Affectionate Body Scan

Rabbi Chasya of The Institute for Holiness: Kehilat Mussar guides us in an affectionate body scan as taught by Buddhist mindfulness meditation teacher Trudy Goodman. All levels welcome. Dana welcomed and appreciated.

Transcript

Welcome to the Institute for Holiness Kehilat Musar.

Today I will lead you in what is called affectionate body scan.

I lead students in three tracks of Musar in the Jewish tradition and Musar mindfulness combining both Judaism and the Dharma of Theravada insight,

Meditation and practice,

And also mindfulness meditation by itself.

So today we will be practicing this mindfulness meditation known as the affectionate body scan.

Please allow yourself to enter one of the postures,

Whether it be standing up,

Sitting in a chair or on the ground or on a meditation cushion,

Or you may take the walking meditation or even lying down.

I always encourage everyone to keep the eyes open if you have vision during the body scan to remain awake and alert.

So we will begin.

The affectionate body scan is a type of practice where I am asking you to bring potential discomfort and suffering into your awareness and holding it with affection.

While sending friendly wishes or goodwill to the body,

Strong emotions and judgments about the body,

Even resistance to the practice are possible.

I learned this from one of my teachers,

Trudy Goodman.

And while you're lying down or in a comfortable seated position,

You may begin with a deep cleansing breath,

Inhalation,

The gift of oxygen and breath,

And exhalation,

Taking a moment to arrive fully into the felt sense of the body.

Applying the eyes to softly close if you have vision,

If this is comfortable for you.

Taking a few slow,

Deep breaths and feeling into the entire body.

Feeling into the body lying or sitting here.

Feeling into the areas of contact in this moment where the feet are touching the ground or the chair,

The backs of the calves,

On the bed or on the couch,

The legs,

Your back,

The arms,

The head.

Maybe also noticing your breath,

Entering and leaving your body.

The intention of the body scan in general is to be present with our body without wanting anything at all,

Not even relaxation.

Of course,

It's nice to relax and it's great if it happens,

But that's not the goal of the body scan.

The goal is to be checking in with each area of the body in a nonjudgment way.

No need to stir up sensations by moving the body.

If there is past trauma or even current in your body,

I invite you to move a little or wiggle about as you go through the body and ask you to see if that changes the way you feel as we move through the body.

And you will notice that there are a number of areas in the body that you might not be able to feel at all,

And that is normal and okay.

Just check into those areas as if you could feel something.

Letting go,

Allowing yourself to settle and arrive.

You might notice many distinctive sensations and experiences,

Including tension,

Relaxation,

Loss,

Discomfort,

Or even pain.

Just whatever else might be happening in the area of the body in the moment,

Just notice it and invite it in.

And then we will send a friendly wish and intention for that part of the body to be happy and at ease.

Feel free to swipe out the terminology of happy and at ease for another phrase that resonates more with you.

It is fine to feel awkward or even silly at first.

I encourage you to do it anyway.

Stay now by noticing the feet,

Inviting in,

Attending,

And befriending whatever sensation is present in this moment,

In the feet,

And allowing it to be.

Or through all your toes,

In between your toes,

Toenails,

Each digit,

Joint,

Moving into the arches of your feet and the top,

The ball of your foot,

Through your heel,

The ankle,

Sending some affection to the feet for all they do on your behalf,

Repeating silently in your mind or quietly out loud,

May my feet be happy.

May my feet be happy and at ease.

Shifting your awareness to your ankles and calves,

Noticing whatever sensations are present.

May my ankles and calves be happy.

May my ankles and calves be happy and at ease.

Bringing your attention to your knees,

Start out by just feeling into the knees,

Maybe noticing any tiredness,

Any ache,

Any discomfort,

Any sensation at all,

Inviting them all in,

Asking yourself,

Can I be with what is in my knees right now?

May my knees be happy.

May my knees be happy and at ease.

Whenever you're ready,

Shifting your attention to your thighs,

Feeling into the thighs,

Even the back of the thighs,

The hamstrings,

The quads,

Letting go of any judgments you may have about your thighs and noticing the sensations that are present,

Allowing the breath and the body to fill the thighs.

May my thighs be happy.

May my thighs be happy and at ease.

Shifting to the buttocks,

The hips,

Whole pelvic region,

Even the pelvic organs,

Feeling into this area now.

Taking a moment here to send friendly wishes to the different areas of your body here.

May my pelvis be happy.

May my pelvis be happy and at ease.

Whenever you're ready,

Moving your kind attention to your lower back.

Allowing yourself to be with whatever sensations are present,

Any discomfort,

Tension,

Numbness,

Or nothing at all.

May my lower back be happy.

May my lower back be happy and at ease.

Noticing if you can maybe feel the breath in the belly,

Identifying any sensations that are present in this moment,

Sensations on the surface of the lower torso,

Sensations deeper within the body,

Within the digestive system,

Even feeling into where the belly meets the spine in the back.

Allowing these sensations to be just as they are.

See a moment here to send kindness,

A gentleness to your belly and all the internal organs.

May my belly and internal organs be happy.

May my belly be happy and at ease.

Moving your awareness now into your chest,

Noticing how the chest rises and falls with each breath.

Getting as close as possible to whatever chest sensations are available to you in this moment.

Any tension or tightness,

Any pressure,

Any lightness or sense of ease,

Letting it all just be as it is.

No need to judge,

No need to push away.

Gently asking yourself,

Can I be with this?

Befriending your body,

Befriending your experience.

May my chest be happy.

May my chest,

Heart and lungs be happy and at ease.

When you are ready,

Take your attention to your hands,

Sensing the fingers,

The palms,

The backs of the hands.

May my hands be happy.

May hands be happy and at ease.

Feeling into the wrists and the forearms now,

What sensations are here for you to feel?

May my wrist and forearms be happy and at ease.

Now moving to the elbows and upper arms,

Sensing whatever is present in the body here in this moment.

Allowing for the full range of experience,

Pleasant,

Neutral,

Unpleasant.

May my elbows and upper arms be happy.

May my elbows and upper arms be happy and at ease.

As best as you can,

Take your awareness to your shoulders and the upper back,

Noticing any sensations.

Sending the loving breath to this area right now,

Allowing any tension to be at ease.

May my shoulders be happy.

May my shoulders and back be happy and at ease.

Moving into the neck,

What sensations are present for you right here and right now?

May my neck be happy.

May my neck be happy and at ease.

Now moving into your jaw,

Your cheeks and your tongue,

The cheekbones,

The eyes and behind the eyes,

Your ears,

Muscles underneath and behind the ears,

The forehead,

The nose,

The scalp.

Feeling into the sensations of the head,

Checking in with all sense organs,

The eyes,

The ears,

The tongue,

The lips,

The skin on your face.

What is present for you right here and right now?

Using your jaw to fall slightly open,

Relaxing the whole face.

Sending friendly wishes to the different areas of the head,

Including the sense organs.

May my head be happy.

May my head be happy and at ease.

When you are ready,

Opening your awareness to include the entire body again.

Realizing the entire body is alive,

Breathing and filled with sensation.

Finding yourself to visit any part of the body that you feel we missed or is calling for your loving attention to notice what is here for you right here and right now.

Sending your kind,

Compassionate,

Loving wishes to whatever area is calling for your attention.

May my entire body be happy.

May my entire body be happy and at ease.

May I be happy.

May I be happy and at ease.

May I be happy and at ease.

When you are ready,

Gently and slowly open your eyes if they were closed,

Allowing yourself to enter the space,

The sacred practice,

Sacred space together,

Taking refuge in community,

In the Dharma,

The Buddha,

The Sangha.

Bow to your inner self for honoring the radical self-care,

For taking time for this practice today,

Deep self-compassion.

Thank you for your practice.

Thank you for joining today.

Reviews

So helpful. Just what I needed. There seemed to be some glitch in the recording in a couple of places which was kind of distracting. Otherwise one of my absolute faves and I will be using regularly from now on. Thank you🙏🏾