ground,

The hardness of the outside.

Softness of the inside.

The upper arms,

The biceps,

The triceps,

The big carrying muscles,

Lifting muscles.

And now back to the shoulders.

And now as you breathe in,

Allowing the breath to travel from the centre of the body down both arms and out to the fingers and thumbs.

And as you breathe out.

The breath drawing back from the fingers up the arms,

Back to the centre of the body and out.

And if it's OK,

Playing with the possibility that the breath can move around the body in this way,

If it suits you to do this.

And if the mind wanders.

Just gently bringing it back any time it moves.

It might happen a million times.

Gently,

Firmly noticing.

Bringing attention back.

I bring awareness to your neck,

Back of the neck,

Any sense of ease here or tightness,

Tension.

The throat sensations of breath moving into the throat or swallowing.

It's moving awareness now into the headspace,

The face starting with the chin,

Cheeks and the mouth.

Are the lips together or apart?

Inside the mouth,

Is it dry?

Is there any moisture?

Noticing the tongue,

The teeth,

Nose.

Nostrils breathing air.

Cool air coming in warmer air flowing out.

And the eyes,

So sense there of ease or perhaps some tiredness.

The eyelids.

The eyebrows and the forehead.

Noticing any tension here,

Often a place where we can feel tension.

And now,

Guiding attention to the scalp,

The back of the head,

Perhaps in contact with the floor,

The heaviness of the head.

Perhaps it's resting on a blanket or a block.

Or a book.

Now breathing up into the whole space of the head,

Letting the breath come up from below to fill the space of the head with the in breath.

And then breathing out of the head on the out breath.

Breathing out from below the head on the in breath and breathing down out of the head on the out breath.

And in this moment,

Breathing in and breathing out.

If it's okay for you,

Perhaps imagining that there's a small hole at the top of the head,

Perhaps the size of a 10p piece.

And the air can be drawn in through this hole.

So as the air is drawn in,

The whole body fills with air as if the body was hollow.

And this air flows down,

Moves down all the way down into the toes.

So on the in breath,

The air flows down through the body,

All the way down to the toes,

And then flows back up from the toes,

All the way through the body,

Out through the top of the head on the out breath.

I'm just playing with this for a while if it's okay,

But if you're not too keen,

That's absolutely fine.

So that's the case,

Just staying with the breath and the body as a whole.

Breathing naturally.

Breathing normally.

And allowing things to be just as they are in this moment.

Staying with the breath and the body.

Filling with air,

The body filling with breath.

And now just dropping in the idea,

Gently suggesting that we're moving towards the end of this body scan.

There's no need to do anything quick.

Yeah,

Just taking your time bringing this practice gradually to a close and whatever way suits you.

If you're lying on the ground,

You might want to start to move your fingers,

Start to move your toes.

Perhaps drawing the knees in towards the chest,

Hugging the knees in.

So you can stretch out the lower back.

Perhaps it's got a bit stiff from lying still.

And if it suits you,

You can roll over onto one side and spend a few minutes there,

Lying on your side.

Feeling the changing contact of the floor against the side of the body.

Just aware of how you're feeling,

What your state of mind is.

And from that line on your side position,

Gradually moving over to come on to all fours using your arms.

Yeah,

Looking after your back as you do this.

And if it's at all possible,

Putting a little space between the end of this body scan.

And any activity you need to engage with next in your day.

And then in this way.

Bringing the body scan to a close.