Body Scan For Observing Your Body

The 45-minute body scan is a vital part of the 8-week MBSR training. It is the first step of getting in touch with Mindfulness and Vipassana meditation. You learn to observe and become aware of your body without attachements to what you experience.

Transcript

This is the body scan.

The body scan is a meditation practice of awareness,

Of open,

Non-judgmental awareness of body sensations.

If you can,

Come lie down in a comfortable position.

If lying down is not an option for you,

Then you can also do this exercise sitting up.

And when you come lie down on a mattress or a mat,

Make sure that you are comfortable,

But not as comfortable as you would be going to sleep.

Check if you need to support your head,

If you maybe need to roll something underneath your knees to give your back the support it needs,

And maybe you want to cover yourself with a blanket.

Sometimes as we lie down,

Our body can cool down a little bit.

The body scan is a practice of awareness.

The body scan is not a test,

And we're not exercising as if we are in the gym.

During the body scan,

There's nothing that you have to achieve.

There's nothing that you have to do.

There's nothing that you can gain.

It's a meditation practice of open,

Non-judgmental awareness of self-care,

Of paying attention to body sensations.

The body scan should be effortless,

With ease,

And with a certain kind of compassion towards yourself.

All you have to do is come lie down in a comfortable position,

And follow the instructions of my voice.

It may happen that you drift off in thoughts,

Worries,

Daydreams,

And that's okay.

As soon as you notice,

You're back in the now,

Back into the moment.

And when you notice you've drifted off,

Smile at yourself,

And bring the awareness back to the body part where we were.

You don't have to catch up on anything.

First bring your awareness on your posture as you are lying down here.

Your body lying down on the floor or on the mat.

I feel the gravity pulling you down,

And at the same time you are supported.

And it might be that in some parts you feel some tension,

And in other parts relaxation.

You don't have to change this.

We're simply observing whatever there is.

No need to change anything.

And now bring your awareness to your breath.

See where in your body you notice the breath best.

And this might be in your belly,

In your chest,

Or your nostrils.

Simply observing the breath.

We don't have to change it.

Lower it,

Or undepen it.

Your breath is perfect as it is right now.

Simply observing every in and every out breath for a couple of moments.

And now letting go of the awareness of your breath.

And move your awareness towards your left leg.

And then all the way down to the toes of your left foot.

What can you notice on the toes of your left foot?

Maybe there's a tingling.

Maybe you feel your toes touching each other.

Maybe you can feel your sock or the blanket.

And maybe you don't observe anything.

And that's also fine.

Remember this is not a test.

We're purely observing in our open awareness the toes of our left foot.

And then move in your awareness to the top of your foot.

The sole of your foot.

Or heel.

And then your entire left foot.

What do you notice?

What can you observe?

And then moving your awareness a bit higher towards your ankle.

And then the bottom part of your left leg,

Your calf and your shin.

Your knee.

The top part of your left leg.

Your hip.

Your buttocks.

And then spreading your awareness throughout your complete left leg.

From your hip all the way down to the toes of your left foot.

What can you observe?

What do you notice?

And maybe you don't notice anything at all and that's perfectly fine.

Simply observing with open awareness,

Without judgment,

With kindness,

Your left leg.

And then moving your awareness to the top of your foot.

And then moving your awareness to the top of your left leg.

And now letting go of the awareness of your left leg and move your awareness towards your right leg.

And then to the toes of your right foot.

And then moving your awareness towards your left leg.

And the top part of your right foot.

And then moving your awareness towards your left foot.

And then moving your awareness towards your left foot.

Once you are lying down,

Following this body scan,

You might notice that every now and then you start drifting.

Drifting into thinking.

Thoughts about the future,

About the pasts,

Daydreams,

Worries.

And this is all fine.

This is a natural process of the brain producing stories.

Because that is what the brain is designed to do.

Producing stories.

And all you have to do is notice that you were distracted,

Lost in a train of thoughts.

And then currently but firmly bring your awareness back to following your right foot.

You don't have to catch up anything.

Simply join again where we are,

Observing your right foot.

Then moving your awareness a bit higher towards your ankle.

And the lower part of your right leg.

Your calf.

Your shin.

Your knee.

The top part of your right leg.

Simply observing with a light open awareness.

Your hip.

Your buttocks.

And then spreading your awareness throughout your complete right leg.

From your hip all the way down to the toes of your right foot.

Observing.

And focusing.

And closing.

And then letting go of the awareness of your right leg.

Finish shifting your awareness to the bottom part of your back.

Maybe you sense the support of a cushion,

Pillow or the mat.

Maybe you observe nothing.

A light awareness on the bottom part of your back.

And then the top part of your back with your shoulder blades.

And every time there is distraction,

Simply notice and observe the distraction.

And gently but firmly bring your awareness back to following your body sensations.

The top part of your back and your shoulder blades.

And then moving your awareness to the front side,

Your lower belly.

Maybe you feel the movement of your breath.

And a bit higher with your ribcage.

And your chest.

Maybe you can sense your heartbeat.

And then spreading your awareness throughout your complete torso.

The front side and the back side.

What can you notice and observe when you put your awareness on your complete torso?

Maybe you can sense the movement of your breathing.

Your heart beat.

Feel the parts which are lying down on the floor.

Observing the torso.

Excreming the subconscious mind.

Ex statements.

Exertonic physical numbers.

.

.

And then letting go of the awareness of your torso.

And move your awareness towards your left arm.

And then to the fingers of your left hands.

Your thumb.

Your index finger.

Your middle finger.

The ring finger.

Your pink.

And maybe you sense them touching each other.

Or sense the space between them.

Or tingling sensation.

And then the top part of your hand palm.

And the inside of your hand palm.

Maybe it's facing up or down.

Maybe you can sense the temperature in the room.

And then your complete left hand.

And your wrist.

And the bottom part of your left hand.

Your elbow.

The inside and the outside.

And the top part of your left arm.

Your biceps and triceps.

And your shoulder.

The front side and the back side.

And then spreading your awareness throughout your complete left arm.

From your shoulder all the way down to the tips of your fingers.

Observing with open awareness.

Like nothing else.

Letting go of the awareness of your left arm and moving your awareness towards your right arm and the fingers of your right hand your thumb index finger middle finger ring finger pink and the outside of your hand palm at the inside of your hand palm and your complete right hand your wrist maybe a sensor of a watch or a bracelet or clothing your forearm your elbow the inside and the outside and the top part of your right arm your biceps and your triceps maybe you notice the part pressed down on the floor your shoulder the front side and the back side and then spreading your awareness throughout your complete right arm on the top of your shoulder all the way down to the tips of your finger what can you observe in your right arm and every time you get distracted that's okay that happens to everyone all you have to do is acknowledge you were distracted and kindly gently but firmly bringing your awareness to observing your right arm right arm and now letting go of the awareness of your right arm and shifting your awareness to the back of your neck the back part of your head you the top part of your head and your forehead your eyebrows maybe noticing a slight frown between them or maybe relaxation your eyes and your eyelids your nose your nose your cheeks your ears and your lips your mouth the inside and the outside your tongue and your chin your jaw your throat so and then spreading your awareness throughout your complete neck head and throat area observing with kindness open awareness without judgment so so and then spreading your awareness throughout your complete body from the crown of your head all the way down to the toes of your feet your body lying down observing observing whatever comes into your awareness one moment it might be the sensation of breathing another moment it might be a body sensation an itch or a stretch or a pain observing these as they come and go observing these effortlessly observing these effortlessly there's nowhere to go nothing to do and nothing to achieve only observing with a light kind open awareness you you you you you you and now letting go of your awareness and just lying here for a couple of moments undoing non-achieving effortlessly you and as we now slowly wrap up this meditation this bodies can thank yourself thank yourself for taking the time and space in your life to meditate to practice taking care of yourself taking time for non-doing paying attention to your body sensations and by practicing this on a regular basis you practice your awareness you practice being aware of your body and when you're aware of your body you're not in your mind out of your head into your body and by practicing being aware of your body you can listen to what it's telling you the sensations and the symptoms and the calls it's sending you when there is stress fatigue excitement relaxation hunger thirst all of this you can notice by paying attention to your body and by practicing this in a compassionate effortless and kind manner you can also train yourself doing this without judgment whatever comes whatever sensation it's fine whatever there is right now it's okay it's already there practicing with open and kind awareness and practicing in self-care and maybe you can take this self-care into the rest of your day as we end this meditation and start to move your fingers and move your toes move your fingers and move your toes bring some slow movements into your body opening up your eyes and then proceed with your day and see if for the remaining part of your day you can make some choices that add on to your self-care some choices that can help you so