This is a 25 minute body scan.
Take a few moments to get comfortable,
Either sitting or lying down.
If you think you may fall asleep,
It can be helpful to remain seated.
If you're lying down,
It may help to have a flat pillow under your head or perhaps even under your knees.
If you're sitting,
Try to keep your legs uncrossed and your feet on the floor.
Make sure your back feels supported,
Either with a sturdy backrest or pillow.
There's no need to close the eyes,
But it can help reduce distractions from the outside.
If you don't feel comfortable closing your eyes,
Simply gaze down to your lap or your chest.
It's important to be comfortable,
Whatever that looks like for you.
Now bring your attention to your left foot.
To the toes of your left foot.
Notice any sensation,
Cold,
Warm.
Tingling,
Numbness.
Or you may feel no sensations at all.
That's okay.
Imagine bringing your breath into your toes.
Now shift your attention to the whole left foot.
The pad of your foot,
Your heel.
Just observe the feeling of the foot as it touches the floor or how it feels in your shoe.
Just observe any feelings,
Good or bad.
In the left foot.
Breathe into this part of your body.
Now bring your attention to the whole left leg.
From the ankle.
Through the calf.
Your knee,
The lower and upper thigh.
You might notice sensations of cold or heat.
You might notice different sensations near your ankle or your calf.
And your thigh.
Or you may not feel anything at all,
And that's okay too.
Just note how the left leg feels in this moment.
It's very normal,
Perhaps to have drifted away into other thoughts.
Or other parts of your day.
Maybe you're wondering about what you have to do after this class.
Perhaps you're thinking,
When do I have time to do this practice?
So it's very normal for our thoughts to wander into the doing and the planning.
Simply bring your attention back to your left leg.
It's also okay to notice any feelings that come up.
You may notice negative or judgmental thoughts like this is silly.
Maybe you're being critical about your own performance or success with this activity.
Whenever you notice that,
Just bring your attention back to the breath and to your left leg.
Now shift your attention to the toes of your right foot.
Maybe you notice some differences between the feelings.
In these toes compared to those of your left foot.
Maybe pay attention to the space between your toes.
You might notice cold or tingling.
That's okay.
You may even notice the urge to move.
That's okay too.
Now shift your attention to the whole right foot.
The pad of the foot and the heel.
Maybe even pay attention to the arch of your foot.
How it feels touching your shoe or the floor.
If you're feeling the urge to move.
Just note.
By saying.
.
.
I feel like moving my foot.
And if you have to,
That's okay.
Try to make the movement conscious.
Try to pay attention as you're moving the foot.
Now bring your attention to the whole right leg.
From your ankle to your calf.
To your knee.
To your lower and upper thigh.
Scan the whole right leg.
Noticing any sensations,
Changes in sensations,
Maybe there's different sensations in the bottom of the leg compared to the top.
Again,
Noticing any urges to move.
Just deciding if you do need to move,
That's okay.
Bring your breath into the whole right leg.
Now take a moment.
To scan.
Both your legs.
From the thighs to the knees to the calf.
To the ankles,
To the toes.
The bottom of the foot.
Try to imagine this part of your body feeling heavy.
Completely supported by the floor or your chair.
And gradually shift your attention to your pelvic area,
Your hips,
Your bottom.
Noticing the place where the floor meets your pelvis and hips,
Or perhaps where they touch the chair,
Allowing your body to be fully supported.
Notice if there's any pain.
Pleasure.
Comfort.
Or perhaps nothing.
No sensations emanating from this area of your body.
Breathe into this area of the body slowly.
Don't have to change your breathing,
But just be more conscious that you're taking in breaths.
And what happens to your hips and your bottom as you inhale?
And exhale.
And again if your mind has wandered Just simply noticing out there.
There goes my mind again and bring it right back to the hips.
Be gentle,
Especially if this is your first time you're practicing.
And now bring your attention to your stomach.
And your lower back.
These can be areas of discomfort for many people.
Be gentle.
Be curious about the sensations.
If you have pain,
It can be helpful to note what kind of sensations you're feeling.
So instead of simply noting the pain,
Perhaps using words,
I feel stabbing.
I feel throbbing.
I feel cramping.
Just breathe into this space noticing the subtle shifts in your body with the inhale and the exhale.
You may find your mind has wandered away to another train of thought or experiences in the past.
You may be thinking about why or how you ended up with pain in this area.
This is a special place.
This is a part of your body that's been operated on.
You share this with others in this group.
Be kind to this part of your body.
You may have negative or disparaging thoughts about your stomach.
Just observe the thoughts.
It may be helpful to say,
Oh,
There's that critic again.
Now shift to your upper back and your chest.
You may be able to connect better with this part of your body because it's moving as you breathe.
Again,
There's often tension in the chest or back area.
So be kind and gentle.
Don't try to force any relaxation or feel the need to do anything differently.
Feel your back supported by the floor or your chair.
Note the places that your body touches the floor or back.
Imagine breathing into your chest.
Expanding the chest,
But not too much to make yourself uncomfortable.
And if your mind has gone on to other things or maybe something that happened this morning or something you have to do afterwards.
That's okay.
The mind's job.
Is to do is to think.
So we don't want to stop the mind from thinking.
We just don't want to go along with its story at this particular moment.
We want to be here in our bodies.
So if you find that you're thinking about other things or feeling different emotions.
Just tell yourself it's okay.
Back here in my chest.
Here's my breath in my chest.
Here's my back being supported by the floor.
Now bring your attention.
To the fingers and the hands.
And sometimes when we focus on these smaller parts of our body can be tempting to move and to fidget or make small adjustments and that's okay.
Just be conscious of how.
Your hands are feeling,
Whether they're cold,
Warm.
Bring your attention to your wrist.
Your lower arm to your elbow.
Just pay attention to how the arm and the hand feel from the elbow to the wrist.
To the fingers.
And then bring your attention.
To your shoulders.
Maybe the back of the shoulders,
The shoulder blades.
Notice if you hold any tension here.
Allow the floor to completely support.
Shoulder blades.
Your shoulders.
If you're sitting in a chair,
You may notice your shoulders start to sag a little bit as they fall away from your ears.
For many of us,
This is an area where we hold a lot of stress and tightness.
And as you start to think about these areas,
It's normal for the muscles to relax.
Bring your attention to your neck.
Just notice if there's any tightness,
Any tingling,
Unpleasant or pleasant sensations.
Again,
This is an area that holds a lot of stress for many of us and it's common for that stress to then lead to thoughts and feelings.
Maybe about what happened.
What's going to happen.
What you need to do about it.
Just observe the thoughts and bring your attention back to the physical being.
Now bring your attention to the head and the face.
Your jaw muscles.
You may feel certain parts more relaxed and heavy or you may not feel any difference.
Notice how the muscles around your eyes may feel.
Notice whether your forehead is relaxed or tight.
How the space around your brows feels.
And then just imagine.
The muscles of your face relaxing.
And bring your attention to the top of your head.
Sometimes when we pay attention to this part of our body,
We can feel little itches or desire to scratch.
Or just a feeling of wanting to move and that's okay just observe those urges and If you feel you have to move.
It's fine.
Try to do so consciously and conscientiously.
Just notice how the top of your head feels.
Now take a moment to scan your entire body.
Starting from the tip top of your head.
Through your neck.
Your shoulders.
Your upper back and chest.
Your lower back and stomach.
Your arms,
Your hands.
Down to your fingers.
Your hips,
Your pelvis.
Bring your attention to your legs all the way down to the toes and the soles of the feet.
Observe the sensations of the body.
Without judgment or evaluation.
Take a few minutes to scan the body.
From the opposite direction,
Starting with the soles of your feet.
Through your ankles.
Your calves.
Your knees.
Thighs.
Pelvic area.
The stomach.
The lower back.
The chest.
The upper back.
The shoulders.
Scanning through the arms.
Hands and fingers.
Back up into the chest.
Good night.
Face,
Top of the head,
Feeling the entire body.
Perhaps the sensations are warm.
Or more still.
Now start to make small movements with your feet and your hands.
Gently come back to the room.
Winkling slowly to open your eyes.
And come back to the present.
