Welcome to the body scan,
A mindfulness practice of attending to the body with awareness,
Compassion and a gentle curiosity.
Through this exploration of the body we will be cultivating flexibility of attention.
At times the focus will be specific and one-pointed and at other times you will be expanding your focus to be broader.
This is also an opportunity to be with yourself with full care and attention.
You are giving yourself the gift of your attention to what is true for you in this moment.
Opening to the sources of strength,
Wisdom and healing already within you.
So finding a warm and protected place where you can feel secure and a time that you will not be disturbed.
Dress in comfortable clothing that allows you to breathe naturally and easily.
It is important that you take care of yourself during the body scan meditation,
Doing the best that you can to be fully present to whatever is here for you in this moment.
There is no right way to feel while you are doing this.
The way you are feeling is simply the way you are feeling right now.
Some sensations in the body are pleasant and some unpleasant or even painful.
Or you may find that in some areas of the body there is no sensation at all.
So just staying with whatever you are feeling moment to moment to the best of your ability.
Noticing your preferences for some sensations and the normal tendency to want the pleasant sensations to stay on and the unpleasant ones to be different from the way they are right now.
Noticing any tension or striving to achieve a certain state of mind or relaxation.
Instead the invitation is to be gentle with yourself.
Allowing yourself to be simply aware of what's happening in each passing moment.
Watching the activity in your mind.
Letting judgmental and critical thoughts to simply come and go without believing them or making them go away.
Just being interested,
Curious and present to thoughts as they come and go.
Emotions as they come and go.
And whatever body sensations may be here.
Please also know that at any time if the body sensations are too unpleasant to bear in any moment you can always return to your breath knowing that you've made a conscious choice to take care of yourself.
Use the instructions for guidance as best as you can so that you are awake and alert to what is happening in your body moment by moment.
You can also use the intermittent bells that will ring during this practice to bring you back to the present.
If you find that you are uncomfortable lying down or falling asleep in the lying down position,
Find a position or posture that supports your practice of being fully awake to your body sensations in each moment.
What is important is the quality of attention and your attitude and not whether you are lying or sitting.
Now getting into a comfortable position for the body scan.
If you are lying on your back making yourself comfortable on a mat or a thick rug and using a blanket to stay warm during the practice.
Perhaps using cushions under your legs to support your lower back or under your neck to support your head.
Allowing your eyes to close gently.
Letting the arms lie alongside the body and letting the hands fall naturally by your side.
Letting the feet fall away from one another and slowly sensing the whole body from your head to your feet.
The full back and the front of your body.
Noticing perhaps the weight of the body as it makes contact with the floor or your chair.
Perhaps feeling this contact at the heels,
The buttocks,
The back,
The head.
Also noticing where the body feels lighter,
Where you don't feel its weight.
Now bringing attention to the fact that you are breathing.
Simply breathing at your own pace and following the breath as it enters the nostrils makes its way down to the abdomen.
Perhaps a slight pause before it makes its way out through the nostrils.
Noticing the brief pause before the out-breath turns into an in-breath.
It might be helpful to place your hands on the abdomen to feel the rising of the abdomen with every in-breath and the receding of the abdomen on the out-breath.
Now following a few cycles of breath in this breath.
On the next breath,
Directing the focus of your attention from the abdomen to the left hip and the left leg going all the way down to your left foot.
And now bringing your attention to the big toe of your left foot.
Noticing if any sensations are perceptible in this part of the foot.
What do you notice with the other toes in the left foot?
Perhaps temperature,
Warmth or coolness,
Dryness or moisture,
Any pulsations or tingling sensations,
The touch of the socks or stocking.
This is quite okay if you don't notice anything.
Moving from the toes to the sole of your left foot,
The ball in the arch,
The heel.
Exploring what sensations you find here if any.
And now moving to the top of the left foot.
Noticing any sensations on the skin.
And also perhaps deep into the foot.
Now expanding this focus of attention to include the entire left foot.
Broadening your area of awareness to the whole foot.
Breathing in and out with this awareness.
Giving your full attention to your left foot.
Now moving your attention to the left ankle.
Circling the left ankle with your focus of attention.
Investigating the bones,
The tendons,
The skin in this area.
And now moving further up the leg,
Your left leg.
Coming to the area between the knee and the ankle.
Bringing your attention to the front and back and sides of the lower leg.
Feeling your calf muscles.
Perhaps the pressure at the back of the leg touching the clothing or the mat.
Any other sensations in the shin.
Just simply breathing in with this awareness of the lower leg.
Now moving your attention to the left knee.
Breathing down to this area.
Feeling the front of the knee,
The back and sides with kindness and full care.
What sensations are here right now?
Inviting yourself to be fully present to whatever is here in this area in this moment.
Seeing if it is possible to be here without trying to make it different from how you find it.
Simply breathing into it and from it.
And if possible softening and opening with each in breath and out breath into your left knee.
Now moving your focus of attention to the thigh,
The left thigh.
What sensations are here?
Do you feel any pulsing,
Throbbing,
Anything else?
Perhaps you don't find any sensations at all.
Whatever it is,
Simply being with it.
There is no right way to feel other than what you are feeling right now.
Now broadening your awareness to include the whole left leg.
Aware of the thigh,
The knee,
The lower leg,
Ankle and the foot.
Breathing with this awareness of the whole of the left leg being present to what is here for you Directing focus of awareness now from your left hip across the pelvis coming to the right hip and all the way down the right leg to the right foot and the right big toe.
Noticing any sensations on the big toe and the other toes of the right foot.
Pulsation,
Temperature,
Dryness of moisture or perhaps the absence of any sensation in the right toes.
Now bringing attention to the sole of the right foot,
The ball in the arch,
The heel.
Perhaps feeling contact that the heel makes with the surface you are resting on.
Now bringing your awareness to the top of the right foot.
Feeling any sensations in the skin or deep inside the foot.
Now broadening your awareness to include the whole of the right foot.
Breathing with this focus,
With this quality of awareness and wakefulness on the right foot.
Now moving your focus of attention to the ankle,
Circling the front,
The sides and the back of the ankle with your awareness and noticing what is here.
Also noticing the mind wandering away from this practice,
Any thoughts of judgement.
As soon as you are aware that your mind has wandered away from the body part,
Just bringing it back to that area of focus with gentleness and firmness.
Now moving to the lower leg,
The region between the ankle and the knee.
Feeling any sensations in your calf muscle.
Is there any tightness or is it relaxed?
Opening up to whatever sensations reside here,
On the sides of your lower leg,
And not trying to change anything and being with what is here right now.
Moving your attention of focus to the right knee.
Noticing how is this knee bent or if it is flat.
You may find certain parts of the body are difficult to focus on.
And if that should happen,
Know that you can always choose to bring attention back to your breath.
Staying focused,
Knowing that you've made a conscious choice to follow your own wisdom.
Breathing in and out with awareness,
Giving your right knee full care and attention in this moment.
Now moving your attention to the right thigh.
Sensing the surface of the skin deep within,
Exploring what's here for you.
Sensing the thigh bone as it rests in the hip socket.
Finally noticing what's here in this moment.
Now broadening your awareness to include the whole of the right leg,
The thigh,
Knee,
The lower leg,
Ankle and foot.
Breathing with awareness.
Now moving the focus of attention to the area of the pelvic,
Hips,
Buttocks,
Genital area.
Breathing down into this region.
Noticing any sensations within muscles,
Skin and deep within this part of the body.
Noticing any judgements or discomfort in this region and seeing if it's possible to open up to whatever is here in this moment without trying to change it.
Just being with what is.
Now moving your focus of attention to the base of the spine and your lower back.
An area in your body that often holds discomfort that we carry around day to day.
Giving it your full care and attention as you breathe down into this area.
Exploring what's here.
The bundles of sensations in this region as the lower back makes contact with your clothes or the surface supporting it.
Softening and opening with each in-breath and out-breath as you allow the lower back to rest into the ground.
Now moving to the lower abdomen.
Sensing the movement here with every in-breath and out-breath.
The undulations in the abdominal muscles as you breathe in and out.
Sensing this flow of in-breath and out-breath for a few cycles.
Moving up to the solar plexus.
The region just below the ribcage.
Opening and softening.
Exploring whatever sensations are here.
Letting awareness to expand to the whole of the ribcage and chest cavity.
Feeling the spaciousness in the chest cavity if possible.
Noticing the lungs filling up with every in-breath and the natural contraction with every out-breath.
Now bringing awareness to the heart and the region around the heart.
A part of the body that often tightens with emotions of discomfort.
Seeing if it is possible to breathe into this area to soften and open the chest cavity as much as is possible for you here and now.
Now moving your focus of awareness to the back,
The middle back area and the upper back.
Feeling sensations of lungs,
Back of the lungs,
Back of the heart.
The subtle movements of the breath undulating through the body.
Perhaps the slight shifting of contact with in-breath and out-breath.
Bringing awareness to your shoulder blades,
The back of the shoulders and back of the neck.
Allowing the breath to move through the entire back.
Investigating with attention and a gentle curiosity any sensations in the region of the back as you soften and settle your back.
Relaxing as much as is possible for you onto the supporting surface.
Moving now to the shoulders,
The back,
The tops of both sides of shoulders,
The front of shoulders.
This is also an area that acts as a reservoir of tension and tightness and the weight of responsibilities.
Opening to any sensations and breathing.
Exploring with kindness and alertness what you might be holding here and what you might be able to let go in this moment.
Noticing what's changing in this area moment to moment and what's staying the same.
Breathing into this area and letting go.
Moving your focus of awareness from the shoulders down both the arms to the elbows,
Wrists and both hands.
Noticing what position are your hands in,
What are they making contact with.
Any sensations of temperature,
Coolness or warmth.
Feeling the subtle flow of air on your hands.
Dryness or moisture.
What else is there for you in this region of your hands?
Any pulsations or circulation in your fingers,
The palms,
The nails,
The joints,
Knuckles.
Feeling sensations in the top of the hand and perhaps deep within the hands.
Breathing awareness into your hands as they rest by your body.
Moving awareness to the wrists,
The back of the wrists.
Possibly feeling the pulsations and circulation here within the lace of blood vessels in this part of the body.
Moving up the lower arm,
The bent of the elbows.
Any sensations in the inner or outer part of the elbows.
Moving your awareness to the upper arms.
Sensing perhaps both arms resting on the shoulder sockets.
And now expanding awareness to include both arms.
Bringing your gentle attention to the full length of both arms,
The hands,
The fingertips,
Your wrists,
Lower arms,
Elbows,
Upper arms.
Breathing with this awareness.
Feeling to the area of the neck and the throat.
Sensing the muscles at the back of the neck.
Noticing without any judgement how you hold your neck.
Do you generally tend to tip your neck backwards or does it fall forward?
Seeing if it is possible to notice the subtle sensations as you breathe in and out in this area.
Moving from this area to the jaw.
Noticing if there is any tension around this area and if it is possible to soften this region.
Noticing what else is here if any.
Sensations in the area of the chin.
Following from the jaw to the sides of the head,
The region of the ears.
The ability to hear in this moment.
And noticing any vibrations in the outer or inner ears.
Simply being present to whatever is here for you in this moment.
As you bring your full awareness to your ears.
Moving from the attention to sounds in the ears to the back of the head.
Noticing any sense of contact or pressure.
The tiny muscles in the scalp.
Any sensations in the cranial region.
Possibly even the weight of the brain responding to gravity.
The crown of the head.
The top of the head.
Now moving to the forehead.
Noticing any tension and sensations in the forehead.
Exploring possibilities of relaxing your forehead in the temples right now.
What sounds are perceptible here in this region in your eyes.
Resting in awareness as you breathe into this area.
Softening your eyes.
And now bringing attention to your nose down the bridge of your nose to the nostrils.
Noticing the coolness of air entering the nostrils and warm air leaving the nostrils.
Just noticing the change in temperature as the air enters the nostrils and leaves the nostrils.
Staying with the sensation of breathing for a few more rounds.
And now bringing attention to the cheeks and the many many muscles in the face.
And the subtle sensation of air touching the face.
Broadening awareness to include the whole face.
Refreshing and renewing the whole face as you breathe in and out with this awareness.
Now broadening the focus of awareness to include the whole body.
The entire back,
Body,
The front,
The sides,
The fingertips,
The crown of the head and the soles of the feet.
Sensing the envelope of the skin without any judgment.
And allowing things to be as they are in this moment.
Simply noticing with the quality of wakefulness and dignity your entire body.
Breathing in and breathing out with this awareness.
If you like,
You can imagine sweeping the entire body from the crown of the head through the soles of the feet using as many breaths as you need.
And then reversing breathing from the soles of the feet all the way up through the head.
Breathing with this full breath.
Sensing the ability to be awake to your experiences and body sensations moment by moment.
Acknowledging your ability to take care of yourself by attending to the moment to moment experience of your body,
Mind and heart.
In the last few moments of the practice,
Coming back to the sense of body lying here,
Aware of simply being here now.
Not trying to get anywhere,
Not trying to feel anything special,
But allowing yourself to be exactly as you are.
In a few moments the bell will ring.
Taking these last few moments to fully rest in the aliveness of your breathing body.
Coming home to your body right here,
Right now.
