MBSR Body Scan

This is a 43-minute body scan following the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) format. The body scan can be used for relaxation before sleep to practice returning the wandering mind to the present moment sensations of the body.

Transcript

Beginning this practice just by welcoming yourself to the chair or to the floor and just beginning to feel the body resting against the floor or the chair,

Noticing the weight of the body and then beginning to simply feel the breath as it moves through the body.

And you might feel the breath in the rise and fall of the belly and you might feel it in and out as it flows through the nose or through the mouth.

But just in whatever way feels comfortable for you,

Just beginning to connect and follow the breath.

And as you do that,

You might also begin just to again notice the heaviness of the body in the chair or on the floor.

And if you do notice that,

Just simply allowing that pull of gravity,

Just allowing that heaviness to be accepted by the chair or the floor.

And just continuing to stay with the breath here for a few moments.

And just following the breath.

We're not trying to change the breath,

But just simply being with the breath as it is.

Just simply staying with the breath.

And of course noticing that the mind will often wander away into fantasies or to-do lists or just wherever it might wander.

And when it does that,

Simply bringing it back to the breath as you find it here in the body.

And so as you perhaps are noticing some ease or rest in the body,

You might allow your arms to be at your side in just a gentle and relaxed position.

And if it's comfortable,

You might have your palms facing up.

And if you're sitting in a chair,

You can have your hands resting comfortably on your legs,

Again with your palms facing up if that's comfortable,

Or your palms resting gently facing down on your legs,

Whatever's most comfortable for you.

And just settling into a position here that is relaxed if possible,

But yet still awake and alert.

And so just finding that position here before we begin.

And then when you're ready,

Just bringing your attention to the toes of your left foot.

And so just in your mind's eye,

Allowing your attention to rest on the toes of your left foot.

And you might simply notice that they are warm or moist.

Just noticing how you find the toes of the left foot.

Perhaps you can feel air on them,

Perhaps you can feel them in your sock or your shoe,

Feel them against the floor.

And if possible,

Noticing this without moving them.

Just bringing your attention to the toes of the left foot.

And then in the same way,

Allowing the toes of the left foot to just dissolve in your mind's eye,

And bringing your attention to the bottom of the left foot.

And just breathing into the bottom of the left foot.

And simply noticing what you find there.

Then allowing the bottom of the left foot to dissolve.

And then bringing the left heel into your attention.

And again,

You might feel it against the floor,

You might feel it against your sock or your shoe.

Just breathing into that heel of the left foot.

And breathing out of that left heel,

Allowing that to dissolve,

Allowing the left heel to dissolve.

And bringing to your attention the top of the left foot.

And just being curious about what sensations you experience on the top of the left foot.

And it's possible that you experience no sensation on the top of the left foot.

And we can note that as a sensation or an experience in and of itself.

So just noting no sensation when we find anywhere in the body that there is no sensation.

So allowing the top of the left foot to dissipate.

And then coming to the left ankle.

And noticing what you find in the left ankle.

Holding that in your attention.

And then coming to the lower left leg.

And holding that in your mind's eye.

So perhaps you notice both the bony shin as well as the fleshy back part of the calf.

So again,

Simply breathing into this part of the left leg.

Breathing in to the lower part of the left leg.

Breathing out to this lower part of the left leg.

And allowing the lower left leg to fade from your mind's eye.

And bringing your attention to the left knee.

And you might notice again just the whole of the left knee.

Exploring both the knee and the kneecap,

The back of the knee.

All just simply with that muscle of attention.

Noticing what you find here.

Breathing in to the knee.

Breathing out of the knee.

Just simply noticing what if any sensation is here in the knee.

And then moving up to the upper left leg.

So moving all the way from the thigh to the groin to the hip.

Just encompassing that whole upper left leg.

And you might experiment with just allowing this upper left leg to soften as much as possible.

And breathing in to this part of the upper left leg.

And then on that out-breath,

Just allowing this part of the upper left leg to soften if possible.

And as you notice,

Sensation,

Thought,

Just whatever arises.

Just allowing that to arise,

Pass away.

And then just coming back to just the experience of this upper left leg.

And again just holding in your mind's eye this area from the thigh to the groin to the hip.

Just noting what is the experience of this part of your body.

And then coming back down your body,

Back to the right side of the body,

To the toes of the right foot.

Again holding the toes of the right foot in your mind's eye.

Breathing in to the toes.

And just fully experiencing those toes with your attention.

What is the experience of the toes of the right foot?

Not an area we likely give much attention to.

Just simply noticing how these toes are on the right foot.

And then simply letting that dissolve away.

And coming to the underside of the right foot,

Allowing that to be the focus of your attention.

And noticing what that experience is.

And breathing in to this part of the body.

Breathing out of this part of the body.

And coming to the right heel.

Noticing any sensation you find in the right heel.

And then letting that again just dissipate from the mind's eye.

And coming to the top of the right foot.

Noting any sensation such as heat or cool or air that you might find here on the right foot.

And you might also notice any thought that is arising.

No need to get caught up in thought.

Simply notice it and then come back to where we are in the body scan.

Certainly to be expected that the mind will have thoughts about this experience.

But then when you notice that,

Or you notice you've been lost,

Simply coming back to just the body and the experience of the body.

So allowing that top of the right foot to dissolve and coming to the right ankle.

And allowing that right ankle to dissolve,

Coming to the right lower leg.

And simply noticing again the shin,

The calf,

And perhaps going deeply into the leg.

What is the experience all the way down to the bone on this right lower leg?

Just breathing deeply into this right lower leg.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Keeping that focus of attention on the lower leg.

Then coming to the knee,

Allowing your attention to rest on the knee.

Breathing into the knee,

Breathing out of the knee.

Just fully experiencing this right knee.

Fully exploring the knee,

Just with your breath,

Just with your attention.

And then coming to your upper right leg and holding in your mind's eye this area that includes your thigh,

All the way to your groin,

To your hip.

And again,

As you hold this area in your mind's eye,

You might notice if there is any tension,

Any kind of contraction.

And if there is,

You might just experiment with softening a little bit.

And just noticing,

Is it possible for you to just bring a little softness to this area?

So just experimenting with that.

So perhaps breathing in and then on an out breath,

Just bringing some softness or some kindness to this area of the body.

And then coming to the pelvis,

The buttocks,

The organs of reproduction and elimination.

And holding this area in your mind's eye.

Once again,

Just fully breathing in to this area and breathing out of this area,

Giving it your full attention.

And then allowing this area to dissolve,

Bringing your attention next to the lower back.

And just acknowledging perhaps that the lower back is an area where we might often hold tension or stress or other types of sensation.

And so again,

Just taking this opportunity to simply acknowledge what's here,

Whatever it is you may find.

And breathing in to whatever is here.

And as you breathe out,

If there is an opportunity to just simply let go a little bit,

That might be something to experiment with.

So breathing in to the lower back and continuing to hold the lower back in your attention.

And as you breathe out,

Just simply letting go and just noticing what you find as you let go.

And on your next out-breath,

Allowing the lower back to fade away.

And moving to the upper back,

Allowing the upper back to be the object of your attention.

Again,

Noticing any sensations you might find here.

You might feel your back against the chair or against the floor.

You might feel your weight being pulled to the floor.

You might feel your weight being pulled down towards the floor if you're in a chair.

Again,

Simply just noticing that experience,

Allowing your attention to rest there.

Not trying to change it,

Not trying to force it.

Just simply being fully attentive to this moment as it is,

As you hold the upper back in your attention.

And then you might bring your attention just to the breath as it moves through this area.

You might feel your rib cage expand here as you're holding your attention,

Both in your upper back and your lower back.

You might just notice the breath here moving through the body.

And if you do,

Just allowing that just for a moment to be the object of your attention,

Just that rhythmic moving of the breath.

And then allowing the back to fade away and bringing your attention just to your belly.

Again,

You might notice the breath with the rise and fall of the belly.

So just for a few moments here,

Just allowing your attention to rest in the belly.

And you might notice if you're holding your belly in and just allowing a natural being here,

A natural following of the breath,

A natural holding of the belly.

Just simply allowing yourself to be.

Then you might move up your body and allow your attention to encompass your whole chest,

So your belly,

Your chest,

Your breasts.

You might notice the beating of your heart.

And again,

You might notice the expansion of the rib cage.

It's just taking in this whole area of the body,

The belly and the chest,

The breath,

Holding it all here in your mind's eye.

And then shifting your attention to the fingers of the left hand.

And you might notice a pulsating in the fingers.

You might notice moisture.

Hands are often a place where we find lots of sensation.

So just noticing what you find here in the fingers of the left hand.

And then shifting your attention to the palm of the left hand.

Again,

Noticing what,

If any,

Sensation you find here.

And then to the top of the left hand.

And just fully breathing into this left hand.

Breathing into the left hand.

Breathing out of the left hand.

Fully experiencing all there is to find in this left hand.

Then coming to the wrist of the left arm and the left forearm and the left elbow.

Just using your full attention to explore this area of the left lower arm.

And taking a moment here to just notice all these different areas of the left lower arm.

Holding each in your attention.

Breathing into them.

And allowing them to fade from your attention.

And then coming to the left upper arm.

And you might notice here the muscles of the left upper arm.

Coming to also the left shoulder.

Breathing into the left shoulder.

Breathing out of the left shoulder.

Again,

This is often a place where we can find tension,

Sensation.

So simply noting whatever is here.

And breathing into this area.

And breathing out of this shoulder,

This left shoulder.

And then coming down to the fingers of the right hand.

And again,

You might notice a pulsating in the fingers.

You might notice air on the fingers.

Feeling them touch the floor or the chair.

Just holding your fingers in your mind's eye.

And just recalling we're not looking for any specific experience.

But just noting the experience of this moment as it is.

Whatever it is.

And then coming to the palm of the right hand.

And then just the top of the right hand.

Holding that in your mind's eye.

Feeling any sensation you might find there.

And then just breathing into that whole right hand.

Breathing into the right hand.

Breathing out of the right hand.

Just fully experiencing the right hand.

And then allowing that right hand to dissolve.

And coming to the lower right arm.

Holding that in your attention.

Coming to the right shoulder.

Holding that in your attention.

And again,

Noticing any tension or stress you might find in the right shoulder.

And not getting wrapped up in any story about it.

But just simply taking the opportunity to breathe into what's here.

And on an out-breath perhaps let go of what you find there.

Or perhaps soften to what you find in this right shoulder.

And just experimenting with that for a moment here if you like.

And then moving up to the neck,

The spine.

And you might feel the breath as it moves in the neck,

Connecting to the chest,

Head.

You might notice this experience of the swallow in the neck.

And moving to the jaw.

And you might allow your attention to rest on that place where we open and close the jaw.

Perhaps bringing a breath,

An in and out breath to that area.

And then bringing your attention to the lips,

The mouth,

The inside of the mouth,

The tongue,

The top of the mouth.

And then to the nose.

And again,

Feeling the breath inside the nose,

The cheeks.

And allowing the mouth and the nose to again fade away.

And bringing your attention now to the temples.

So right there to the sides of the eyes.

And to the eyes themselves,

The eyebrows,

The eyelids.

And just that bridge of the nose kind of there between the eyes.

And again,

Just noticing that this is often a place that stores quite a bit of stress.

And so perhaps offering yourself some rest here at the eyes.

Just offering yourself some kindness,

Some softness,

If you like.

And then moving to the forehead.

And noticing any contraction you might have there,

Any tension you might have there.

And if you like,

Again,

Simply breathing into that area,

Breathing out of that area.

And then just taking a moment perhaps just really soften or breathe in to the whole face.

We spend a lot of time working with our face.

And just taking this opportunity to allow it again just to simply rest and to be at peace.

So breathing in with the whole face and breathing out with the whole face.

Just allowing it to be in a resting or a neutral state here.

And just simply noticing how that is.

And then moving to the top of the head,

The scalp,

And the sides of the head,

The back of the neck.

And again,

As we've been doing throughout this body scan,

Just breathing in to this area.

And just really allowing the breath to fill you up from the top of the head.

And then breathing out in that same way.

Just taking some breaths here.

And you might even shift and just hold your whole body in your awareness.

And so we've spent some time going over the very specific parts of the body,

Doing a bit of a close up if you were watching a movie.

And now we're pulling back and holding the whole body in our awareness now.

And so just taking an opportunity here to keep your whole body in your awareness or your attention.

And just breathing with your whole body.

So breathing in with your entire body,

And then breathing out with your entire body.

And just noticing that rhythmic breath that you can get into,

That your whole body can experience.

And that we can oftentimes use this connection with our bodies as a way of getting in touch,

Not only with each moment,

But also with ourselves.

And then you might just take a couple of last full body breaths.

And then narrow your focus slightly,

Just back to the belly,

To bringing your attention on your breath back in the belly,

And the rise and fall of the belly.

And as you do that,

Just also beginning to reconnect with the room.

You might begin by wiggling your fingers and your toes.

You might begin by opening more to sound that's in the room,

But just beginning to reconnect more with your surroundings.

And as we finish,

You might also consider just offering yourself some gratitude for taking the time to complete this practice today.

And just in these last moments,

Just noticing or recognizing the benefit that it's brought both to you and to others that you'll come in contact with.

Reviews

Lovely pacing for this body scan

Thank you for this Practice! Came at just the right time. Blessings.

I appreciate the thoroughness and not having distracting music. Thank you 🙏🏾!