Return to your cushion,
Your bench or seated position as before.
Make yourself as comfortable as possible.
Remind yourself of the position that you are most still in.
Sit with your spine straight,
Shoulders back,
Hands folded in your lap or on your knees in front of you.
Head aligned with the spine,
Chin pointed slightly down,
Eyes closed.
In this session we will be doing a complete body scan to give you the experience of that full body scan.
Sometimes people find that in the course of an hour or however long the meditation is that there are so many sensations cropping up on one particular part of the body that it is enough to simply just focus on those and minutely consider each sensation as it crops up.
You may find,
For example,
That the shoulder area has lots of tensions that are released with your awareness.
Over time,
The more we meditate,
The more we do our Vipassana practice,
The less gross these sensations are and they are replaced with more subtle energies that come forth.
Some people say that the body is almost like a storage vessel for trauma that happens in our past.
We may have forgotten them consciously or our memories are clouded,
Especially with distant events in time,
But our body remembers them through the various tensions that it keeps.
So when we observe ourselves with a gentle open awareness,
With a loving kindness directed at ourselves,
We find over time that our bodies respond and release more of these traumas.
Samskaras,
If you're familiar with that term.
So it is a process of release over time and you will find your peace of mind improving,
The quality of mind improving,
The quality of your thoughts improving and perhaps the relationships that you have with others improving.
Let's begin.
Begin,
Once again,
As we did before,
With eyes closed,
Attention focused on our environment outside of our bodies,
Listening to the sounds of the environment.
Bring your attention to the inside environment of your body and be aware of the sounds that you hear that come from inside your body.
Bring your attention to your breath,
Your entire body breathing.
Note the effortless nature of this experience.
Note the beauty of this simple engagement.
Note that you have to do absolutely nothing for all of this to work.
Bring your attention to the point above the upper lip,
Below the nostrils.
Focus your mind and your concentration on this area.
When you notice your mind wandering,
Gently and with loving kindness,
Stop the thought stream without judgment and bring your attention back to the one point above the upper lip,
Below the nostrils.
Move your point of awareness to the top of your head.
Rest here for some time.
Be aware of any sensations that appear at the top of the head.
Now move around with your intense scan,
First around the top of the skull,
Then the back of the head,
Then the left side of the head,
Then the right side of the head,
And then the full face,
So that you are completing the scans we have done before.
Now move your intention,
Your concentration to the back of the neck,
To the area of the spine between the bottom of the skull and the top of the shoulders.
Focus on this area and see what kind of sensations arise here.
Move your awareness to the left side and front of your neck,
Almost slicing yourself in half.
Concentrate on this very sensitive area of the body.
You may feel all kinds of subtle sensations appearing here,
Especially temperature differences,
Hot,
Cold,
Warm,
Some pleasant sensations,
Some unpleasant sensations.
Gently consider the right side of the neck,
From the spine to the throat.
Consider the feelings,
The sensations that appear here.
If unpleasant,
Itchy sensations arise,
Note them and move on to the next sensation.
Do not dwell on one particular sensation.
Now consider the shoulder,
From the base of the neck to the left shoulder.
This problematic area of tension,
Where we hold a lot of stress from our work environment,
From our engaging in society.
Spend a good deal of time here.
See what you can observe.
Move your concentration to the right shoulder.
Again,
This is the other half where lots of stresses are accumulated.
What is the difference in feeling between your left shoulder and your right shoulder?
Is there a balance or is there a difference?
One feels tighter than the other.
Observe.
Now consider the whole spine,
From the bottom of the neck to the hips,
And the area to the left and the right of the spine.
This large area deserves its own consideration and can be the focus of an entire Vipassana session.
But for now,
See what kind of gross sensations appear along this area.
Shift your focus of attention to your left arm,
From the top of the shoulder to the tips of your fingers.
What sensations do you feel arising in this area?
It can be the touch of cloth.
It can be the wind blowing on the hands.
It can be heat in the palm of the hands.
It can be cold.
Bring your attention to your right arm,
Your entire right arm,
From the top of the right shoulder to the tips of your fingers.
Again,
Scan for any gross sensations that may come up.
It could be sweat from under the arm.
It could be tingling on the skin where it joins or meets the cloth.
It can be heat rising from the palms of your hands.
Move your attention now to your buttocks,
Your hip area,
Your groins,
Another area of lots of tensions.
In this case,
Just look for gross sensations,
Tensions that arise.
Do not be too concerned if there are many.
Simply observe as a first practice.
Turn your attention to your left leg,
From the hip socket to the tips of your toes.
Scan to see if there is any pain which often arises in these areas,
Especially around the knee.
If you note the pain,
Be aware of it and move on.
When you come back to scan this area again,
Consider if the pain is less intense than before.
Move your attention to the right leg,
From the right hip socket to the tips of your toes.
Again,
Scan to see what the differences are between your left leg and your right leg.
Is one more constricted than the other?
Are the muscles in one leg tighter than the other?
Is there more pain,
Less pain,
No pain?
Are you experiencing some numbness from sitting long?
Once again,
Just observe without judgment.
Bring your attention back slowly to the top of the head.
From here,
Expand your awareness to include your entire body.
Create a bubble of awareness around yourself.
Feel the top of your head and the soles of your feet all at the same time.
All your extremities at the same time.
Continue with full body awareness.
Full body awareness.
Full body awareness.
Continue with full body awareness.
Full body awareness.
Full body awareness.
Continue with full body awareness.
Full body awareness.
Full body awareness.
Continue with full body awareness.
Full body awareness.
Full body awareness.
Begin now to gently come out of your meditation.
Roll your shoulders back.
Rotate your neck.
Twist your spine.
Un-noodle your legs.
Stretch your hands above your head.
Relax.
