This is a 10 minute body scan meditation.
Beginning by finding a comfortable posture and you can alternate between attempting this practice sitting up in a shape or posture that's more alert and more wakeful or lying down either on your bed or couch or on the floor.
As a first step it can be helpful to take a few full breaths in and out.
So a full breath might be a deep breath or it might be a shallow breath so there's no right or wrong here.
Just a few full breaths in and out at your own pace.
Throughout this practice we'll be shifting our attention through different places in the body starting from the feet all the way up to the head and if at any time you notice that your attention is pulled elsewhere into thinking or daydreaming or planning,
No problem at all.
That's what our minds do.
If that happens or when that happens I should say just noticing that and bringing your attention gently back to the body wherever we're paying attention.
And so starting with the feet bringing attention to the soles of the feet the tops of the feet from the toe tips all the way up to the ankles and just noticing any sense of touch,
Pressure temperature or perhaps a sense of aliveness pulsing or vibrating within the feet.
Moving up from the feet to include the ankles and the lower legs,
The shins and the calves.
Noticing sensation here or perhaps the absence of sensation.
Like a scientist collecting data,
Just open with your attention just waiting to see what is here at the lower legs.
Moving up to the knees the bony front of the knee and the soft open back of the knee.
Bones and tendons,
Skin all the different muscle tissue and liquid.
Just seeing what you notice here at the knees.
Moving up to include the upper legs the thighs,
The front of the thighs the quadriceps muscles,
The backs of the thighs,
The hamstrings all the inner thigh and outer thigh muscles everything outside and within.
Noticing whatever there is to be noticed here at the upper legs.
And if at any time your attention is pulled to some part of the body where there is some discomfort,
Some pain or irritation in any way,
You might just allow your mind to go there for a moment and see if you can notice the breath or to breathe into that part of the body,
Inviting in some gentleness,
Some letting go or offering some soothing perhaps by placing a hand on that part of the body and then continuing on when it feels right for you.
Moving up from the thighs to the hip region,
The pelvis the front of the pelvis the back of the pelvis important area of the body,
The center of the body so the hip joints center of lots of mobility or immobility for some and within the pelvic region organs of reproduction,
Digestion including the glutes all the skin around this area,
Tissues everything held within and just noticing whatever there is to be noticed here.
Staying at the level of sensation,
Aliveness tingling,
Vibrating,
Pressure,
But also aware as we move through the body of any emotional reaction or charge that might show up.
In this practice we're not trying to change anything,
But just cultivate awareness of what's already here.
Moving up to include the lower belly and the low back at this part of the body you might become aware of the movement of the breath up and down or in and out or an expansion and contraction side to side noticing what sensations are here the low belly,
The low back and then continuing up the torso,
The upper torso including the rib cage and the chest region the upper back including the whole length of the spine again you might be aware of the movement of the breath and perhaps even more subtle you might be aware of the movement of the heart beating and if at any time there's not much sensation you can also notice that,
Not much or numbness,
Numbness can also be a sensation Moving up to include the neck and the collarbone and the shoulders the neck,
The back of the neck and the throat and the lower back and the lower back and the lower back and the lower back the skin wrapping around and then the bony structure is contained within the collarbones left and right,
Shoulders left and right inviting in curiosity am I aware of what sensations are here right now?
Or can I make space in my awareness for what sensations are here right now?
Can I make space in my awareness for what sensations are here right now?
And continuing down the arms to include the upper arms from the shoulder to the elbow the biceps,
The triceps and the lower arms from the elbow to the wrists top and bottom,
All the way around and then the lower back and the lower back and the lower back and the lower back top and bottom,
All the way around sensations that might be felt close to the surface or deep within the body or no sensation and then resting attention in the hands,
The left hand and the right hand the palms of the hands all the way out to the finger pads the backs of the hands,
All the way to the fingernails and anything contained within pulsing,
Vibrating sensations of pressure,
Temperature and traveling up from the hands through the arms,
The shoulders,
The collarbone the neck to include the face and the head noticing if there's any contraction or tension in the face around the eyes,
The jaw the forehead and then seeing if it's possible to bring the energy of a smile to the face an almost imperceptible smile and expanding that energy to include the whole body energy of a smile an invitation to take a moment of appreciation for your body and all that it's done for you,
All that it's carried you through and then letting this formal practice go setting an intention for how you want to move out of this shape into the next moments of your day
