Full Body Scan Meditation To Relieve Tension

This grounding exercise is designed to help you calm down and manage your physical and emotional feelings when you feel overwhelmed, sad or anxious. The more you learn to focus on your own body sensations, the safer you’ll feel, which allows unconscious muscular tension to let go. For this exercise, please lie on your back either on the floor or on your bed. Make sure you have a warm layer nearby in case you get cold. You may find this meditation helps you fall asleep.

Transcript

This grounding exercise is designed to help you calm down and manage your physical and emotional feelings when you feel overwhelmed, Sad, Or anxious. The more you learn to focus on your own body sensations, The safer you'll feel, Which allows unconscious muscular tension to let go. So please lie on your back and lengthen your legs. Extend your arms alongside you on the floor or on your bed. If you're more comfortable with your knees bent and your feet standing, Please feel free to do this at any time. The most important thing is to be comfortable. So many times we overrule our own comfort because we think we should be doing something more, But in this exercise, The most important thing is your comfort. And now take a moment to sense and feel your contact with the floor or the bed, Whatever you're lying on. Observe the parts of yourself that are heavier on the floor and the parts that feel lifted away from the floor. Observe the contact of your right heel with the floor. Is your heel touching the floor? Is it right in the center of your heel? Or is it a little bit to the inside or the outside? You don't have to fix anything or change anything. You're simply noticing how you're lying on the floor. And now notice behind your right ankle and just notice that there's a little bit of space between your ankle and the floor. And now observe the contact of your right calf with the floor. Notice where it's touching. Is it in the center of your calf or a little to the inside or to the outside? And again, You don't have to change anything or fix anything. And then notice behind your right knee. You can feel that there's a little bit of space there. And then where do you feel contact again on the back of your upper leg? For some of you, You can feel the entire back of your leg lying on the floor. Others of you may not feel clear contact until you get to the back of your pelvis. So just notice where is that contact for you? And then observe the right side of your pelvis. Is the contact of your pelvis on the floor wide or is it narrow? Is it heavy or light? Does the right side of your pelvis feel flat? Does it feel bony? And how close to your spine is the contact? How far to the outside of your pelvis is the contact? Now observe your left heel. Is the contact of your left heel on the floor the same or different from your right heel? And again, You don't have to change anything or fix anything. You're simply observing the contact of your left heel. And then behind your left ankle, You can feel there's a little space. And then your left calf. And is the contact of your left calf the same or different than your right calf? It's normal for there to be differences between your legs. And now notice the contact behind your left knee is a little lighter. There's a little space. And then move your attention up your left upper leg. And notice, Where do you feel contact with the floor? And then notice the left side of your pelvis. And is the left side of your pelvis the same or different from the right side of your pelvis? Is it heavier, More lifted? Is the contact on the left side wider or narrower than the contact on the right side? And now move your attention to your lower back. You can probably feel the contact of your lower back is a little lifted away from the floor. And as you move your attention upwards, You can feel the backs of your ribs in contact with the floor. Or maybe you can feel there's space behind your lower ribs and the floor. And you can clearly feel your upper back on the floor. Observe your right shoulder blade and its contact with the floor. And compare it to the contact of your left shoulder blade. Which side feels flatter or wider? Does one side feel heavier than the other side? Does one side feel wider or bonier? And now observe your arms, Your right arm from your right shoulder to your elbow. Just observe how your upper right arm is lying on the floor. What parts are touching? And then from your right elbow to your right wrist. And how is your right hand lying on the floor? Is it palm facing upwards or palm downwards? Or is your hand resting on the pinky edge? And what fingers are touching the floor? And now observe your left arm from your shoulder to your left elbow. And how does that compare to how your right upper arm is lying on the floor? And then from your left elbow to your wrist. And what parts of your left hand are touching the floor? Which fingers of your left hand are touching the floor and which fingers are lifted? And is the contact of your left hand the same as the contact of your right hand or is it different? And how, What ways is it different? And now observe that there's a little bit of space between the back of your neck and the floor. And you can clearly feel the back of your head on the floor. Where is that contact? Is it in the center of your head or is it a little to the right or the left? And if you were to draw an imaginary line from your nose to your chin and then down between your feet, Would the line be to the right or a little to the left? Or would it be exactly in the center? And imagine you had a string attached from your left earlobe to your left shoulder and another string from your right earlobe to your right shoulder. Which string is longer? And now very, Very slowly, Begin to roll your head a little to the left and then to the right. See if you can only roll your head in a range that's completely smooth and easy. It's okay if you're only rolling your head a tiny distance. The moment you feel any resistance in one direction, You stop and you start rolling in the other direction. Notice if one side feels easier than the other. Really slow the movement down so you can feel exactly where you feel a little bit of resistance. When you move very slowly, You'll be able to sense and feel yourself even more clearly. And notice if one direction is smoother or easier. Does your head roll in a straight line in one direction? And does it go a little uphill or downhill in the other? Good, And now leave your head in the middle and observe your breathing. Are you holding your breath? Or are you doing some sort of yoga breathing or deep breathing? Just observe how you breathe. There's no right or wrong. And as you breathe, Can you feel your abdomen or your chest move forward? Do you notice any movement in the sides of your ribcage? Or any movement in your lower back? And now rest. You can do this full body scan anytime you wanna feel calmer and grounded in your body, Or if you're having trouble falling asleep. Please rest on your back as long as you like. Thank you for practicing with me.

Reviews

Oh Susan, this somatic work is so good for addressing my over activation and dysregulation. As with my prior comment about Feldenkrais, the somatic work takes me back to when it was a regular part of my practice. I will endeavour to reintegrate this work into my routine again. Thank you for reminding me of its benefits. 🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏🙏