The body scan.
Allow yourself to settle into a comfortable position,
Either sitting or lying down.
Then close your eyes if that feels comfortable,
And noticing the sense of the body as a whole,
Sitting or lying here,
The contact between the body and whatever is supporting you.
Then let you be here,
Reminding yourself that we're not trying to get anywhere,
Or striving to achieve any special state.
The intention is to spend time with each region of the body,
Cultivating awareness of what is already here.
We are not looking for anything special to happen,
But allowing things to be just as we find them.
So letting go of the tendency to want things to be a certain way,
Or to judge how you're doing,
Simply following along with the instructions as best you can.
And whenever the mind wanders away,
As it will tend to do,
Bringing it back,
Without giving yourself a hard time.
And now please bring your attention to the sensations of the breath,
Down in the abdomen,
Noticing the rising of the stomach on the in-breath,
And falling on the out-breath.
Now gathering the attention and moving it down the body,
To the feet,
Noticing what sensations there are in both feet,
When the attention arrives here.
Sensations in the toes,
The soles of the feet,
The heels,
The top of the feet,
What's here right now,
And if there are no sensations,
That's fine too,
Or if they are very subtle,
Then simply noticing this.
This is your experience right now,
There is no right way to feel.
Simply allowing the attention to remain here.
Now taking a deeper breath,
And on the out-breath,
Letting go of the feet,
Letting them dissolve in awareness,
And shifting the attention to the ankles.
What sensations are here?
Then taking a deeper breath,
And on the out-breath,
Letting go of the ankles,
And shifting the attention to the lower legs,
Dwelling here for a few moments,
Noticing any sense of contact with whatever you're lying on,
Being fully alive to the sensations there may be from the surface of the skin,
As well as from inside the legs.
Now taking a deeper breath,
And on the out-breath,
Releasing the attention from the lower legs,
And shifting to the knees,
Not thinking about the knees,
But sensing directly what's here right now,
Noticing what sensations change,
And what stay the same,
And at a certain point,
Taking a deeper breath,
And on the out-breath,
Letting go of the knees,
And shifting the attention to the thighs.
What do you notice here?
Maybe sensations of contact with clothes on the surface of the skin,
Sensations of heaviness,
Or lightness,
Pulsing,
Vibration,
Any sensations you might feel.
And now,
When you're ready,
On an in-breath,
Imagining the breath could come into the body,
Flowing all the way into the legs,
Right down to the feet,
And back again on the out-breath,
Up and out of the body,
So that you're imagining or sensing what it would feel like if the breath could fill the legs as you breathe in,
And empty from the legs as you breathe out,
Just playing with this sensation for the next few breaths,
And now taking a deeper breath,
And as you breathe out,
Letting go of the legs,
Allowing them to dissolve in awareness,
And shifting the attention to the hips and pelvis,
The right hip,
The left hip,
And the whole basin of the pelvis and the organs in this region,
Perhaps imagining the breath could flow into this region on the in-breath,
And out again on the out-breath,
Then taking a deeper breath,
And on the out-breath,
Letting go of the hips and pelvis,
And shifting the spotlight of attention to the back,
Starting with the lower back,
And on an in-breath,
Expanding the field of awareness to take in the middle of the back,
And then again to take in the upper back,
Including the shoulder blades,
Until you're holding the whole of the back in awareness,
Now taking a deeper breath into the back,
And as you let go of the breath,
Letting go of the back as well,
And moving your attention to the front of the body,
To the lower abdomen,
See what sensations they are waiting for you here,
As your attention moves into this region,
Feeling the sensations as you breathe in and breathe out,
From time to time you may find yourself getting distracted,
Thoughts,
Daydreams,
Worries,
Or the feeling of wanting to hurry up,
To move on,
Feelings of boredom may come,
Sometimes pulling quite strongly for your attention,
And when this happens,
It's not a mistake,
Nothing's gone wrong,
Simply taking the opportunity to notice these feelings and distractions,
Acknowledging them,
Perhaps noticing how they're affecting the body,
And without judging yourself in any way,
Bringing the attention back to where you had intended it to be,
Now in the lower abdomen,
Breathing,
And then taking a deeper breath,
And on the out-breath,
Letting go of the abdomen,
And shifting attention to the chest,
What sensations are here,
And now taking a deeper,
More intentional breath,
Into the chest,
And when you are ready,
As you let go of the breath,
Letting go of the chest as well,
And shifting the attention to the hands and arms,
Holding both hands and arms in your awareness,
And then taking a deeper breath,
And on the out-breath,
Letting go of the hands and arms,
And shifting attention to the shoulders,
To the neck,
What sensations are here,
And then taking a deeper breath,
And on the out-breath,
Letting go of the shoulders and neck,
And moving the attention to the head and face,
Starting with the lower jaw,
The chin,
The mouth and lips,
The nostrils,
The surface of the nose,
The cheeks,
The eyes and the eyelids,
The eyebrows,
And the space between the eyebrows,
The forehead,
And the sides of the forehead,
The temples,
The ears,
Maybe aware of any sounds you hear,
And the scalp,
Now imagining that the breath could fill the whole body,
As you sit or lie here,
Breathing into the whole body,
And out from the whole body,
And now letting go of any intentions for the breath,
And simply being here,
Allowing the body to be just as it is,
The sense of coming home to the body,
Allowing yourself to be just as you are,
Resting in awareness,
Moment by moment.
