Welcome to the Body Scan at the Ottawa Mindfulness Clinic.
Please find a comfortable position for you to be in for the duration of this body scan,
Taking a moment to take care of yourself and find a way to be awake and alert for the entirety of this session.
Taking a comfortable position on the floor or if you've chosen to be in a chair,
Lying down or sitting up in an alert position.
Letting your body sink into your position,
Into the mat or the chair,
Palms by your side,
Palms upwards.
Legs stretched out,
Allowing the feet to fall away in a relaxed pose.
You may close your eyes or if you prefer,
Leave them open.
As you begin,
Recognize that by doing this you are taking charge of your health.
It is best to stay awake.
If you find you are falling asleep,
Sit up and continue with a gentle awareness of adjusting to your needs.
Realizing this is a nourishing time,
A time to open to sources of healing.
It's important not to try too hard to relax.
As best you can,
Become aware of each passing moment.
Realizing you are already in it,
The moment is already here.
Letting go of the tendency to want things to be different.
Allowing things to be exactly what they are.
Allowing yourself to be exactly who you are.
Recognizing there is no right way.
Feeling whatever you are feeling without need to change it.
Bringing your attention to the fact that you are breathing.
Simply experiencing the air as it moves into the belly.
Directing your attention to your belly,
Feeling the sensations in that region.
Noticing it expanding and deflating.
Breathing in,
Noticing it rising.
Breathing out,
Noticing it falling.
On each out-breath,
Experiencing a letting go.
Allowing the body to become heavy and sink into the mat.
Breathing in,
Breathing out.
When you feel ready,
Shifting the focus of your attention to the toes of the left foot.
Allowing your mind to move away from the belly,
Down to the left foot,
And down into the toes.
As best you can,
Becoming aware of the sensations.
What they are is not important.
Just feeling the toes as they are.
Even a blank is okay.
You may feel the sensations as moist or cool or warm.
Or the sensations of your sock or your blanket on your toes.
Breathing in,
Imagine the breath moving down to the toes.
And breathing out,
Imagine the breath moving up from the toes.
When you are ready,
On an out-breath,
Letting this region dissolve.
And moving your attention to the bottom of the left foot.
Breathing into that area and breathing out from that area.
Noticing the sensations,
Paying attention.
And whenever you are ready,
Letting go of that region,
Letting it dissolve.
And bringing your attention to your heel.
Again,
Feeling the sensations at the heel.
The sensations of the floor,
The contact with the floor.
And whenever you are ready,
On an out-breath,
Letting this region dissolve.
And bringing your attention to the top of your left foot.
Noticing the sensations.
And whenever you are ready,
On an out-breath,
Letting this region go.
And letting your awareness spread to the ankle.
Noticing the bone in the ankle,
The way it is connected.
The sensations of your skin around that area.
Breathing into that area and breathing out from that area.
And whenever you are ready,
Again on an out-breath,
Letting this region go.
And bringing your attention to the left lower leg,
The shin,
The calf muscles.
Bringing awareness to the deeper sensations,
Any tension that there may be in that area.
Simply imagining your breath moving down to that area and moving up from that area as you breathe out.
And whenever you are ready,
On an out-breath,
Letting this region dissolve.
And bringing your attention to your thigh,
The surface,
The deeper muscles.
Paying particular attention to any tension that may be there,
Any uncomfortable sensations.
Allowing it just to be what it is.
And when you are ready,
On an out-breath,
Letting this region dissolve away.
And bringing your attention deeper into the groin area and the hip region.
Bringing your attention from one hip bone to the other,
Encompassing the entire area.
Breathing deeply into that area.
And now,
Taking an in-breath and directing your attention to your right leg.
Beginning with the toes of the right leg,
Noticing any sensations as you did with the left.
A warmth,
A moisture,
A coolness,
Whatever it may be.
Feeling the toes just as they are.
Breathing in,
Imagining the breath moving down to the toes of the right foot.
And breathing out,
Imagining the toes of the left foot.
And when you are ready,
On an out-breath,
Letting this region dissolve.
And moving your attention to the bottom of the right foot.
Noticing the sensations there.
And on an out-breath,
Letting go and bringing your attention to the heel of the right foot.
Maintaining your attention to the sensations,
Allowing them to be what they are.
And when you are ready,
On an out-breath,
Letting this region dissolve.
And bringing your attention to the top of the right foot.
Allowing it to be just what it is.
And whenever you are ready,
On an out-breath,
Letting this region dissolve.
And allowing your awareness to spread to the ankle.
Again noticing the bones,
The connection,
The tendons,
The muscles,
The sensation on your skin.
And when you are ready,
On an out-breath,
Letting this region go.
And bringing your attention to your right lower leg,
The shin,
The calf muscles.
Paying specific attention to the deeper sensations in your calf muscles,
Where there may be some tension.
And on an out-breath,
Letting this region go,
Bringing your attention to the thigh,
On the surface,
The skin,
And deeper into the muscles.
Again noticing if there is any unpleasant sensation.
And breathing deeply into that area.
And on an out-breath,
Allowing this entire region to dissolve away.
And bringing your awareness to your pelvis,
From one hip to the other,
The buttocks,
The contact with the floor.
Breathing into the entirety of this area.
Bringing a sense of contentment to just be,
Allowing your body to be what it is in this moment.
And whenever you are ready,
Directing your attention to your lower back,
Experiencing whatever sensations are here.
The region most of us have trouble in,
Where we carry most of our tension and most of the struggles through the day.
Paying specific attention for yourself,
And whatever needs to be breathed into.
And whenever you are ready,
On an out-breath,
Letting go,
And bringing your attention to your upper back,
The rib cage,
The movements of the rib cage as you breathe in and you breathe out.
Feeling the expansion and the contraction.
Noticing how little you need to do to have your breath working well.
And on an out-breath,
Letting go,
And bringing your attention to your belly rising and falling.
Feeling that expansion and contraction.
Feeling it massage yourself.
Increasing their circulation.
Relaxing.
And on an out-breath,
Letting go of this area,
And bringing your attention to your upper body,
Your chest.
Feeling the movements of the diaphragm expanding and falling.
Tuning into the beating of your heart,
The movements of your lungs.
Noticing and remembering the nourishing and detoxifying approach your body takes to all of its organs.
And whenever you are ready,
Letting go,
And directing your attention to your fingertips of both hands.
Becoming aware of the sensations.
They may be a warmth,
Or a tingling,
Or a coolness,
Or no sensations at all.
Accepting whatever is in this moment.
Feeling the contact of your palms,
The backs of your hands,
Your wrists.
Expanding your awareness to your forearms.
Noticing any tension that may be in that area.
And if there's any pain,
Gently breathing into that area a little bit more deeply.
Imagining the breath flowing into the areas of tension,
And flowing out.
Expanding your awareness to the elbows and the upper arms.
Again breathing in,
And breathing out into those areas.
And whenever you're ready,
Expanding your attention once more to your shoulders.
These are often a reservoir of tension.
Hanging on to the day.
Taking this time to let go.
Dropping your shoulders,
Breathing into them,
Imagining the breath flowing into your shoulders on an in-breath,
And flowing out from your shoulders on an out-breath.
Taking an attitude of relaxed observation.
Just being present in each moment.
Letting go of the impulse to do anything,
To make any changes,
And simply allowing the body to be in this moment,
Just as it is.
And whenever you're ready on an out-breath,
Letting go of your shoulder area,
Bringing attention to your neck.
Experiencing the sensations of swallowing,
The air moving down into your lungs.
Noticing the connectivity between your shoulders and your head.
Expanding your awareness to your face,
The jaw,
The chin.
Noticing any tension that may be there.
The lips,
The mouth,
Feeling the moistness in the mouth,
In your throat.
Simply breathing in and breathing out.
Bringing your attention to your nose,
Feeling the breath as it moves in and out of the nostrils.
Bringing your attention to your eyes,
Noticing the tension in this area.
Allowing the temples to relax and dissolve.
Taking a moment to let go of all the struggles of the day.
Noticing your ears.
And expanding your attention to the forehead,
A place where we store our emotions as we project them through the day.
Breathing into that area and breathing out.
And now taking a moment to notice the entirety of your face.
Experiencing it as if coming up from underneath.
Letting it dissolve into neutral,
Not projecting one view or another.
Just letting it be your own face.
Imagining for a moment that you're smoothing it out as if you're coming up from underneath the waters of a swimming pool.
Letting the waters break over and dissolve away all the tension in your face.
And on an out-breath,
Letting go and bringing your attention to the back of your head.
Your hair,
The contact with the floor.
Any sensations of warmth or coolness.
And expanding your attention to the top of your head.
Imagining for a moment that there's a spot at the top of your head.
And breathing in from it and out from it like a blowhole.
Moving the breath through the body from the top of the head through this blowhole to the toes.
Feeling the body as a whole unit.
And breathing out,
Imagining blowing the air out through the top.
Feeling the body sinking into a state of well-being.
A realm in which our limitations are not confining.
Opening to things as they are.
Allowing the world to be as it is.
Moving beyond the tendency to want the world to be a certain way.
And experiencing being awake right now.
And realizing the state of clarity is accessible simply by attending to the in and the out-breath.
Breathing in and breathing out.
And whenever you're ready,
Slowly bringing attention into the room.
Noticing the sounds,
The light,
The sensations.
Expanding your attention to become aware of the building that you're in,
The city,
And the world.
And whenever you're ready,
Wriggling your fingers and your toes.
Taking the time to orient yourself.
And prepare to get up slowly and comfortably at your leisure.
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