30-Minute Body Scan For Stress Relief

This is the 30-minute version of the body scan used in Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction (MBSR) classes. The meditation begins with some guidance as to how to approach the meditation, and then systematically asks the participants to bring attention to various parts of the body. The body scan is a foundational practice for MBSR and can be practiced by anyone.

Transcript

When practicing the body scan,

Arranging to lie down on your bed or a thick rug or a yoga mat,

Just finding a way to make yourself comfortable and in a place and at a time when you won't be bothered by anybody,

You won't be bothered by your phone,

And you'll be warm,

You won't need to move around.

So just arranging yourself so that you can simply lie here and be here without needing to move around or try to make too many adjustments.

Allowing this time to be a time just for you,

A time to nourish yourself and give yourself some positive energy and knowing that during these next minutes you won't need to be anything but exactly what you are.

So letting go of this idea of needing to be different from how we are,

Just allowing ourselves to be exactly who we are and what we are right now.

So as we lie here,

Allowing the feet to fall gently away from one another,

Having some space between the legs,

Having some space between the arms and the body,

Allowing the palms to be open toward the ceiling or the sky,

And just allowing our attention to ground down into these places where the body is in contact with the supporting surface.

You may notice how the sense of touch activates when we feel pressure.

So here pressure is coming up from that supporting surface and we notice it in these places where it contacts the body.

The heels,

Perhaps a bit of the lower leg,

The buttocks,

The shoulder blades,

Elbows,

Backs of the hands,

The back of the head,

And maybe your neck is resting on a cushion or a pillow.

So just allowing those points to really be in the forefront of awareness now.

Bring as much detail as you can to those experiences of touch.

Notice the texture of the fabric if you can,

Of your clothing,

Or if you're wearing socks,

The feeling of the socks between the heels and the supporting surface.

And then when you're ready,

Gathering up that attention and bring it to the abdomen,

Feeling how the abdomen moves constantly as you breathe.

Never is the abdomen completely at rest,

Always moving as the body breathes.

Feeling that expansion as we breathe in,

The stretching of the skin,

And the contraction,

The relaxation as we breathe out.

Throughout this practice you can always turn to your breath.

If you feel yourself getting sleepy,

Using the in-breath to bring in that renewed life and vitality.

And if you're feeling tense,

Allowing that out-breath to soothe,

To relax,

And to let go.

So holding the awareness here at the abdomen,

And then bringing the awareness down through the pelvis,

Through the legs,

Through the ankles,

And all the way out to the toes.

Feeling all the toes on both feet,

Feeling the big toes on the insides,

The little toes on the outsides,

And all the toes in between.

Not moving the toes,

Just experiencing them as they are.

And if it's difficult to tune in,

Knowing that that's okay.

You may experience tingling,

Warmth,

Itchiness,

Dampness,

Dryness,

Or when you tune into your toes you may experience nothing at all.

And so all of these experiences are okay,

Just allowing your experience to be exactly as it is for you.

A few more breaths here in the toes.

And on your next out-breath,

Letting the toes dissolve into the background of awareness.

As we bring the awareness into the feet,

Feeling the soles of the feet,

The tops of the feet,

The ankles,

The heels pressed against the supporting surface.

Just allowing the feet to really be in the forefront of awareness,

Just allowing them to be center stage.

Let your attention rest fully and completely there on your feet.

And on your next exhale,

Letting go of the feet and bringing the awareness up into the lower legs.

Feeling the skin all around the lower legs,

Feeling the shin bones in the front,

The calf muscles in the back,

Perhaps feeling blood flow inside the legs.

Just feeling whatever is there to be felt right now.

And then letting go of the lower legs and bringing the awareness into the knees,

The front of the knees,

The kneecaps,

The backs of the knees,

The sides of the knees.

And then letting go of the knees and bringing the awareness into the thighs,

Feeling the front of the thighs,

The backs of the thighs,

The inner thighs,

The outer thighs.

And feeling deeper within,

Feeling the large muscles,

Quadriceps and the hamstrings,

And then the large bones deep within.

Just tuning into everything that's here in the thighs.

And on your next exhale,

Letting go of the thighs and bringing the awareness up into the lower legs,

Through the thigh bones,

Into the hips.

Then allowing the awareness to expand outward to the sides of the hips and back around to the buttocks,

Feeling the buttocks in contact with that supporting surface,

Including the perineum now and the front of the pelvis,

Pelvic bowl region.

And holding the entirety of the pelvis in the forefront of awareness flow.

And then,

Letting go of the pelvis.

And bringing the awareness into the lower back.

Knowing that some people hold tension here and seeing if that's true for you.

Just allowing that deep relaxation to come in.

Feeling the end of the spinal column.

The last few vertebrae.

And then,

Letting go of the lower back.

And bringing the middle back and the upper back into awareness.

Feeling first the outside,

The shoulders in contact with the supporting surface.

The skin.

A slight movement of the skin as you breathe.

And feeling inside,

Feeling all the vertebrae,

The spinal cord,

The ribcage here as it comes together in the back.

Noticing that even in the back of the body,

You can still notice how breathing feels.

Some of the signs of breathing show up back here too.

And on your next exhale,

Letting go of the middle back and the upper back.

And bringing the attention around to the front of the body.

Going down back to the abdomen.

Feeling the movement of the abdomen with each breath.

Feeling what it's like here at the surface.

Perhaps noticing any clothing in contact with the abdomen as it's moving.

And then feeling deeper within.

Feeling the digestive organs,

Any movement that may be happening within.

Feeling any other organs that you may have awareness of here.

And then letting go of the abdomen.

And bringing into awareness the chest.

Feeling the surface of the chest,

Contact with clothing,

The texture of the clothing.

And deeper within,

Feeling the ribcage,

The sternum.

And deeper.

Feeling the heart.

Feeling the beating of the heart,

If that's accessible to you.

Perhaps giving some gratitude to your heart,

This muscle that's working so tirelessly to keep you alive.

And feel the blood vessels around the heart.

Feeling the lungs expanding and contracting.

Just feeling everything there is to be experienced within the chest region.

And then letting go of the chest.

And bringing the awareness into the shoulders.

Noticing any residual tension that may be here.

Allowing that attention to go down to the upper arms,

To the elbows,

To the forearms,

Including the wrists,

The backs of the hands,

The palms of the hands,

The fingers,

And all the way out to the fingertips.

So holding everything now from the shoulders all the way down to the fingertips in awareness.

Noticing any differences that there may be on the left and right side.

Your ability to pay attention more finely to one side than the other.

Always bringing that curiosity and doing our best not to judge ourselves.

And on the next exhale,

Allowing the shoulders,

The arms,

The hands to simply fade into the background of awareness.

So we bring our attention to the neck.

Feeling the front of the neck,

The back of the neck,

The sides of the neck.

Feeling the blood flowing through the neck.

Feeling the breath going through the neck,

Through the larynx,

The windpipe.

Feeling the throat inside the neck.

And then letting go of the neck as we bring the attention up into the face.

Starting at the chin and expanding to the jaw,

Including the mouth,

The lips,

Teeth,

Tongue,

Gums.

The roof of the mouth,

The opening to the throat.

Expanding out to the cheeks,

Including the ears,

Any sounds we may be hearing.

And back across to the nose,

Feeling the air move in and out of the nose with each breath.

Including the eyes,

All of the muscles around the eyes.

Including the temples and the forehead.

Just knowing that all the muscles in the face can be completely relaxed here.

They're just holding awareness in the face.

And then letting go of the face.

And bringing the awareness in to the head,

Up at the crown of the head,

Including the back of the head.

Feeling where the head is in contact with the pillow or the mat.

Allowing the awareness to expand around the scalp.

With the skull as well.

So feeling as deeply into the head as you can.

And on the next out breath,

Letting go of the head and bringing into awareness now the body as a whole.

Everything from the crown of the head to the tips of the toes and everything in between.

Just feeling the entire body lying here.

Just breathing.

Just being.

And in a few moments,

I'll ring the bell.

But before I do,

I'd like to invite you to give yourself some gratitude for having taken this time today to nourish yourself in this way.

By doing this practice regularly,

You are taking an active role in your mental and physical well-being.

It's important that you take credit for that and recognize what it is that you're doing for yourself.

So,

Opening your eyes if they were closed,

And then moving the body in any way that would be good for you now.

Maybe starting by wiggling the fingers and toes a little bit.

And gradually allowing the motion to become greater,

All the while holding a kind of mindfulness inside,

Making sure that each movement you make is with intention and that you keep your attention fully in.

And maybe having some intention to bring some mindfulness to the rest of your day,

Keeping present when possible.

And allowing any movements to become greater and greater as you prepare to go back in for the rest of your day.

Reviews

Really lovely body scan meditation. Ryan has a relaxed & soothing voice.

Very nice body scan meditation. I feel more relaxed and prepared for the day ahead.

Absolutely love this meditation .. as well as the lovely quiet bell at the end :) Namaste

Love this one

Great ☺️ thank you

Thank you 🙏 Ryan! Hmm? I never rated the 30 minute body scan? Maybe this is the first time I’ve done it? I do prefer the 45 minute one. I find it hard to focus on both sides of my body at once, but I accept the challenge. Thanks again! Much love 💗

Thsnk you, feel very relaxed. Namaste :)