Body Scan For MBSR

This 40-minute body scan supports Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. It helps listeners bring nonjudgmental attention to the body, establishing the body as a resource and anchor for present-moment awareness.

Transcript

Welcome to the body scan for mindfulness-based stress reduction.

With this body scan,

Our intention is to connect with the body from the inside with gentle curiosity,

Coming to know the body moment to moment in part so that we can live in the present and come back to the present moment with greater ease.

We'll begin by coming to a comfortable position.

You could lay down,

Legs outstretched,

Hands at the side or resting on your belly.

If that is unpleasant for your back,

You might also choose to have the feet firmly on the ground with knees pointing toward the sky.

Or if you'd like,

You can come to a seated position in a chair,

Feet firmly on the ground.

Coming to a position where your body feels supported and where you can be relatively uninterrupted.

If your body tends toward cold,

You might be skillful to gather a blanket or two,

And pull them over the body,

Doing what's needed to care for your body before we begin this practice.

It might be that you're already noticing the sensations of your body making contact with the floor or chair.

And we'll gather our attention for just a moment to find a place of contact that we'll call our anchor,

Or when our mind wanders away from this body scanned activity.

An anchoring place,

An anchor,

Is an available,

Accessible,

Natural place that helps us come back to our body during times of physical discomfort or mental busyness of the mind.

And today,

Your natural anchor might be the sensations of the feet making contact with the floor,

That contact point.

That pressure.

It might be that your anchor is not the feet,

But the hands.

The hands resting however they are.

The contact point of the hands touching the belly or the floor or the blanket,

Whatever they're making contact with right now.

For some people,

A familiar or comfortable anchor is the base of the spine,

The tailbone,

The sitz bones,

This base of the body.

And we can notice it too in the ways it makes contact with the chair or the floor in this moment.

And lastly,

The most natural anchor might be the sensations of the breath moving in and out of the body,

Perhaps available to sense at the nostrils,

The air moving in and out.

Or perhaps this anchor is most easily connected to in the rise and fall of the belly.

And just for today,

Just for this body scan,

The invitation is to choose an anchor that feels most natural,

Whether that's the breath,

The feet,

The hands,

Or the base of the spine.

This anchor,

This point in the body that we can always come back to,

Always available for us when we get lost.

Because awareness is flexible,

We'll now shift from our anchor and bring our awareness to the left foot,

Sensing first the places that the left foot makes contact with the floor and noticing what,

If any,

Sensations are available to notice.

Heat or coolness,

Sensations of air,

Or a sock or shoe or blanket touching this left foot.

It may also be possible to experience sensations of the left foot from within,

Tingling,

Pulsing,

Feeling the toes and the knuckles of each toe,

Sensing into the arch,

The ball of the foot,

The heel,

Bringing gentle curiosity,

Simply receiving what's available to notice.

And if what's available to notice is neutrality or numbness or nothing right now,

Seeing if you can soften into that and allow that to be okay.

Not trying to get anywhere or have a particular experience,

Simply opening ourselves up to what is in this moment.

Inviting awareness now to travel into the ankle and then up the calf,

The shin to the left knee until awareness is focused on this lower half of the left leg.

Perhaps sensing tightness or tension in the back or front or sides of the legs.

We're noticing this part of the body at relaxation.

Opening ourselves up to sensation on the surface of the leg,

Skin,

Air,

Pressure.

And also getting curious about what sensations,

If any,

Might be coming from within the leg,

The area of muscle and flesh at the calf,

The sides of the legs.

Perhaps touching into that long bone from the ankle to the knee.

Bringing awareness to the knee,

The kneecap,

All the way around the knee.

This joint that supports so much movement that might have so much history of its own.

The underside of the knee,

Perhaps soft and sinewy.

And the kneecap,

Hard bone.

Allowing awareness to travel from the knee all the way up to the left hip until the whole thigh rests in our awareness.

Noting touch,

Sensations from within,

Or the absence of sensations from within.

Inner thigh,

Back of the thigh,

Outer thigh,

Front of the thigh,

Muscle,

Flesh,

Bone.

And then shifting our awareness,

Traveling from the left hip through the pelvic area to the right hip.

And then bringing awareness down the right leg until it rests in the right foot.

Receiving the experience of the right foot in this moment.

Perhaps pressure against the floor.

The movement of air between toes.

Sensing into the contours of the foot,

Ball of the right foot,

Arch,

Heel,

The sides of the foot and the top of the foot.

Noticing if the right foot feels really different than the left foot.

Maybe or maybe not,

Your right answer.

Simply exploring the body in this moment.

And then awareness travels up to the right ankle,

Up your right shin,

Right calf,

All the way to the right knee.

Awareness wrapping around that lower half of the right leg.

What's here?

What's here to know and to notice?

If the answer that comes to mind immediately is nothing,

Seeing if there's a part of you that can welcome that too.

Not having to try to have a particular experience,

But simply seeing if we can receive this experience.

Touching into the right knee,

The right knee cap,

The sides of the knee,

The softness of the back of the knee,

And the firm hardness of the front,

The knee cap.

This knee too,

Which has supported so much effort and movement through our lives.

And then bringing attention and awareness up the knee,

Up to the right thigh until awareness goes from the right knee to the right hip.

And circling and holding in the mind's eye,

This whole right thigh.

Pressure,

Touch,

Sensation,

And the lack of sensation.

It's also possible with any part of the body or the body scan to notice the experience of the mind.

Noticing that with my guidance at the right thigh,

Your mind might be somewhere very different,

Caught in thought,

Judgments,

Comparison.

Maybe that there is noticing of restless energy or doubt,

A to-do list,

Sleepiness.

And when you notice this,

Gently but firmly coming back to the right thigh or to the anchor that you chose at the beginning of this body scan.

Shifting now to the area between our hips,

The pelvic region.

This area that is responsible for reproduction,

Elimination,

That may be connected to sexuality and connected or disconnected from sense of identity or sense of self.

And gently toward,

Gently turning toward sensations in this area as well.

The pelvic bowl,

Genital area,

Receiving any and all sensations here.

And always having the choice to come back to the anchor at physical discomfort or mental challenge.

With unwanted sensations or difficult thoughts,

Trauma that's held or stored in the body,

We always have the choice to turn toward or to turn away.

If there's pain in one part of the body,

We can choose to adjust posture,

Shifting position,

Bringing awareness to your body as you make the adjustment in your position.

Another choice is to pause before moving or shifting to investigate the sensations,

The unpleasantness of the pain.

Seeing if it's possible here too to offer gentle curiosity.

A third choice is to turn attention or awareness away from the painful area,

Coming back to a neutral area of the body or coming back to your anchor.

In each moment,

You can decide what's called for.

Shifting your body's posture position,

Turning toward sensations with interest or shifting awareness away.

From the pelvic area now,

We'll move up into the area of the belly and lower back.

It may be possible here to notice the rise and fall of the breath.

The ways that the belly expanding and contracting may change the contact with clothing or the floor or chair that your body rests on.

Sensing the firmness and stability of the lower spine,

The hips,

The softness of the flesh of the belly.

Turning toward this area of the body without judgment,

Or if that's not possible,

Seeing if you can notice the judgment with some gentle awareness.

The experience of the stomach being full or empty,

Hungry or satisfied.

Then awareness comes up to the region above the belly,

The front and back ribs,

The sides,

The chest.

It could be that there's a noticing of the rise and fall of the breath here as well.

The upper back making contact with the floor or perhaps with the back of a chair.

Sensing breath,

Ribs,

Skin,

Bones,

And perhaps there's a pulsing or vibrating,

Tingling.

It may not be possible to sense the heart or all of the organs held in the chest,

But taking a moment to really recognize all that is held by the chest,

All that supports the breath,

The heart.

Bringing the mind back when it wanders as it will.

And then moving awareness through the left shoulder,

Down the left elbow and into the left hand,

The hand that is currently resting,

However it will.

Feeling into the fingers,

The joints,

The knuckles,

The back of the hand and the palm,

Opening up to what might be available in terms of sensation.

The ways that the hand connects to the wrist and the wrist to the forearm.

Gentle curiosity,

What's here right now to know?

Temperature,

Sensation,

Touch,

Coming to the elbow,

The firmness of this joint on the back of the elbow,

The softness on the inner elbow.

And then moving from the elbow into the upper arm,

This area between the elbow and the shoulder.

These parts of the body that are so constantly in motion and yet rare,

So rarely the focus of our attention unless they're in pain.

Moving from the left shoulder across the chest to the right shoulder and then down the right arm until awareness rests in your right hand,

Fingertips,

Joints,

Knuckles,

All the bones,

The tendons,

Meticulously connected to allow movement.

Back of the hand,

Palm of the hand,

Wrist,

Offering our attention to whatever's here.

If we notice us striving to have a particular experience,

Seeing if we can soften,

Ease off the pushing,

Gentle curiosity,

Opening up to what is here,

Not needing to make anything in particular happen.

Scanning now from the wrist to the right elbow,

This forearm,

Perhaps investigating whether this form feels similar or different to the left form.

Not better than or worse than,

Just creating interest.

What's here?

What's possible to be known?

And then shifting from the elbow,

That important joint,

All the way up the upper arm to the shoulder,

Holding this upper arm in awareness.

And then moving into the area of the shoulders and the neck.

These areas of the body where so many of us hold tension and tightness.

And seeing if that's true for you in this moment.

Sensations of pain,

Discomfort,

Or maybe what's most available to be known in the neck,

With the sensation of breath moving through the throat,

And air against the skin of the neck.

And then bringing awareness to the back of the head or the head maybe making contact with the floor if you're laying down.

Seeing that weight and pressure.

Letting awareness extend to the ears,

The backs of the ears,

The cavities within the ears.

And then awareness traveling to encompass,

To cover the entire area of the back of the head,

The area where many people have hair.

Touching into sensations on the scalp.

And it could be that there are sensations making themselves known from within the head.

Headaches,

Pulsing.

And of course the mind might be doing its own work,

Busy planning,

Remembering.

Coming back to the sensations of the body,

Gently saying,

Not now,

If there's lots of busyness in the mind.

Bringing awareness to the forehead.

And if there's subtle tension in the forehead,

Letting that soften.

Coming to the eyes,

The eyes and their sockets,

Eyelids.

No effort needed here.

It could be possible to feel the breath moving in and out of the nostrils and to sense temperature of air at the tip of the nose.

Between the mouth,

Lips,

Teeth,

Tongue,

The roof of the mouth and the floor,

And the jaw,

The chin.

And then bringing awareness to the entire head.

Letting awareness travel to include the head,

But now also including the neck,

The shoulders and the arms,

The back,

The spine,

The chest,

The belly,

The pelvic area and the hips.

Allowing awareness to expand the upper legs and the knees,

Lower legs all the way down into your feet until with your awareness,

You're able to sense the body as a whole.

This body laying or sitting,

The body breathing,

This whole body.

And as we prepare to come out of the body scan,

We'll take a few deliberate full breaths.

Perhaps stretching the legs or the arms,

Wiggling the fingers or the toes.

And then when it feels natural,

Gently allow the eyes to open,

Completing this body scan.

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