Introduction To Chanting Meditation #3 Body Scan
This guided body scan meditation is part three of four on posture. Relaxation is the foundation of meditation and good health. It is the gateway to deep meditation. And the ability to relax is a wonderful resource for the rest of your life too! Through guided body awareness the listener explores their own body using their body's feelings and sensations to guide them into a balanced and aligned posture which promotes relaxation enabling the flow of breath, blood, and Qi. From this stable platform, the practitioner is enabled to go deeper into calm and insight towards full illumination and awakening.
Transcript
We're doing a body scan and that means you're invited to lie down for this and we're just going to do the body scan today.
We're not going to do any chanting or anything like that.
So you don't have to worry about getting up and down.
And this continues our theme of posture and relaxation,
Relaxation.
Why do we emphasize it?
Well,
It's just a great skill to practice so that it's a resource that you have at your call for whatever,
You know,
Flooding,
Whatever's going on in your world to help you deal with sometimes the trials of life.
So being able to relax in the midst of chaos is a great resource.
That alone with meditation,
Especially though,
Relaxation is really the gate to enter into meditation.
So when you first sit down or lie down,
Being able to gather yourself,
Center yourself and relax allows the experience and the meditation to kind of unfold for you.
So these are really sort of basic,
Basic skills to kind of get you started having a good posture and then being able to relax in that posture sort of opens the door for the rest of this.
So we're going to continue to focus on that for today.
Good morning,
Good afternoon and good evening to everyone.
Thank you for coming.
Let's begin.
Begin by taking as much time as you need to slowly move into a comfortable position lying down on a mat,
On your couch or your bed.
Starting to rest,
Lying on your back in a way that is most comfortable for you.
Perhaps placing a nice pillow under your knees behind your head,
Making for minimal discomfort.
You can also place your feet flat on the floor or surface with your knees at a 45 degree angle.
Feel free to experiment and if you need to adjust your position during this session so that you maintain comfort and ease.
Your arms are alongside your body.
Your palms can be facing the ceiling or the floor,
Whichever is most comfortable.
Allowing your feet to fall away from each other.
During the session itself,
If you need to change your posture,
Please do so.
All the while maintaining a continuity in the awareness of what is happening in each moment.
The body scan is an invitation to fall awake rather than fall asleep,
No matter how relaxed you might become.
You may find it helpful to practice with your eyes open from time to time if feelings of drowsiness arrive.
In the body scan is an invitation to step outside of clock time,
Just enjoying the moment.
Resting in this presence with an open mind and heart,
Following along with the instructions as best you can,
Remembering what is most important is not what I'm saying,
But your awareness of what you are experiencing and feeling in this moment.
Resting in an open-hearted awareness as best you can,
Which is the heart of our meditation practice.
Letting go of the tendency that we all have to want things to be different from how they are right now.
Allowing things to be exactly as you find them.
Allowing yourself to be exactly as you are.
Remembering that you have given yourself this time entirely for you.
Allowing an opportunity to be by yourself and with yourself fully.
Allowing this to be a nourishing time,
A time you deserve.
Giving yourself positive energy and attention.
Using the guidance as best you can,
Observing your body and your mind as you go along.
Letting go of judgments and critical thoughts as best you can.
Being aware of how you feel.
Accepting there is no right way to feel as you are doing this.
The way you are feeling is the way you are feeling.
Accepting it,
Allowing yourself to feel what you are already feeling.
Whatever it is,
Knowing it's okay.
Experiencing whatever is unfolding moment by moment in your body,
In your heart,
In your mind.
And if at any point you need to tune out my voice to find a deeper silence underneath,
Then by all means do so.
Coming back to the guidance if and when you want.
Lying here,
Resting,
Eyes closed.
Let's begin now by bringing your attention to a sense of your body as a whole,
Lying here.
Whatever it is in this moment,
Keeping in mind that from the perspective of mindfulness meditation,
As long as you're breathing,
There is more right with you than wrong.
No matter what the condition of your body,
Its history,
What you may be facing in this moment.
Right now,
As you lie here,
Giving yourself over to feeling the sensations of contact in all those places that your body is being supported by the surface you are lying on.
Feeling how the air surrounds the body and caresses the skin as it moves even subtly in the room.
The breath as it moves through the body.
Feeling the rhythmic waves of the breath in,
Out.
Your awareness is floating on the waves of the breath's sensations.
The rise and fall of the belly.
The cool and warm air as it passes the nostrils.
Lying here,
Opening to and resting in an awareness of the body as a whole,
Breathing moment by moment,
Breath by breath.
With every out-breath,
Feeling your body sinking deeper and deeper into the surface you are lying on.
As your muscles relax,
Release,
And your body lets go,
Noticing if there are times that the mind wanders or is carried away by the thought stream.
In those moments,
Noticing what is on your mind,
Without judgment or criticism,
And gently bringing your awareness back to the breath,
To the body lying here.
Noticing and welcoming that it's the nature of the mind to wander,
To think.
So it's bound to happen.
It's not a sign you are doing anything wrong.
And when you feel ready,
Let go of the body as a whole and shift the focus of your awareness to your left foot.
Tuning into the whole of your left foot with a gentle,
Interested,
Affectionate awareness to whatever sensations you may find here.
The particular sensations are not important,
Or you judging them or deciding if you like them or not.
Just feeling your left foot,
Toes,
Instep and sole,
Top of the foot,
Heel,
Ankle.
As you lie here,
Attending to the left foot,
Seeing if you can feel or imagine your breath entering your nose,
Down into the lungs,
And passing all the way down the body through the left leg and into the left foot,
All in one breath.
And then imagining the breath coming all the way back up from the foot,
Leg,
Torso,
And out through the nose.
Breathing into and out from your left foot as you lie here.
On and out breath,
Letting go of the entirety of the left foot,
Dropping into a deeper stillness and awareness.
Moving your awareness to the region of your left lower leg,
The shin in front,
The calf in back,
The surface of the skin,
And deep into the muscles and bone,
Opening to whatever sensations are here.
Inviting your awareness to take up residency in this region of the body,
Allowing it to be as it already is,
However it is.
As you rest here in full awareness,
Accepting the feelings that you are feeling,
Breathing with them,
Moment by moment.
On and out breath,
Letting go of the left lower leg as you come to focus your awareness on your left knee.
Bringing your breath into the knee and breathing out from the knee.
Feeling the kneecap,
The sides of the knee,
And the back of the knee.
On and out breath,
Letting go of the knee,
Moving into the region of the left upper leg,
The left thigh,
All the way up to the groin on the inside and the left hip on the outside.
Feeling whatever sensations are here to be felt.
Bringing your breath into and out from this region of the left thigh.
And when you're ready,
Taking a deep breath down into your whole left leg,
From your foot,
Lower leg,
Knee,
And thigh,
And then breathing out.
Letting go and moving your awareness to your right foot.
Noticing how easily your attention moves to the other leg and foot as you shift your awareness,
Opening to whatever is already present in your right foot.
Bringing your breath into the right foot and back out again.
Tuning into whatever is here to be felt.
Your right toes,
The bottom of your right foot,
The top,
Heel,
Ankle.
On and out breath,
Letting go of the whole of the right foot,
Moving your awareness to your right lower leg and right knee.
Allowing your awareness to fill and your breath to bathe this region of the body.
Tuning to whatever sensations are here to be felt as you lie here.
With and out breath,
Watching the right lower leg and knee dissolve in your mind's eye.
Moving up into the region above the knee,
The right upper leg and thigh.
Noticing whatever is here to be felt in the entire area of your right thigh,
From above the right knee,
Up to the right hip on the outside,
And the groin on the inside.
Whatever sensations may be present.
And noting if these sensations,
These feelings,
Have a quality to them.
Either a heaviness or a lightness,
A temperature.
And when you're ready,
Taking a deep,
Slow,
More intentional breath.
Tuning in to the entirety of your right leg,
Foot,
Lower leg,
Knee,
And thigh.
Holding it in your awareness.
And then as you breathe out,
Letting this area go,
Fading away.
As you move your awareness now up into the region of the pelvis.
Feeling whatever sensations are here in this region of the pelvis,
Whatever it might be.
Anywhere of your hips,
Groin,
Genitals,
Buttocks.
Titling the whole of this region in your awareness,
Bathing it in your breath.
Letting go of the whole of the pelvic region on and out breath.
And as you breathe out,
Watching it soften and release.
As you sink even deeper into stillness and awareness.
Present in each moment,
Content to just be right here as you are right now.
Bringing your awareness to the lower back.
The low back being a region particularly prone to tension,
Fatigue,
And strain.
Breathing with and into whatever sensations you are aware of as you tune into the lower back.
As you breathe in,
Letting the breath penetrate the entire region.
Experiencing any sensations as they are.
Cradling them in your awareness.
And as you breathe out,
Inviting any tension,
Tightness,
Holding,
Bracing to flow out.
Letting gravity dissolve them.
Letting them melt away into the floor.
As you breathe out,
Releasing the lower back.
Letting it fade,
Moving around to the front in the region of the belly.
The sides of the belly.
From your hips up to the bottom of your lower rib cage.
Feeling the belly rising and falling.
In touch with any and all sensations in this region.
Moment by moment.
Breath by breath.
Taking a slow,
Deep breath in.
And as you breathe out,
Visualizing the breath dissolving out into the air.
As you allow the entirety of the region of the belly to fade away.
Bringing your awareness to the upper torso,
The rib cage,
The chest,
The upper back.
Which houses the heart,
Lungs,
And great vessels of the bloodstream.
Your chest wall,
Upper back,
Shoulder blades,
Collarbones,
Shoulders.
Feeling with and into any and all sensations in this region of the body.
Feeling your heart beating in the chest.
Feeling your rib cage expanding and contracting as your lungs fill with air on each in-breath and release it with each out-breath.
Perhaps recognizing any sensations of tightness or tension that may have accumulated in this region.
Any thoughts or emotions that may also be arising and passing away as you lay here.
And when you're ready,
Taking in a long,
Slow,
More intentional breath.
Feeling the rib cage expanding all around in back,
Front,
Sides.
Holding it for a moment in the lungs.
And then letting the breath release.
As the breath lets go,
Noticing what happens as the mind lets go of this region of the body.
And moving your attention down into your hands,
Both left and right at the same time.
Noticing whatever sensations may be present,
Your fingers,
Thumbs,
Palms,
Back of the hands.
Noticing your wrists and your forearms,
Your elbows,
Upper arms,
Armpits,
Shoulders.
Noticing the entirety of your hands and arms,
From the tips of the fingers up to the shoulders.
With each in-breath,
Letting your breath fill your entire arms.
And as you breathe out,
Releasing any tension or holding you may find here.
And when you're ready,
On and out breath,
Letting go of the hands,
Arms,
And shoulders.
Dropping deeper and deeper into awareness itself.
Being present in each timeless moment.
As best you can,
Letting go of whatever thoughts may come up,
Or impulses to move.
And just experiencing yourself lying here,
Resting in awareness.
Moving into the region of the neck and throat,
Opening to whatever is here to be felt.
This region,
Too,
Is another one in which tension and stress tend to accumulate.
If you find any tension or fatigue or other sensations,
With the out-breath,
Letting it melt away.
Releasing it,
Layer by layer,
Breath by breath.
On and out breath,
Letting go of the neck and throat,
Allowing them to dissolve as you move into the region of the head and face.
Another region that stores tension.
Experiencing this area as it is in this moment.
The back of your head in contact with the surface you are lying on.
The whole of your face.
Allowing it to be at rest as it is.
Sensing the breath moving in and out past the gateways of the nostrils.
Sensations in the chin,
Jaw,
Lips,
Mouth,
Teeth,
Tongue,
Nose,
Cheeks,
Eyes,
Forehead,
Temples,
Ears,
Scalp,
And crown.
Allowing your awareness to hold and embrace with loving acceptance the whole of your face and head,
Just as they are in this moment.
Breathing with them,
Cradling them in awareness as you lie here,
Moment by moment.
Recognizing as you have been doing any thoughts or emotions that might be arising and moving through the mind like clouds or weather patterns in the sky.
Taking a slow,
Deep,
More intentional breath in to the whole of your face and head.
And on the out breath,
Allowing this region of the body to fade.
Watching it dissolve into stillness,
Into a natural peacefulness.
As the breath lets go,
And as the mind itself lets go,
Coming to rest in awareness itself.
In awareness in which you once again hold your whole body from toes,
Legs,
Torso,
Hands,
Arms,
Shoulders,
Neck and face,
All the way up to the top of the head.
Aware of your whole body.
Embracing the whole of the body as you find it,
However it is in this moment.
Resting in awareness in stillness.
Deep inner silence and wakefulness.
Knowing you are complete just as you are.
You are whole.
You are in touch with your essential completeness.
A realm of well-being.
Open to things just as they are.
Seeing that experiencing this stillness and awareness is itself profoundly healing.
Resting here now,
As long as you like,
In silence and stillness.
Allowing your awareness to tenderly and gently hold whatever arises in your body,
Emotions,
And mind.
Allowing things to be as they already are,
Moment by moment.
As you lie here.
Fully awake.
Fully alive.
Bathing in the breath.
In silence.
In awareness itself.
Allowing your awareness to tenderly and gently hold whatever arises in your body,
Emotions,
And mind.
As this practice comes to a natural conclusion,
Opening again to the world of clock time,
Taking a moment to thank yourself for having made the time to nurture yourself in this way.
Befriending yourself in this healing,
Nurturing way.
Letting your deep inner resources nourish and heal your life.
Remembering and knowing that this awareness is portable.
That it is always as close as this breath,
In this moment.
With any breath.
In any moment.
Slowly,
Very slowly,
Begin to emerge from your body scan.
Taking a deep breath in and stretching out your arms and your legs.
And letting out a nice long sigh.
Wiggling your toes and your fingers.
And when you feel ready,
Slowly rolling over onto your side.
Giving your body time to adjust to a new position.
And opening your eyes.
Taking a few mindful breaths in and out.
And when you feel ready,
Making your way slowly to a sitting position.
And returning your full awareness to the room around you in the realm of clock time.
Thank you all very much for coming.
