20 Min Body Scan

The body scan is one of the formal practices of mindfulness. This body scan will guide you through the process to deeply and mindfully connect to your body from your toes to the top of your head in just under 20 minutes. As you connect to each part of your body, do so with kindness to yourself and no judgement, just observe all that comes up with a gentle curiosity. Enjoy the exploration!

Transcript

Hello and welcome.

I'm so happy you decided to join me here today for a body scan.

The body scan is one of the formal practices for mindfulness.

During this meditation,

We will scan through the whole body,

Bringing attention to each part of the body.

And as we do this,

We will use the triangle of awareness.

So traditionally,

The body scan is done lying down.

But if for any reason you prefer to sit,

Or even stand or walk,

Feel free to do so.

Once you have found the comfortable position for your body scan,

Feel free to close your eyes.

If you feel you are going to fall asleep by having your eyes closed,

Then feel free to keep the eyes open.

To begin with,

Take a breath in through the nose.

Then exhale long and slow through softly pursed lips.

Take a couple of breaths until you feel relaxed and ready to begin.

Draw your awareness down to the toes of your right foot.

Sense them.

Feel them,

As if feeling them with your mind.

Perhaps you can feel the spaces between your toes.

Take your awareness to the sole of the right foot.

The ball of the foot,

The arch,

The heel.

Take your awareness now to the top of the right foot.

Perhaps you can feel all the little bones and ligaments in the right foot.

Taking your awareness to the right ankle.

Sensing,

Noticing,

Feeling.

Take your awareness now up the back of the right lower leg,

The right calf.

As you take your awareness to the front of the lower right leg,

Remember to do so with kindness,

With compassion,

Without any judgment.

Just noticing,

Just sensing.

Take your awareness to the right kneecap.

And as if taking your attention all the way through the knee to the back of the right knee.

Taking your awareness up the back of the right thigh and around to the top of the right thigh.

As you bring your awareness to the right thigh,

Remember to do so with a gentle curiosity.

With kindness,

With compassion,

Without any judgment.

Noticing any sensations that might arise.

Any thoughts,

Any feelings.

As you bring your awareness to the right buttocks and the right hip.

Bringing the whole of the right leg into your awareness.

Take your awareness now down to the toes on the left foot.

And perhaps the spaces between the toes.

Taking your awareness to the sole of the left foot,

The ball of the foot,

The arch,

The heel.

Noticing,

Sensing,

Feeling.

As if feeling it with your mind.

Bringing your awareness to the top of the left foot.

Any sensations,

Any thoughts that might arise.

Notice them without any judgment.

And take your awareness to the left ankle.

Take your awareness to the left calf,

The back of the lower leg.

And around to the front of the left lower leg.

Perhaps you can feel the shin bone.

Just an observation.

Take your awareness to the left kneecap.

And all the way through the knee to the back of the left knee.

And that soft bend behind the knee.

Take your awareness now to the back of the left thigh.

And all the way around to the front of the left thigh.

Noticing any sensations,

Any thoughts,

Any feelings with kindness and compassion.

Take your awareness to the left buttocks and the left hip.

And then bring the whole of the left leg into your awareness.

Noticing any thoughts,

Any feelings,

Any sensations with kindness and compassion without any judgment.

Take your awareness now to the tummy,

To the lower belly below the belly button.

Take your awareness to the belly button.

Perhaps even sensing inside the belly button.

And take your awareness to the tummy above the belly button,

To the solar plexus area.

As you notice,

Sense and feel as if feeling it with your mind.

Take your awareness to the sides of the body,

To your waist on the right side and on the left side.

Take your awareness now to the ribs on the front of the body.

Noticing all the little muscles between the ribs,

The intercostal muscles moving as you gently breathe.

Take your awareness now to your chest and to your heart space.

Take your awareness to your collarbones,

The left and the right.

And bring the whole of the front of the upper body into your awareness.

Take your awareness now down to your tailbone,

The base of your spine.

Moving up the spine to the lower back.

Moving up the spine to the middle of the back.

Perhaps you can even sense the ribs on the back of the body.

Take your awareness now to the shoulder blades and to the upper back.

To that diamond shape from between the shoulder blades to the shoulders and up the neck.

Where we so often hold tension.

Notice,

Sense,

Feel with your mind without any judgment,

Any thoughts,

Any feelings or any emotions that might arise as you take your awareness to the whole of the back of the upper body.

Take your awareness now to your right shoulder,

To your right armpit and the right upper arm.

To your right elbow,

The bony outside bend and the soft inner bend of the right elbow.

Take your awareness now to the right forearm,

All the way down to the right wrist and to the back or the top of the right hand.

And all the way up the right fingers to the tips of the fingers,

Sensing,

Feeling,

Noticing.

Take your awareness to the palm of the right hand.

Bring the whole of the right arm into your awareness.

Notice anything that might arise,

Any thoughts,

Any feelings,

Any sensations.

And notice this without judgment,

With kindness and love towards yourself.

Take your awareness now to the left shoulder and to the left armpit.

Taking your awareness to the left upper arm and the left elbow,

The bony outside bend and the soft inner bend.

Take your awareness down the left forearm to the left wrist,

To the top or the back of the left hand.

And all the way up the left fingers to the tips of the left fingers,

Sensing,

Noticing,

Feeling.

Take your awareness now to the palm of the left hand.

Bringing the whole of the left arm into your awareness,

Noticing any thoughts,

Any feelings,

Any sensations that might arise.

Take your awareness now to your neck,

Up the neck to where the spine meets the skull,

To the right side and the left side,

And around to the front of the neck,

To the throat.

Taking your awareness now to your lower jaw,

Gently drop the jaw,

Softening it.

Take your awareness now to your right ear,

Sensing the outer part of the ear and perhaps seeing if you can feel right inside the ear.

Noticing with awareness anything that might arise.

Take your awareness now to your left ear,

Noticing the outer part of the ear,

The earlobe.

And take your awareness to inside the ear,

Sensing and feeling the inside of the ear.

Take your awareness now to your mouth,

To your lips,

To your tongue.

And notice where the tongue is resting in the mouth,

And to your teeth.

Take your awareness to your nose,

To the right nostril and the left nostril,

And to the tip of your nose.

Taking your awareness all the way up the nose to the bridge of the nose,

Sensing,

Noticing and feeling anything that might arise without judgment,

With kindness and compassion to yourself.

Take your awareness now to your cheekbones,

The right one and the left.

Take your awareness to your right eye,

Sensing the eyelid and the eyeball and the eyebrow.

Taking your awareness now to the left eye,

The eyelid,

The eyeball and the eyebrow.

Take your awareness now to your forehead and to the whole of your face,

Sensing,

Feeling and becoming aware of anything that might arise within you.

Take your awareness to the top of your head and to the back of the head,

Noticing the whole of your body.

Take your awareness now to the space around your body,

Sensing,

Feeling and noticing any sensations in the body,

The whole of your body without any judgment,

With kindness and compassion and love for yourself as you bring the whole of your body into your awareness.

Notice the breath as the chest and the tummy gently rise and fall as you breathe in and out.

Become aware of this breath in the body.

Have your focus gently resting on the breath and just notice with awareness anything that might be arising in you right now,

Noticing it with kindness and compassion,

With a gentle open curiosity as you breathe in and out softly and easily,

Acknowledging the whole of your body with love and kindness.

Allow yourself to soften and rest here for as long as you are comfortable.

Otherwise feel free to join me now as you move your fingers and your toes,

Perhaps stretching them out,

Maybe reaching the arms over the head and stretching out the whole of your body,

Moving however feels good for you right now.

And if you are lying down on your back,

Bend your knees and hug your knees into your chest and then roll onto your right hand side,

Resting here for a moment.

And whenever you're ready,

With your eyes closed,

Push yourself up to sitting.

You're welcome to rest here a little bit longer with eyes closed,

Just feeling and sensing and noticing the body.

And whenever you're ready,

You can gently open your eyes,

Congratulating yourself for completing this body scan.

Know that today during this body scan,

You showed yourself some love and appreciation,

Some kindness and compassion,

And you mindfully scanned through the whole of your body,

Noticing and being aware of all the sensations,

Thoughts and feelings.

I hope that you learned something about yourself today as you perform this body scan.

And as time progresses,

I hope you'll join me on taking a longer scan through the body with even more detail.

Thank you for joining me here today.