Compassionate Body Scan

This body-based practice from the Mindful Self-Compassion program offers and opportunity to pay close attention to your physical sensations and to relate to them with warmth and acceptance. It’s best done lying down, so you’ll want to have space to stretch out when you do this meditation.

Transcript

This is Leah Sagan Chinraku.

I'm a therapist and mindful self-compassion teacher in San Francisco.

And this is the Compassionate Body Scan Meditation.

So for this meditation,

Please find a comfortable position.

Many people like to do this meditation lying down on the back.

So if you would like to do that,

Please lie down on your back with your hands about six inches from your sides and your feet about shoulder width apart.

And if you'd rather be seated,

Then you can sit in a chair or on a meditation cushion.

You want to be in a comfortable position where you'll be able to feel at ease and still alert and awake.

So I'll just take a moment for you to settle in.

And once you've found a comfortable position,

We'll begin.

This meditation will take about 25 minutes to complete.

So as we begin,

Please place one or two hands over your heart or in some other soothing gesture.

Doing this as a reminder to bring affectionate awareness,

Warm presence to yourself throughout this exercise.

So feeling the warmth and gentle touch of your hands.

Take three slow,

Relaxing breaths.

And then just return your arms to your sides or to your lap.

In this meditation,

We will be bringing warm hearted attention to each part of the body in a variety of ways,

Moving from one part to another and finding what works best for each of us.

We'll be inclining our awareness toward the body,

Maybe the way you might incline toward a child or a pet,

A kind of warm curiosity.

And you know,

You may have judgments or unpleasant associations with a particular body part,

Or you may have physical discomfort in a certain area.

And if that's so,

You might want to place a hand on or near that part of your body as a gesture of kindness,

Perhaps imagining warmth and kindness flowing through your hand into your body.

And if at any time if an area of your body is too difficult to stay with,

Then please move gently to another body part for the time being.

You want to really allow this exercise to be as gentle and as peaceful as possible.

So we'll start with bringing attention to the toes on your left foot and just begin by noticing if there are any sensations in your toes.

Are they warm or cool?

Is there any tingling?

Maybe numbness?

Just feeling the sensations of your toes.

Ease discomfort or maybe nothing at all.

Just let each sensation be just as it is.

Maybe giving your toes an inner smile of recognition or appreciation.

Maybe it's been a while since you paid any attention to this part of your body.

And then moving your warm awareness to the sole of your left foot.

Can you detect any sensations there?

Your feet have such a small surface area yet they hold up your entire body all day long.

They work so hard.

So now we're giving them a little appreciation just for this moment.

And if there's any discomfort,

Seeing if you can release any tension and allow that area to soften as if it were wrapped in a warm towel.

And if you like addressing sensation with kind words such as,

There's a little discomfort here.

It's okay for now.

And now feeling your whole foot.

And if your foot feels good today,

You can also extend gratitude for the discomfort that you don't have.

And if there's some pain,

Discomfort,

Just acknowledging that.

Bringing kindness to that sensation.

And moving your attention now up your leg.

One part at a time,

Just noticing whatever sensations are present.

Appreciating if the part feels fine and sending kindness if there's any discomfort.

So moving slowly still on the left side to your ankle.

To your shin.

Your calf.

Bringing attention to your knee.

Maybe spending a little extra time there.

Our knees are also so important to us and it's so easy to forget that when we don't feel any discomfort.

When they're working the way that we depend on them to work to get us around.

You know if you do have discomfort in your knee right now or if you've ever had an issue with your knee then you know how challenging it can be.

When they're not feeling so good.

If your knee is healthy right now,

Bringing appreciation and if your knee is hurting,

Bringing kindness.

And if you notice that your mind is wandering as it always will,

Just returning to the sensations in this particular part of your body.

And if you feel uneasy or judgmental about a particular body part,

Try putting your hand over your heart and breathing gently or else place a hand directly on the body part or near it.

You might also try saying some words of kindness silently to yourself.

May my knee be at ease,

May it be well.

And then returning your attention to the simple sensations that are arising.

Moving on to your thigh and hip.

Bringing warm awareness,

Loving awareness to your entire left leg.

Making room for how it feels.

Perhaps offering an inner smile of warmth or appreciation if it feels right.

Perhaps offering kindness,

Care.

Now we'll shift over to the right side,

Again moving slowly up this side of the body.

Bringing attention to your right toes.

Again noticing any sensations there,

Are your toes warm or cool?

And just feeling whatever is happening there,

Ease,

Discomfort,

Maybe nothing at all.

And letting each sensation be just as it is.

Again maybe thanking your toes for all the subtle and not so subtle things they do.

And then moving to the sole of your right foot.

Just noticing any sensations there.

Maybe giving some internal recognition for all the work that your foot does,

That the sole of your right foot does.

And again bringing attention to the whole foot.

And if your foot feels okay today you can extend some appreciation for just the sense of well being in your foot right now.

And if there is discomfort,

Seeing if you can bring kindness and warmth to that sensation.

Acknowledging the pain or discomfort.

Bringing a kind of loving attention to it.

And again now moving your attention up your leg into your ankle.

On your right side.

Bringing warmth and appreciation.

Acknowledging the sensations.

Moving up to your shin and your calf.

And your knee.

Again maybe giving a little extra time to your knee.

Acknowledging how important it is.

And again moving on to your thigh and your hip.

And again if you feel any kind of uneasiness or judgment about a particular part of your body,

See if you can put a hand over your heart and breath gently reminding yourself that it's possible to be kind.

Maybe acknowledging the judgment or the uneasiness.

And expressing that intention to be compassionate towards yourself,

Towards this part of yourself.

Even if maybe right now you don't quite know how.

Bringing your attention to your entire right leg right now.

If you can acknowledge the sensations there and also maybe express internally a kind of appreciation for all that this leg does and has done.

Maybe bringing attention to both your legs at once right now and recognizing all the places that they have taken you.

All the ways that they have grown over your lifetime.

And then moving on into your pelvis and your abdomen.

Again know that abdomen or belly might be a part that you know you have some challenging feelings about.

If there's any discomfort,

See if you can bring kindness and care.

Reminding yourself maybe how hard your stomach and your digestive system works to digest your food.

And if there's any discomfort saying to yourself,

May my stomach be at ease,

May my stomach be well.

And bringing your attention to your buttocks,

Your lower back,

Upper back.

Just noticing if there's any tension here,

Any discomfort.

Any of these areas.

Again bringing warmth.

You know where there's discomfort.

Maybe saying internally,

May my back be at ease,

May my back be well.

And bringing your attention around to the front of your body,

Up from your abdomen to your stomach,

Into your chest.

And again if your mind is wandering,

Just gently bring it back.

Bring it back to the body,

Whatever sensations are here.

You can just continue to incline your awareness.

Again maybe the way you would orient toward a young child or a pet.

Just feeling the sensations in your left shoulder.

Moving into your left upper arm,

The elbow,

Lower arm,

Your wrist,

Hand,

Fingers,

Just acknowledging your hand,

All it does,

All it has done.

If you're left handed,

All the words you've written or typed,

Your hand was there.

And then bringing attention to that whole left arm and hand,

All of it,

It all works together.

Be acknowledging that,

Recognizing that,

Appreciating that.

And if there is discomfort,

Bringing warm attention,

Kindness.

Shifting to the right side,

Bringing attention to your right shoulder,

Your right upper arm,

Elbow,

Lower arm,

The wrist,

The hand,

And the fingers.

And again perhaps pausing for a moment here with the hand and acknowledging all that it has done.

All the times you've waved hello and goodbye,

All the words you've written,

All the hands you've held.

And then again bringing attention to the whole right arm and hand and perhaps acknowledging the way that they work together.

And then moving the attention up into your throat,

Acknowledging maybe all the words that have been spoken by your throat,

Through your throat,

And then bringing the attention to the back of your neck.

And coming around to your chin,

Up your face to your lips,

Nose and cheeks,

Eyes,

Forehead.

So there's so much to be aware of in the face.

Again,

All that our mouths have given us and done for us and with us,

Ears,

Nose,

Eyes,

All that we've seen.

And again if there's discomfort in bringing attention to this part of your body,

To your face,

Or to any of the parts of your face,

You can put your hand on your heart and acknowledge that,

Bring kindness to that discomfort.

And now just bringing attention to the face as a whole.

And again perhaps appreciating how your eyes and nose and ears and mouth guide and inform and really help you navigate the world all day long.

And bringing attention to the back of your head,

Up into the crown of your head.

And maybe taking in just your head as a whole and giving attention to that whole part of your body.

And now that you've paid this warm,

Loving attention to each individual body part,

Putting your hand on your heart once again or on some other soothing place,

Maybe your belly,

Just seeing if you can give your entire body just a final shower of care and affection and appreciation.

Just letting that warm attention wash over you.

And as you feel ready,

Gently opening your eyes.

.

Reviews

Thanks for this very soothing practice!

Lovely. Perfect pacing, voice. 🙏