Bodyscan Without Introduction

This is a bodyscan used in the MBSR training provided by Lifecoach Leidschenveen. This practice will bring you into a relaxed state of being through gently shifting your focus through an array of different parts of the body. Use this practice when you wish to banish any negative or stressful thoughts or as a way to wind down after a long day.

Transcript

The body scan.

Lie down on your back if possible.

Close your eyes if you feel comfortable.

And let your arms lie alongside your body,

Your palms towards the ceiling.

Your feet falling away from each other and slowly bring your attention to the fact that you are breathing.

Not trying to control your breath.

In any way,

But simply experiencing as the air moves in and out of your body.

And noticing your abdomen gently expands.

Noticing your belly deflates as the breath comes out of your body.

And following the rhythmic movement of each breath.

The rise of your belly on the in-breath.

And on each out-breath just letting go.

Letting your body sink a little deeper into your mat.

Just bringing your full attention in each moment to each breath.

Following the rhythmic movements of your belly.

And with each out-breath you will sink a bit deeper in your mat.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Now if you are ready,

Bring your attention to your left toes.

Let your breath take your attention from your belly down your left leg all the way down to your foot and all the way out to your toes.

Just becoming aware of whatever the feelings are in this region of your body.

There may be sensations of tingling,

Moisture,

Itching,

Of warmth.

Whatever they are,

It is not important,

Just feeling your toes as they are.

And maybe you only register a blank when you tune to this region.

Then you are just experiencing nothing.

Not feeling what is there and just breathing with these sensations.

Experiencing your big toe and if you can your little toe.

Not moving them,

But just feeling them.

And your middle toes.

And when you are ready,

Move your attention to the bottom of your left foot.

Feeling the sensations.

Now bring your attention to your left heel.

Feeling the sensations of touch of your heel with the mat.

Breathing into your heel and breathing out from your heel.

Letting go.

Bringing your attention to the top of your left foot.

Feeling whatever it is you feel.

Then going up,

Bringing your attention to your left ankle.

What do you feel in your left ankle?

There is no right way of feeling.

Give yourself permission to feel whatever you are feeling.

Now bring your attention to your lower leg.

Becoming aware of your shin and calf muscles.

And all sensations.

Not just on the surface,

But deep down into the bones.

Experiencing and accepting what you feel here and breathing into it.

And then breathing out from it.

And letting go of your lower leg and move your focus up to your knee.

Feeling your knee.

The kneecap,

The sides of your knee.

And just experiencing your knee.

Breathing in your left knee and on an out breath letting it dissolve.

Moving upwards to the thigh,

Just above your knee and up to your hip.

Experiencing your thigh on the outside and the inside.

And if you feel any tension,

Just noticing that.

Do not try to change the tension.

Just being aware that is here in the moment.

And breathing in your thigh and out letting go of your thigh.

And then we zoom in and out.

And then we zoom out and bring our full attention to the left leg as a whole.

Then you can imagine to breathe in through your hips and down your leg,

Knee and out your foot.

And then up from your foot through your leg to your hip.

Using the breath to guide your attention through your left leg and foot.

Going up and going down.

And when you are ready,

Let go of your leg and bring your attention through your right leg to your foot and out to your right toes.

What sensations can you feel here?

And maybe you can notice your thoughts are drifting away.

Just by noticing you bring yourself right back in this moment.

Kindly bring your attention back to your right toes.

If you missed anything,

That is okay.

You don't have to catch up.

Bring your attention to the present moment in your right toes.

And then bring your attention towards the bottom of your right foot.

And be aware of whatever sensations there are.

Moving your attention to the right heel.

And maybe be aware of the different sensations in both heels.

Just open for any sensation.

Cold,

Warmth,

Tingling.

And then let go of your heel and bring your attention to the top of your foot.

What can you notice here?

And if you don't notice anything,

Well that is noted too.

And then on an out breath let go of your foot and bring your attention to your ankle,

Your right ankle.

Just feeling whatever it is you feel at this moment.

And being aware of this feeling.

And then we shift towards the lower leg with the attention.

The inside and the outside.

Maybe feeling the fabric on your skin.

Or maybe the air around your lower right leg.

And going up to your knee.

And experiencing and accepting what you feel here.

And breathing into your knee.

And breathing out from it.

Moving your attention to the right thigh.

From your knee to your hip.

Aware of the big bone that is inside.

And maybe you can notice the bone or maybe you just notice your right thigh as a whole.

And if you are ready,

Give your full attention to your right leg and foot as a whole.

Letting your breath go from your hip down through your right leg to your foot.

And up from your foot through your leg to your hip.

You can breathe in from your hip or from your foot.

Whatever is comfortable for you.

And let your attention go with your breath.

Rhythmic up and down your leg and foot.

And when you are ready,

On the next out breath you will let go of the right leg and foot.

And on the in breath you will focus on your pelvis.

From one hip to the other.

Noticing your buttocks in contact with the mat.

The sensation of contact and the sensation of weight.

Becoming aware of the region of the genitals.

And whatever sensation or lack of sensation you are experiencing.

Letting your breath down into your pelvis.

And breathing with your entire pelvis.

Totally present in each moment.

Content to just be.

Content to be just right here.

As you are right now.

And then direct your attention to your lower back.

An area where tension is gathered.

And see if you feel tension here or maybe relaxation.

Whatever your experience is.

Accept the tension,

The tightness,

The lack of tension.

Or whatever sensation you find in your lower back.

You don't have to change your experience.

This is what is here right now,

In this moment.

And then we are moving our attention to the belly.

Your abdomen.

Maybe you can feel your intestines.

If you can't feel any other sensation,

Your belly will move on the rhythm of the breathing.

And every time your attention is distracted.

To thoughts,

Emotions or sensations like sound.

Just notice that you are distracted.

And friendly but firm,

Bringing your attention back to this guided exercise.

In this case the abdomen.

And then we are moving further up towards your thorax.

Your rib cage,

Expanding on the in-breath.

Sinking in on the out-breath.

And inside are your lungs.

Doing all the work for the breathing.

And in the middle is your heart.

Maybe you can feel it pound.

Just being aware of all sensations.

It is an area where you can feel pressure,

Or tightness,

Fatigue,

Discomfort.

Just notice what you are feeling right now in this moment.

It is okay.

This is just how it is in this moment.

And from this region we go up to the upper back.

Feel whatever you feel.

And take your time to breathe towards your upper back and away from your upper back.

Breathing in.

And on the out-breath let go of your upper back and shift your attention through your left arm to the fingertips of your left hand.

Becoming aware of how they lie here next to your body.

And to your left hand.

Maybe a sensation of tingling.

Or warmth.

Cold.

It is okay.

This is as it is in this moment.

And just feeling your left hand as a whole.

Or maybe you will feel differences between your palm and the back of your left hand.

And then going to your wrist.

Becoming aware of your forearm.

The elbow.

Any and all sensation,

Regardless of what they are.

Allowing the field of your awareness to include now the upper arm.

Right up to your shoulder.

And experiencing your left shoulder.

Breathing into your shoulder and left arm and all the way to your fingertip.

Breathing out from your fingertips through your left arm to your shoulder.

And on the next out-breath you will leave the left arm and on the in-breath you will go into the right arm to your hand towards your fingertips.

Just becoming aware of the sensations in the tips of your fingers and thumb.

You may feel some pulsation from the blood flow.

A dampness or warmth.

Or whatever you feel.

Just feeling your fingers of your right hand.

And expanding your awareness to include the palm of your right hand.

Just registering this region of your body.

And when you are ready,

Just move your attention towards the back of your right hand.

Feeling the contact of your hand with the mat.

And then we are going up with our attention to the right wrist,

With all bones and connections,

Making it possible to move in so many directions.

Up to the right forearm.

And every time our attention floats away,

Just kindly but firmly bring it back to your body.

To the right forearm.

Your elbow,

Right elbow.

Aware of all sensations.

And it is okay.

Just as it is,

It is okay.

But your upper arm,

Totally present in each moment.

Content to just be right here as you are right now.

And your right shoulder.

And now giving your right arm as a whole a well deserved attention.

Breathing in from your shoulder through your arm and elbow,

Towards your hand and fingertips.

And breathing out from your fingertips,

Arm,

Shoulder.

And let go of whatever thoughts come up,

Or whatever impulse to move and just experiencing yourself in this moment.

And on the out breath we let go of the arm and on the in breath we focus our attention to the neck and throat.

And feel this part of your body.

Experiencing what it feels like,

Perhaps when you swallow or when you breathe.

And then let it go.

Becoming aware of your face now.

Focusing on your chin,

Your jaw,

Maybe any tension you feel in the jaw.

Just as it is,

It is okay.

Becoming aware of your lips,

Your mouth,

Your cheeks,

Nose.

Feel the breath,

Feel the air moving in and out at the nostrils.

Then your eyes,

The entire region around your eyes and eyelids.

Aware of any sensations on the forehead and if you feel tension,

Then that is what is there right now.

It is okay,

Just as it is,

You don't have to change it,

Any of your sense,

Any emotion associated with tension or feelings in your face.

Just be aware of that.

Now become aware of your ears.

Coming through your ears,

From moment to moment.

And let go of your ears.

The back of your head.

And the top of your head.

And now letting your whole face and head be as it is.

Just letting it be as it is.

And now we are going to shift the attention to our body as a whole.

Letting the breath move through the entire body in whatever way feels natural for you.

Maybe focusing on the top of your head,

The crown of your head.

And just imagine that this spot can open up like the blowhole of a whale.

And that you can breathe right through the top of your head.

So breathing in and out,

Right through the top of your head,

And letting the air and the energy move right out of your head and right back down into it.

So you are imaging now that you are breathing from the top of your head,

Right through the body,

And out at the bottom of your feet.

And breathing in from the bottom of your feet and out through the head.

Just letting you experience your whole body breathing and feeling your body as a whole from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet.

Allow yourself to feel whole.

In touch with your essential self in a realm of silence,

Of stillness,

Of peace.

And seeing that this stillness is in itself healing.

And allowing the world to be as it is,

Besides our personal fears and concerns,

Beyond the tendency of our mind to want everything to be a certain way.

Seeing yourself as complete right now,

As you are.

Totally awakened right now.

As this exercise ends,

When you hear the bell,

Take your time.

You might want to wiggle your toes and fingers,

Stretch your back,

And allow this calmness and this centeredness to remain with you as you move now,

And as you resume the activity of your life.

Congratulate yourself on having taken the time to nourish yourself in this way.

And remember that this state of relaxation and clarity is accessible to you by simply paying attention to your breath in any moment,

No matter what is happening in your day.

The end.

Reviews

Bedankt Simone. Deeply relaxing. I was 😴💤before half way through.

Thank you for bringing me back to the beautiful Bodyscan 🙏

A most wonderful body scan Dr. Simone Very detailed and relaxed me so much that I went into a restorative sleep. All my thanks and appreciation.

Great Bodyscan. Very gentle with good cues. Thank you!

I agree with the other reviews about how well the time was used and how deeply relaxing the body scan was. 🙏🏻💗

I appreciate the concise intro and general pacing of this one. Nicely done.

This is great💗

What a great body scan, exactly what I needed. Straight into the scan with focus on every part of the body, no music, no distracting commentary, great pace and time to breath and integrate each body part. Thank you!

Lovely. Thank you

I've listened to this many times and love the simplicity of the gentle guidance of your voice.
Namaste 🙏

Thank you. Your quiet, calm voice helped me to become very peaceful during this practice.

Amazing body scan, thank you 🙏🏻

Cool! As a tantra yoga teacher and a thai masseuse I always start by the left side of the body, first the receptive side of the polarity and then the emissive side. I'm always confused by the exercises staring by the right! So thank you!

Danke shien fraulein Simone your friend Rudy in Los Angeles

Without doubt one of the best body scans I've come across & I ❤️body scans. Absolutely brilliant 🤸 Thank you, thank you, thank you! Oh and merry xmas from sunny Melbourne Australia where it's 29°c / 84.2°f
✌️❤️&🙂
Matt

Gentle and calming. Deeply appreciative of this body scan!

This is my new favorite for body scan. The speaker resonates what I call Sid qualities—she quietly guides and speaks only what is necessary.

Wonderful body scan. Thank you for providing this.

Thank you 🙏 enjoyed this very much. Bookmarked

Fell asleep toward the end, but it was great