Deep Body Scan For Relaxation

Join me in exploring the body deeply and thoroughly. Feeling the sensations that arise and meeting them where they are, acknowledging each one. Our bodies are always being used and working for us, usually without much thought. Let this be your time to give back, to give your body some love. Perfect way to relax after a busy day or week.

Transcript

Hi,

Thanks for coming today.

Let's just jump right in with some deep breathing.

Allowing your body to move as you're breathing,

Allowing yourself to get comfortable.

Even if you're not quite ready to meditate yet,

That's alright.

Just getting yourself situated,

Getting yourself ready,

But noticing your breath as you're doing that.

So let's take some time today to really look and feel what's going on in our bodies.

Doing a deep scan through,

And just seeing what's going on,

Maybe releasing some tensions,

Maybe just noticing what's there,

What we haven't noticed before,

And sending some love,

Not needing to release anything.

So again,

Let's take one more deep breath before we get started.

Deep into the belly,

And when you let it out,

Just let everything go.

Let's start with the top of the head,

Feeling any sensation that might be present there.

Maybe it's just the tickle of your hair,

Or slight vibration,

Just the feeling of aliveness,

The feeling of skin,

Anything at all.

Just looking for a little sensation.

And as soon as you feel it,

Just move on to an area next to it,

Maybe feeling square inch by square inch,

Moving around and feeling every part of the top of your head.

And going in absolutely no rush.

If you go faster than what I'm saying,

Or slower than what I'm saying,

Take your own time.

Just feeling all the way around,

And noticing if you're using a picture,

Picture of your head in order to feel these sensations.

And if that's something that seems to be happening,

Don't try to push it away,

But just notice that you're using this image as a reference,

But really trying to stay with the actual sensation that you're feeling,

Whether it's just a tickle or slight breeze.

And slowly moving down the back of the head,

Noticing the area where the spine meets the skull.

Maybe wrapping around from the back of the head,

Moving towards the face,

Feeling the jaw,

Seeing if there's any tension there,

Noticing what it feels like.

Again,

Noticing the actual sensations that are there.

Maybe side-by-side noticing an image that might come up,

What a jaw looks like,

What your jaw looks like,

The word jaw.

Noticing what words are coming up alongside these sensations,

What things we need to rely on to know what we're feeling.

And feeling the bottom of the chin,

The cheeks,

The lips,

The nose,

The eyes,

And the eyelids,

The eyelashes,

The eyebrows,

Feeling the forehead,

Noticing if there's any tension there,

Any scrunching going on.

And you can try to let go of that scrunching,

Just bringing a sense of relaxation there,

But often I suggest to just leave it scrunched,

Almost scrunch it harder.

I'm not resisting that scrunching at all.

There's a reason that our body responds a certain way,

And by not resisting it,

We can actually help it along and let it fall away in a deeper way.

And just looking around,

Feeling any sensations that are popping up in this area,

Maybe noticing the ears,

Seeing if you can feel lightly inside of your ear,

If there are any sensations there,

Maybe seeing how deep you can go.

You can notice inside of the head,

There are any sensations there.

In the same area,

You might have a headache,

Just noticing if there's any awareness of sensation,

Still noticing what images might come up,

An image of a head,

An image of a brain,

An image of space in between a head,

Whatever it might be,

Just noticing that,

But staying focused on the actual felt sensation.

Unexplainable,

No words for its sensations.

Just exploring,

Maybe through the inside of the head now,

Behind the eyes,

Between the ears,

You'll be feeling inside of the mouth,

Noticing the tongue,

Noticing if any swallowing happens,

Noticing that the action that happens inside of the body to aid the swallowing,

Noticing the breath coming in through the mouth or through the nose,

Noticing what it feels like inside the body as that breath is moving,

The temperature differences between the in-breath and the out-breath,

Noticing at what point in the process you stop being able to feel the sensations or if you're able to feel it all the way up until your lungs,

If there's any breaks in that.

Moving on now to the neck,

The throat,

Noticing if there's any tensions here or any just regular sensations,

Taking your time to be thorough,

Not just saying,

I felt the neck and moving on to the next time.

I do that sometimes,

But just really taking it slow,

Maybe just feeling the top square inch of the front of the neck at first.

I like to go line by line,

Going down,

Lower and lower until I reach the bottom of my neck and then I go to the side and do the same thing from the top to bottom.

Just as soon as you feel one area moving on to the next,

Unless a particular area needs some love.

Just feeling,

Noticing,

Moving on,

Noticing,

Not needing to label these sensations,

Not needing to say,

This one's a tension,

This one's a tickle,

This one's whatever.

Just feeling it,

Feeling it exactly as it is.

As soon as we label it,

We've lost it.

So that being said,

As soon as you notice this label,

That's okay that the label happens.

It happens outside of our control,

So just noticing that the label's there as well,

Seeing it alongside the feeling of the sensation.

Once you've felt your whole neck,

Moving on to your right shoulder,

Just feeling the whole area of the shoulder,

Noticing if there's any tension connecting it to the neck,

Noticing behind the shoulder,

The front of the shoulder,

The side,

Almost feeling all the different muscles,

All the different strands of muscle,

The armpit underneath.

You can slowly start moving down the arm,

Feeling the bicep,

Making sure each and every single part of the body is felt.

And if it feels like there's certain parts that just have no sensation,

Just staying at that place for a moment,

Noticing how are you aware that there is no sensation.

If you're aware of the space all around that no sensation area,

There must be some kind of sense that there's no sensation.

Just exploring that.

That's what this is really,

Just an exploration.

We're so busy in our minds most of the time.

We don't take the time to really explore our bodies the same way we explore thoughts and concepts.

Now once you've felt your whole bicep,

You can even try feeling slightly inside that arm,

Seeing if you can feel the bone or the tissue in there,

Seeing if there is anything that you can feel at all inside the arm.

Feeling the elbow,

The inside of the elbow,

Both sides as well.

Moving on to the forearm.

I like to go in circles here,

Going around and around feeling every little bit,

Every little inch.

Really being sure to notice these sensations.

It might be the sensation of your arm resting on your leg,

On your other hand.

Moving on to your wrist,

Feeling the intricacies of the wrist,

All the little bones there.

Seeing if you can notice any of those details or if it's just one one sensation,

But just feeling those sensations in fullness.

Notice any images that are arising.

Allow them to be there and just feel what's here.

Moving on to the fingers,

The palms,

Or the palm I should say,

Just on the right hand right now.

Feeling the back of the hand.

I like to feel each joint of each finger,

Each section,

Each knuckle.

Feeling the fingernails,

Underneath the fingernails,

The tips of each finger.

Being slow and thorough here.

Noticing the place in between the fingers.

Remembering to breathe as you do this,

Letting your whole body relax as you're just paying attention to the sensation in the fingers.

Now let's move to the left shoulder.

You can do this by just jumping there or by slowly feeling your awareness move up through your arm across your chest and down there,

Right to the left shoulder.

Feeling all around this shoulder now,

The same way as we did the other arm.

Slowly,

Thoroughly noticing if there is a sense of hurry,

As if as if you could look,

Feel every sensation faster,

It'll be it'll be over faster.

If you feel every sensation quicker,

Then something will happen.

It's not the goal here.

The goal here is to be be with the sensation.

If you can truly be with one sensation,

Then all is good,

All is well.

The goal isn't to finish this quickly or at all even.

Just feeling that shoulder underneath in the armpit.

You're transitioning to the bicep now.

Feeling the muscles,

Maybe the bones underneath.

Feeling the clothes on your skin,

Maybe the air,

The temperature around it.

Noticing if there's a sense of separation between the clothing and your skin or the air in the skin or if it's all just one sensation.

It's all just something you can feel.

Even without those words,

Just wordless sensations pure in their sensory input.

And feeling the elbow,

The inside of the elbow,

And both sides as well.

Feeling that connection to your forearm.

I'm just going around and feeling every little bit of this,

Noticing if there's any any tension or if it's just the feeling of being alive right there in your forearm,

Maybe a tickle.

Not needing to define them but just noticing.

Moving all the way down.

And feeling your wrist.

Again feeling all the intricacies there.

Moving up through your thumb.

Feeling each section,

Each knuckle,

Feeling the nail and the pad of the thumb.

Feeling the palm,

The back of the hand,

Noticing if there's any tension.

Noticing if it's fully relaxed too.

Maybe there's still something there holding on.

And again,

Just allowing that holding on or allowing yourself to relax it.

It's all valid here in our exploration.

Noticing what happens if you do relax one of these sensations.

Does it come right back?

Does it stay relaxed?

Feeling the fingers too.

Again,

Each little section,

Each little knuckle,

One by one,

Being with each one as if your attention was a declaration of your love.

And by feeling these things here,

Really showing your appreciation.

Our hands do so much for us during the day.

Taking this time to do something for them,

So to speak.

Feeling all those little sensations in between the fingers,

Right at the tips of the fingers.

Taking a deep breath in and out as we transition to the top of the chest now.

Noticing if those shoulders have tightened up or if they're relaxed.

If the neck is tightened up or if it's relaxed.

If there's any tension anywhere in the body that we've looked so far,

The forehead or the face.

Letting a sense of calm move in.

Let's start with the chest feeling.

Maybe the collarbones first.

At the chest,

I like to move from right to left in a line.

Each time I reach the left,

I start back again on the right side,

Moving down about an inch each time.

This might be harder to feel at first,

Harder than your arms or your head,

Which is more familiar to us.

We're used to feeling things in our hands,

Feeling things on our face,

But usually our torso we tend to ignore a little bit more.

So being patient with this,

Being in the areas that might feel empty for a little bit longer.

And if really nothing comes,

Just move on to the next one.

But giving yourself the time and the patience to explore.

Explore any sensations that are here.

And every sensation is valid,

Whether it's something you've felt your whole life or whether it's something you're feeling for the first time.

Whether you're not sure if you're really feeling something or if it's quite noticeable.

Just noticing it,

Acknowledging it,

And moving on to the next.

Just moving from right to left or however you like to do it.

Moving slightly lower,

Lower,

Lower,

Going across your ribs,

Taking your time,

Feeling the whole outside,

Maybe feeling a little bit of the inside,

Feeling the navel and the stomach areas,

The abs,

Abdomen.

Don't forget the sides as well.

Noticing if there is any tension here,

If the abs are tight,

They're tense as if waiting for something or if they're relaxed.

I've come to notice that the bottom portion of my abs are almost never relaxed.

That's something I've been looking at lately.

So just notice your own little quirks,

The way your own body responds to life or how it's adapted,

Allowing the sense of release,

Relaxation to come.

This is a safe moment,

Safe space to allow the awareness to come through and feel all this.

Moving down,

Down further,

Feeling into the pelvic area and the hips,

Still on the front of the body,

Front of the torso.

I may be feeling the area where your torso meets your legs,

Feeling the sides of your bottom,

The sides of your hips.

Now again,

Transitioning back up to the top of the back,

Starting from the top of the or from the bottom of the neck,

Really feeling that transition area from the back to the neck,

Feeling how that spine bends and moves.

And again here,

I like to go left to right,

But you can do it however way naturally works for you.

There's no right way or wrong way here,

It's just feeling what's coming up.

The back tends to be even more difficult,

I've noticed for some people.

We never even get to see our back.

Our chest,

We at least can can see we have an image of it.

We can picture what the sensations might be like,

But with the back it can be a bit more of a mystery.

So you can use little cues like feeling the back or your chair on your back,

Or your clothing,

Or your spine.

Notice if you can feel the vertebrae as you pass across the spine.

Noticing the back of the shoulders here,

How the ribs wrap around,

Feeling the sides here as well from the back,

Making sure you're giving equal attention to the left side and the right side,

Just slowly moving downwards,

Remembering to breathe.

Down through your lower back,

Or if you're still in your middle back,

Just going at your own pace,

Your own speed.

This isn't something you can finish,

This is just an exploration,

So taking your time to be with your sensations,

Following your instincts,

Your intuition.

Feeling the lower back now,

Where there might be less bones,

Feeling the base of the spine,

That grounded center,

Really giving it some time.

Noticing your hips and all this.

Noticing the chair you're sitting on on your bottom now,

Or maybe on your bed.

Again,

Giving some time to the pelvic area,

Letting your awareness see all,

Feel all.

Let's take a deep breath in and release as you let go.

Let's take a moment just to feel the whole upper body at once now,

The back and the front.

Feeling inside that,

In between that front and between that back,

Seeing if there is anything there,

Anything between the chest and the upper back,

Anything between the navel and the lower back,

Anything between the pelvis and the neck.

Are there any sensations we can feel there?

Any images that come up when we try to?

Maybe the outline of our body,

Is it in third person,

Is it in first person?

Noticing these details,

Noticing those sensations most of all.

Maybe you can feel your heart beating or the blood pumping,

Noticing the body moving with each breath,

The lungs filling.

Of course,

I'm using names here,

But notice the use of names as you see and feel these things,

As you feel the lungs expanding,

As you feel that chest opening as you breathe.

Is there the image of the lungs?

Is there the image of a chest?

Is it the words,

Lung?

How are you seeing that or are you just feeling?

What is there without the words,

Without the pictures,

Without the thoughts,

The concepts?

Being with that to whatever degree feels right.

And now moving on to your right leg.

When you're ready,

If you feel like you want some more time in the upper body,

Take all the time you need as I go on describing the leg or you can pause it.

Again,

Always following your own intuition here.

Just let me give you some ideas of where to explore instead of needing to follow my words.

So exploring this leg now,

Feeling how your leg joins your torso,

Feeling the bottom,

The side,

To the top,

Noticing if there's any tension here,

Feeling the whole,

The whole thing of it.

That's how I always feel my my upper leg.

Just one big,

One big blob.

Just letting that sensation guide you almost as if the sensation was feeling itself.

As soon as you notice,

It moves on to the next.

Are you even really noticing or is the sensation just waking up,

Moving forward on its own?

Feeling the knee and every little,

Every little part of the knee,

All its complexity underneath the knee.

Noticing if there's any pain or tension here.

Noticing the transition to the calf and shin.

Seeing if there's a bend in the legs,

Feeling that,

Feeling these sensations.

Again,

Noticing if there's any image that pops up when you see these things.

An image of a knee,

Of the leg,

Of you,

Of you looking.

Feeling the shin now moving around.

I like to go around and around and around,

Moving lower with each circle.

But be careful not to speed up either.

It's not a race,

There's no,

There's no finish line.

It's just seeing what you're seeing.

Feeling all those tendons in your ankle.

Noticing here as well the complexity.

Feeling the heel,

The whole bottom of the foot.

Spend all day on our feet.

And just like the hands,

Giving,

Giving some love back to the feet,

Giving some awareness there.

Feeling the top of the foot as well.

All the little bones there.

See if you can feel,

Feel any individual bones there,

Any differences between sensations.

Feeling each little toe as well,

In between,

Same as with the fingers.

Taking your time here.

Feeling your whole leg at once.

Taking a breath,

Just letting go as we transition to the left leg.

Feeling that bottom connecting to the leg,

How the leg transitions from the hip,

From the pelvic area.

And just feeling around.

On the last stretch now,

Whenever I'm here I start speeding up.

Noticing if that happens mentally,

There's a bit of rushing going on.

It's okay,

It's totally natural.

Noticing that the same way we might notice any pictures or thoughts.

We're just here to acknowledge.

We're just here to notice.

Feeling that whole upper leg as we move into the knee.

All its complexity.

Feeling underneath the knee,

The sides,

All the different bones there,

Exploring.

Can you feel inside the knee?

Can you feel right through it?

Are you able to do that without any pictures,

Images?

Feeling the calf moving in from the knee,

The shin.

Notice if the shin feels hard and the calf feels soft or if there aren't labels like that.

If they feel the same,

If they feel different.

Noticing the clothes you're wearing or any blanket on you.

Noticing the weight of your leg,

How it's perfectly supported by whatever is underneath it.

The whole earth holding you up.

Feeling all the way down till you reach your ankle.

All the things around there.

Feeling the heel,

Giving it some love.

Feeling the whole bottom of the foot,

One little bit at a time.

The top of the foot,

How it transitions from the ankle,

From the leg,

From the shin.

Feeling all those little toes.

In between those toes,

It's a part of our body that most people don't usually spend time feeling,

Thinking about,

Really acknowledging.

So just taking this time to deeply love this part of our body.

In order to love it,

All you need to do is feel it.

All you need to do is be there for it.

Now take a deep,

Deep breath.

Deep into your belly,

The deepest you've taken yet,

Longest,

Drawing it in and just breathing out and letting everything go.

Letting your awareness to just flow throughout your whole body to whatever,

To wherever it wants to go.

Just letting it sit there wherever it wants to go.

Noticing if it stays at a sensation,

If it stays in an area that feels spacious and allowing it to be wherever it went.

Before we finish up here,

Let's just take some time starting from the eyes.

Just bring a little smile to the eyes,

Almost from the inside,

Without needing to physically smile,

But you can definitely do that.

Just smile from the eyes,

From deep within the eyes.

Taking a breath and just breathing that in,

Moving down to the chest,

The heart area.

Just bring that sense of smiling to there as well.

Smiling from the heart.

Bring a sense of openness,

Lightness.

And taking a deep breath in and just breathing that in.

Taking that all in.

Now moving down to the stomach,

Intestines,

And smiling from there.

Relaxing and opening.

Breathing in,

Taking in,

And breathing out one last time.

Just letting everything go.

Thank you for joining me.

Thank yourself as well.

It's not often we take so much time to be with our bodies.

Often our bodies are causing us pain or we're too busy doing other things.

So I like to finish up just by saying thank you to each each and every little body part,

Each and every little square inch of my body that I felt inside and out.

Thank you.

Thank you for being here for me all the time and thank you for arising now so that I can feel you.

I love you.

I love you all the time even when I don't don't know I do.

Thank you for always loving me,

For always existing whenever you do.

Thank you all.

Bye bye.

Reviews

🙏

Philip-With so much thanks for your beautiful practice. Our bodies are miraculous and this gave mine such love and gratitude to it. Your peaceful and melodic voice made the experience so special.

Very gentle bodyscan, lovingly 🙏🏻

I was asleep before it ended

Nice, slow, calm, simple.

Soothing voice, in depth body scan - one of my faves

That was awesome. I'm saving the his one. Very lovely, super slow body scan. Very little wandering mind. Thank you. ☮️💖🙏