Bodyscan

A guided bodyscan meditation with Todd. This practice is good for those who are dealing with stress and anxiety and need a moment to reconnect with their bodies.

Transcript

If possible,

It's best to do the body scan lying on your back,

On a mat,

Or a thick rug.

Or on a bed.

If lying on your back is not comfortable,

You can also do this practice on a chair or cushion.

By sitting in a comfortable,

Well-supported chair,

Or even to stand up.

Another possibility is to lie on your back with your feet up on a chair,

So that the hips and knees are bent at about 90 degrees.

This is referred to as the astronaut pose.

During the body scan,

Our intention is to remain awake.

However,

As human beings,

We are conditioned to associate lying down with falling asleep.

If you notice this tendency,

You can choose from a number of options to help you stay awake.

One is to keep your eyes open.

Another is to change positions.

Try to sit up.

A third is to raise one arm up,

Only from the elbow,

So that the hand is extended toward the ceiling.

If you begin to fall asleep,

The hand will fall down and awaken you.

Finally,

It may be that what your body needs at this moment is to sleep.

So it's not bad or wrong to allow yourself to go to sleep.

But of course you won't be doing mindfulness practice while sleeping.

So it will be important to come back to the practice at another time when you are more rested.

In the body scan meditation,

We will be focusing on awareness of sensations in the body.

It is completely normal for the mind to wander off from the focus.

If you have a mind,

It's going to wander.

When you notice this is happening,

Simply observe where the mind has gone,

What has drawn it away,

And return your attention to the body part you are intended to focus on.

This becoming aware of the wandering of the mind and bringing it back is at the core of mindfulness practice.

Rather than being something that shouldn't be happening.

Each time we do the body scan is a new experience,

Never quite the same as the last.

See if you can bring a freshness to this practice,

A curiosity to explore the body as if you were a scientist observing it for the first time.

Which in a way is true.

So now lying on your back if that's possible,

Allowing the body to settle into the mat,

Arms at your sides,

Palms facing towards the ceiling or down.

Whatever that's comfortable for you.

And letting the eyes close if you choose to,

Or keep them open,

Allowing your gaze to fix on a point above you on the ceiling.

And bringing your awareness to rest on the sense of the body being supported by the mat.

Ultimately by the ground,

By the earth.

Feeling the heels resting on the mat,

Noticing physical sensations of the heels,

Pressure,

Contact,

Touch.

Noticing that the body is resting on the mat,

Noticing the physical sensations of the heels,

Pressure,

Contact,

Touch.

Noticing the physical sensations of the calves,

The back of the thighs,

The weight of the pelvis,

The lower back,

The upper back,

And shoulders,

The arms,

And the back of the head.

Just allowing the body to accept the support of the ground and letting it sink down and releasing any muscle tension that's being used to hold the body up.

Now allowing your awareness to settle on the breath and noticing the movement of the body with each breath.

Feeling the gentle rising of the body as you breathe in and feeling it sinking into the mat as you breathe out.

Staying with the breath through the duration of each in-breath and the duration of each out-breath.

Feeling the physical sensations of the belly rising on the in-breath and the belly falling on the out-breath.

And simply following the breath,

Riding the waves or the rhythm of the breath,

Breathing in and breathing out as best you can.

And now let's move the awareness from the belly down into the left leg,

Through the thigh,

Past the knee,

Into the lower leg,

Into the foot,

And all the way down to the toes of the left leg.

And now moving the awareness from the belly down into the left leg,

Through the thigh,

Past the knee,

Into the lower leg,

Into the foot,

And all the way down to the toes of the left foot.

Bringing awareness to any sensations present in the toes of the left foot.

Sensations could be tingling,

Pins and needles,

Numbness,

Warmth,

Coolness,

Moisture,

Pressure,

Pulsing,

Whatever comes into awareness,

Or can simply be nothing that you're experiencing right now on the toes of your left foot.

In that case,

Simply observing the lack of sensations.

Focusing first on the big toe,

Then the little toe,

The little toe,

Then the other toes,

Ending on the baby toe.

Just noting whatever is present to your awareness in this moment in the toes of the left foot.

When you are ready,

Expanding the awareness to include the sole of the left foot,

And the heel,

Perhaps noting pressure where the heel is resting on the mat.

And now the top of the foot,

Holding in awareness the entire left foot,

Focusing on the sensations coming into awareness from the whole of the left foot.

Now when you are ready,

Letting go of awareness of the left foot,

And on the next in-breath,

Moving on to the left ankle,

Noticing the surface of the ankle,

The sensations coming from the skin,

The sensation of the foot,

The sensation of the foot,

The surface of the ankle,

The sensations coming from the skin,

And also deep inside the sensation of the ankle joint.

Now bringing your attention to the left lower leg,

The calf muscle on the mat if you are lying down,

And then the shin,

Noticing the skin pull tightly over the shin bone,

Noting any sensations in this region of the body.

Now letting go of the lower leg,

Focusing on the left knee,

The kneecap,

Indentations beside the kneecap,

Sides of the knee,

Back of the knee,

The hollow at the back of the knee,

Observing whatever sensations are coming from the left knee,

Exploring it as if for the first time,

As if you have never encountered it before,

Discovering what there is here to discover,

As if for the first time,

As if you have never encountered it before,

Discovering what there is here to discover,

When you are ready,

On the next out breath,

Let go of the left knee,

And on the next in breath,

Bringing awareness into the left thigh,

The front of the thigh,

The sides,

Back of the thigh,

Hamstrings,

And the groin area,

And from there moving into the hip joint,

Exploring deep in the joint,

The side of the hip,

And behind the hip in the batak.

Now seeing if you can bring awareness to the entire left leg,

On the next in breath,

Directing the breath down the left leg,

All the way to the toes,

And on the out breath,

Reversing the flow of the breath up the leg,

Through the pelvis,

Abdomen,

And chest,

And out the nostrils.

For the next few breaths,

See if you can experiment with this.

Directing the breath down into the left leg,

On the in breath,

And up and out of the left leg on the out breath.

Allowing yourself to be playful,

Breathing down to your left leg,

And letting the breath out through the left leg,

Allowing yourself to be playful,

Breathing down to your left leg,

And breathing up from your left leg.

On the next out breath,

Letting go of the left leg altogether,

Directing your awareness across from the left hip,

Moving to the right hip,

Then down the right leg,

All the way to the toes,

Exploring the sensations in the right toes,

Noting any differences compared with the left side,

Then expanding awareness to include the right foot,

The sole of the right foot,

Noticing the right heel,

The pressure,

The contact of the right heel on the mat,

And moving to the top of the right foot.

On the next out breath,

Letting go of the right foot,

And shifting your attention to the right ankle,

Discovering what is to be sensed in the right ankle,

The surface,

The skin,

And deep inside the right ankle.

Then,

When you are ready,

Moving to the region of the right lower leg,

The right calf,

Noticing that in contact on the mat,

And your shin,

And moving your awareness up to the right knee,

Bringing a scientific curiosity to the exploration of the right knee,

Opening to sensations from the skin,

The surface,

And from deep inside the joint of the right knee,

And now bringing your awareness up to the right thigh,

Exploring front and back and the sides of the thigh,

And now moving to the right hip,

And then when you are ready,

Expanding your awareness to include the entire right leg,

Breathing into the right leg,

On the in breath,

All the way to the toes,

And on the out breath,

Directing the flow of the breath back up the leg to the pelvis,

Through the abdomen,

And the chest,

And out through the nostrils.

Being playful with this,

Allowing yourself to breathe down to your right leg,

And breathe out from your right leg in this moment.

Breathing in,

And breathing out.

Now,

Letting go of your focus on the right leg,

And on the next in breath,

Moving to attend to the pelvis.

This region of the body contains the organs of elimination,

The bladder,

The bowels,

And the sexual organs.

The pelvis is often an area of tension in the body.

Tuning into the area of the pelvis and exploring any sensations present in awareness.

Breathing into the pelvis,

Seeing if you can experience any expansion of the pelvic floor,

And breathing out,

Observing if there is any release of tension.

As you scan through the body,

It's not unusual to encounter intense sensations in certain areas,

Including discomfort.

When this happens,

You may find that you are able to breathe into these sensations,

Focusing as best you can on the nature of the sensations and observing them,

And seeing if they soften or release as you breathe out.

Or you can choose to move your awareness to another area of the body,

Or simply focus on the breath.

As you practice mindfully,

It's important that you learn to take care of yourself,

Developing with experience the wisdom to know when to turn toward discomfort and when to turn away.

And it's the practice of self-care.

Now leaving the pelvis on the out-breath,

And on the next in-breath,

Moving awareness to the lower back.

For many,

This is an area of the body associated at times with discomfort,

Tension,

And pain.

See if you can identify sensations in the low back,

Such as tingling,

Pins and needles,

Heat,

Tightness,

Or aching.

And breathing into the low back with these sensations,

Riding the waves of the breath in and out.

Seeing if you notice any changes in the sensations as you observe them.

And now,

Exploring the middle region of the back,

Being curious to any sensations that's occurring.

And when you're ready,

Moving up to the upper back,

And noticing your shoulder blades,

Known as the scapula,

Coming into contact on the mat.

And now when you are ready,

Letting go of the upper back and the shoulder blades.

Now bringing your awareness to the abdomen.

As best you can,

Following the breath with the rise and the fall of the belly.

Grounding your awareness here in the abdomen.

Using the breath in the belly as an anchor to return to at any time.

Our job right now is just to observe the body to rising gently on the in-breath and sinking deeply into the mat on the out-breath.

There's no place for you to go,

Nothing to do other than just to be here with the breath,

Breathing.

And when you are ready,

Shifting awareness to the region of the chest,

Protected by the rib cage,

The heart and lungs reside here.

Bringing oxygen into the body and circulating it throughout,

Providing energy to the whole body.

Then clearing it of carbon dioxide and other wastes.

See if you can feel the heart beating in the chest.

Without our needing to think about it,

The heart continues to provide life for us,

Moment by moment,

Year after year.

Also noticing that we often feel emotion in the area of the chest,

Expressed in phrases like heartfelt,

Heartache,

Light-hearted,

Heavy-hearted,

Or even heart-throb.

Being aware also of the rising and falling of the chest with each breath.

And observing the pattern of the breath,

Whether it's shallow or deep,

Slow or rapid,

Smooth or rough.

Paying careful attention to the movement of the breath in the chest.

On the next out-breath,

Letting go of awareness of the chest,

Moving to the front of the neck,

The throat,

The center of swallowing and speech,

As well as the breath.

Noting any sensations present to awareness in this region.

And then when you are ready,

Allowing awareness to move into both shoulders.

Noticing that you can attend to both together and moving down both arms all the way to the tips of the fingers of both hands.

Giving attention to any sensations present here.

Warmth,

Moisture,

Tingling,

Numbness,

Whatever is present.

And noticing if there are any differences from one side to the other.

Now expanding awareness to the hands,

The fingers,

The palms,

And the backs of the hands.

Then moving up to the wrists.

The forearms.

And the elbows.

The inside of the elbows.

The softness of the inside of the elbows.

The upper arms.

And returning to the shoulders.

Now on the next in-breath,

Bringing awareness to the entirety of both arms.

Following the breath all the way down,

The arms to the hands,

And fingers on the in-breath.

And on the out-breath,

Coming back up the arms,

To the shoulders,

And letting the breath flow out through the nostrils.

And following the in-flow and out-flow of the breath for the next several breaths.

Breathing in,

Down to your arms.

And breathing out away from the arms.

Just being playful with the breath,

Going through the arms.

Moving your attention to the back of the neck and shoulders.

Examining to see if there is tension in the shoulder muscles.

And if so,

Breathing into it.

Expanding on the in-breath.

And allowing the shoulders to release the tension on the out-breath.

Now when you are ready,

Directing your attention to the face.

Bringing moment to moment awareness to the face.

Seeing if you can identify any areas of tension around the mouth.

Allowing the jaw to open slightly.

Releasing and softening the mouth and lips.

Now getting inside the mouth.

Letting the tongue widen and settle in the floor of the mouth.

Relaxing any tension in the mouth.

Then the nose.

Feeling the flow of the breath.

The cool,

Dry air on the in-breath.

And the warm moist air on the out-breath.

Noticing your ears.

Perhaps sounds coming into your ears.

Now moving to the eyes.

If your eyes are closed,

Feeling the corneas of the back of the eyelids.

Bringing attention to the back of the head.

Noticing perhaps the pull of gravity on the back of the head as you lie on the mat.

And moving to the top of the head.

Noting any sensations including pressure,

Contact,

Touch or anything else.

And breathing in and out with these sensations.

Now that we have scanned through the body from the toes to the top of the head.

Allowing your awareness to settle on the body as a whole.

Resting in stillness.

Just bringing your attention to this miraculous body that is yours.

Try experimenting with breathing in through the top of your head.

Just like a blow hole of a dolphin or a whale.

And directing the breath down through the neck,

The trunk to the pelvis.

And down the legs to the toes.

And then reversing this flow on the out-breath.

Seeing if you can ride the waves of the breath up and down through the whole body.

Following the breath in this way through the next several in-breaths and out-breaths.

If you find this difficult,

Simply stay with awareness of the body as a whole.

And feeling it rise and fall with each breath.

And as you lie here,

Just using this opportunity to breathe.

And also to congratulate yourself for doing this practice.

It's an important act of self-care.

So lying here,

Nurturing your body by breathing deeply in and out.

And feeling how your body is responding to this practice of the body scan.

And there's no right way or wrong way of doing the body scan,

But it's about just being with whatever that's arising for you.

If it's pleasant,

Unpleasant,

Or neutral,

It's your experience in this moment.

Being aware of also your thoughts or any emotions associated with this experience.

And reminding yourself that by practicing this kind of body scan,

You're taking care of yourself.

So using this opportunity to congratulate yourself again for this doing important work.

Now when you are ready,

Beginning to move slowly and mindfully,

Transitioning from the body scan.

Perhaps begin by moving fingers and toes,

Then rubbing your face gently with your hands.

And gently stretching any areas of the body that have tightened up while you have been lying in stillness.

Now you may want to turn onto your side with the help of your arms and stay in this position for a few moments before mindfully coming to a sitting position.

And making note of any experiences,

Discoveries,

Thoughts,

Or emotions that have occurred while doing this practice.

As you do so,

Perhaps congratulating yourself for taking the time to nourish your body and mind in this way.

It's truly an act of self-care.

Reviews

🙌🏻🙌🏻

I was so relaxed I fell asleep before it even ended
😴

Highly recommend doing this with a massage pillow and moving it up and down the body with the body scan instructions. It’s delicious!

A really good bodyscan, a nice, gentle voice and pleasingly spaces in the dialogue for noticing. One for my favourite list. Thank you.

Thank You for this wonderful Body-Scan.

Very pleasant voice, nice body scan! 🌸

Loved this felt very relaxed

Best body scan I’ve ever experienced. Thank you for starting my day so beautifully 😊

Bravo! Oh Canada our true north strong and free.