Body Scan Meditation

This is about a 10-minute meditation where we will enter a body scan. We will go through the body area by area; being present with it, noticing any sensations, and releasing any tension. There is breath work included as well.

Transcript

Welcome to a body scan meditation. Begin by finding yourself a very comfortable position where ideally you can refrain from movement. So allow yourself to settle in. Make any adjustments that you need to to find yourself even a little bit more comfortable. Even if it increases your comfort by 5%. Settle in. Close your eyes. Let's begin by grounding our bodies into the space before we move forward. Begin by feeling whatever is underneath you. Maybe that's a couch, A chair, The floor, A meditation cushion. Take a moment and attach your attention to whatever is underneath you. Feeling it. Feeling what your feet are touching, Your legs, Your rear, Your back, Your arms. Physically coming into your own space. Take in a long, Slow inhale in through the nose. Holding for a moment and releasing through the mouth. In through the nose. Hold and release through the mouth. Very good. Let's repeat that. In through the nose. Hold and release through the mouth. Once more. In through the nose. Hold and out through the mouth. Today we're going to do a body scan meditation. Deeply attaching our attention to our body. As we scan through, We are binding our attention to that body area. We are noticing any sensations that are present. Aches, Pains, And just being present with that part of our body in a very delicate way that we often are not. Or an intricate way that we often are not. So let's begin by simply relaxing the face, The forehead. Let the eyebrows fall away from each other. Let the eyes sink in deeper. Release any tension from the mouth, The lips, The jaw. Let the teeth come apart a little bit. The top and bottom come apart a little bit. Leave a little bit of space. Let the tongue sit naturally in the mouth. Not push forward. Relax the neck and let the shoulders drop down. Let's begin scanning. As we scan through the shoulders. Again, Being present. Noticing any aches, Pains, Body sensations. Relaxing any tension. As we move our attention down through our arms, We are present with the upper arms, The elbows. Moving in to the forearms. Down into the wrists. Then we bring our attention into the hands. The tops of the hands. The bottoms of the hands. In each and every finger. Give yourself a moment to feel each and every finger. From the pinky to the thumb. Slow, Regulated breathing as we go through this. Let's take a mindful, Intentional breath in. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. Let's bring our awareness into the torso. As we scan down through the chest. Maybe letting the shoulders open up a little bit more so the chest can widen. Kind of a heart opener. As we scan down through the stomach. Again, We're noticing any sensations. We're being present with that area of the body. And we are releasing any tension. We are going to wind our attention around to the upper back. As we become present and attentive to the upper back. Letting the shoulder blades drop. As we move our attention in to the middle of the back. And in to the lower back. Mindful breathing. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. Scanning through the hips. As we scan down through our legs. We scan through the upper legs. Focusing our mind on that area. If intrusive or unwanted thoughts come in, Let them pass by. Don't judge yourself. Don't criticize yourself. Just re-anchor to the sound of my voice. Scanning down through the legs. Through the knees. And into the calves and the shins. Scanning in and through the ankles. Down into the feet. The tops of the feet. The bottoms of the feet. In each and every toe. From the big toe to the little toe. Taking a moment to be present with each part. Something we don't do in our daily life. Something we don't do very often at all. But this is a really lovely way to be present with your body. And to gain insight as to what's going on with your body. As well as to relax your body. To notice and release any tension. That can contribute to overall body pains. I want you to intentionally on your own take a quick scan of your body. From top to bottom. Or bottom to top. Now that we've gone through each area. Scan through. Very nice. Let's end with a little breathing. And I hope you join me for another meditation sometime. In through the nose. Holding. And then releasing through the mouth. Before we end we're going to do three rounds of some counted breath. We're going to do a three count inhale. And a five count exhale. It doesn't sound like a lot. But it is when you're doing it. Inhale. One. Two. Three. And out. Two. Three. Four. Five. Let your breathing go back to normal in between. And we inhale. One. Two. Three. And out. Two. Three. Four. Five. Once more. Inhale. One. Two. Three. And out. Two. Three. Four. Five. Very good. Begin waking the body by moving fingers and toes. Feeling relaxed. Centered. Peaceful. Not only do I thank you for joining me in this meditation. But I thank you for doing something for yourself. And I hope you can give yourself a bit of credit. Join me for another meditation. Thank you so much.