Body Scan for MBSR

This is a guided body scan meditation for the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program, or MBSR, from Present Moment: Mindfulness Practice and Science. This practice exercises your own natural capacity to experience the body, as you become familiar with noticing, working with attention, and intentionally directing that attention. This meditation is an opportunity to become more aware of the ongoing, dynamic process of bodily experiences.

This recording is best used as part of an MBSR program, and is intended for beginning meditators. There is several minutes of introductory material, and a significant amount of verbal guidance.

Transcript

This is a guided body scan meditation for the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program,

Or MBSR,

From present moment Mindfulness Practice and Science.

This practice exercises your own natural capacity to experience the body as you become familiar with noticing,

Working with attention,

And intentionally directing it.

It's important to take care of yourself during this guided meditation in several ways.

This means meeting basic comfort in your surroundings and in your physical needs.

Choose a location where you can be undisturbed during the meditation,

If you can get the support of others to let you practice each day.

It should be a place you feel as safe as you can be,

And able to devote yourself to this meditation.

It can also be helpful to wear comfortable clothing that enables and supports unrestricted movement and breathing,

While maintaining warmth with blankets or perhaps coolness with fresh air,

Depending on your environment.

Use this recording as part of your home assignments during the program,

Doing your best to practice fully every day.

And after you've completed the program,

You can continue to use this guided practice to support your ongoing development of mindfulness.

Take a few moments to position the body to support both comfort and wakefulness,

Noticing if there is a balance to find between those two.

Lie down fully on your back,

If you can,

Arms at your sides,

Perhaps on a yoga mat on a carpeted floor.

Notice what might be most appropriate for your body today,

Exploring the relationship and interplay between comfort and wakefulness to determine the most supportive position for practice.

You may use a pillow under your head,

Or perhaps under the knees to care for the lower back.

You may also do the body scan lying on your back,

With lower legs up on the seat of a chair,

Like an astronaut before launch,

Or perhaps sometimes sitting up,

If that's what's called for,

To experience the body just as it is.

Take a few moments now to get your physical space arranged for practice,

And to find the best position that you can sustain throughout the guidance.

Give yourself permission,

And accept that permission,

To take this time to give yourself the gift of attending to experience.

You can pause the recording now if you need a few moments of preparation and adjustment.

Establish an intention to experience the body,

Moment by moment,

As best you can.

As you settle the body into the position you've chosen for this meditation,

You can take care of yourself during this time.

Begin to notice and invite a sense of the full body,

How it's positioned,

Its shape,

And the various sensations happening right now.

Attend to contact with the floor beneath you,

Supporting you along the entire length of the body.

Perhaps notice that attention can take the shape of the body,

Its volume,

The space it occupies,

Receiving whatever might be present as you turn awareness toward sensations,

Not having to analyze what shows up in this soft field of awareness,

And just leaning into what's here,

Now.

So now,

Taking just a moment to get in touch with the whole body,

Supported by the ground beneath you,

Noticing what that sense of touch is like as you start to awaken the senses and the awareness of what's happening right now.

What is it that you notice?

Is there a sense of touch at the heels,

Backs of legs,

The back,

Perhaps the head or neck,

If it's on a pillow?

Is there a sense of weight,

Of pressing into the ground that's holding you up?

Perhaps you're also starting to notice this gentle movement of breathing,

Moment by moment,

As the belly or chest gently expands and contracts.

Subtle sensations,

Or greater depth to those sensations that are more obvious,

May appear,

Including sensations that are wanted,

Unwanted,

Or neither.

Just holding attention at a place of the body that doesn't seem to have any sensation at all can be revealing,

And exercises your capacity to guide attention,

Hold it in place,

Soften or intensify it,

And even shape it in the process of ongoing awareness.

You may also notice expectations arising,

And it's important to remember there is no wrong experience to have,

No need to push those expectations and thoughts away.

You can note them and then refresh,

Attending to the body while setting judgments aside.

Whatever comes up in awareness is your experience,

Neither right nor wrong,

And is simply what's happening in this moment.

Opening to the possibility of newness,

Of discovery,

Receiving the body scan as if it's the first time you've ever had the experience,

May foster the arising of a helpful and perhaps even playful curiosity.

Your willingness to be surprised at the process of unfolding in each moment can allow for greater discovery about yourself.

Settling in just a little more closely to the experience of being in the whole body,

Noticing what that's like,

Noticing what's here,

What's present,

And just allow yourself to feel what it's like to be embodied.

As you become more sensitive and aware to the body,

You may notice this process of breathing.

It's always happening,

This constant companion in life,

Always there for you.

You can control and shape it,

And choose to let it go.

The breath continues on its own,

The body breathes in and out all by itself.

Notice the movements occurring with the process of breathing.

Where do you feel that right now?

Is there an expansion and release in the belly or back or chest?

Are there small shifts felt on the skin with each breath?

What is it that you notice with the breathing right now,

And where do you feel it most?

If it's difficult to feel the movements of breathing,

You can gently place a hand on the belly to help find and feel more clearly the rising and falling,

The ebb and flow of each in and out breath all the way through.

The breath may also be a helpful home base for attention.

From time to time,

You may experience difficult responses when focusing attention on a particular area of the body.

If you're able to stay with the feelings,

Perhaps even getting to know them a little more closely,

You can choose to do so as part of your practice.

If you have a sense of overwhelm arising,

You can direct your attention to another part of the body,

A home base for attention,

Like the breath,

Until you're comfortable enough to continue with the rest of the body scan.

Your well-being is more important than powering through very strong difficulties when they initially arise,

So take time to become familiar with breathing.

Establish it as a place you can bring attention to as needed.

And if breathing itself is difficult,

You're free to choose another spot on the body,

Perhaps the contact with the floor,

The feet,

Your sense of touch,

The fingertips,

Whatever works well for you as inviting sustained attention.

Take a few moments and notice,

Where is it?

Where on the body can you place attention and have that be your home base?

Once you've become familiar with whatever that space is for you,

The breathing or some other aspect of your physical experience,

Warm up this natural capacity to shift attention.

Let breathing move to the background of awareness and guide attention to the left foot.

Narrow that focus even more,

Like an attentional spotlight,

Bringing the left big toe into brilliant illumination of your awareness.

What's here to be noticed in this place?

What sensations might be felt?

Is there contact with socks,

A sense of temperature or pressure,

Or perhaps some subtle vibration or tingling?

Or perhaps there's no sensation you're noticing right now,

Allowing that to be your experience,

This intent listening with the body,

Even when there's a silence of sensation.

Not having to move or create feeling,

But simply focusing the attention,

Holding it in place and bringing it back again as the attention wanders.

But for now,

Settling that attention on the left big toe and noticing whatever it is that's here with that curiosity.

Now stretching this clear and bright attention to add each toe,

One at a time,

Shaping the focus of awareness to include all the toes of the left foot.

Feeling whatever might be present,

Even if it's not much or any sensation,

Your curiosity brightening the attention and welcoming whatever is here.

And expanding the attention further,

Filling the entire left foot,

Everything below the ankle,

Held in gentle,

Bright awareness.

Feeling the surface of the skin,

Aware of the inside,

Invite a sense of all the layers of the entire foot.

You may notice small discomforts,

And they can be just that,

Minor sensations that might simply be received as part of the environment of the moment.

They're just part of what's happening,

Noticed and known,

And not needing any more attention than that receptive awareness.

You may even explore the discomfort,

Noticing subtle details.

What is that sensation?

What feelings are part of it?

Might you be able to simply experience it for a few moments before moving attention?

Moving attention once more,

Guiding it up out of the left foot and into the lower left leg,

All the way from the ankle to the knee,

Noticing this shape,

This volume of body space,

Is different as awareness takes the form of the lower leg.

As other sensations,

Thoughts,

Or feelings call to be noticed,

Allow them to fade while this experience of the lower leg remains in focus.

Now narrow the attention,

Drawing it inward along the bones,

And then grow it out again to fill the full space of the lower leg.

Refresh curiosity.

What's here?

Contact with the floor,

Itching,

Aching,

Temperature,

Pressure,

Tingling,

Vibration,

Or no sensation at all,

All welcome and simply received.

Continuing this migration of awareness,

Moving attention from the lower leg through the knee up to and including the top of the thigh,

So the upper left leg is gently attended to,

Noticing what's here,

From the surface of the upper leg,

Drawing into the length of the middle,

The solidness of the bone,

And extending out once more.

Perhaps feeling some sensations of different kinds in the knee,

From what might be felt higher in the leg,

And allowing attention to settle,

Become familiar with this shape of the upper leg,

Closely exploring it and remaining open to whatever experiences might be obviously or more subtly known,

Becoming familiar with this shape of attention,

Also noticing what it's like to intentionally extend that shape down until the entire leg,

From the hip all the way through to the tips of the toes.

What is it like to focus bodily awareness on the form of the entire left leg?

And now guiding attention once more,

Allowing the left foot,

Lower leg,

Then the upper leg to fade into the background as you shift awareness down into the right leg.

Notice what it's like,

Whatever it's like for you,

As attention is narrowed,

Moved,

Extended,

And shaped with a soft welcome down this form we think of as the right foot.

Notice how it might be to allow that the name,

The identification of that area and form,

To shift to the background of awareness,

And the experience of it to move forward to center stage,

Alight in the embrace of simply attending.

What sensations may be in the big toe as you narrow attention to that spot?

What's touching it in different ways?

The ways of temperature,

Pressure,

Vibration,

Or whatever else might be here,

Now,

Even no sensation.

What's that like?

As you then slowly extend awareness,

One toe at a time,

Until all are held together in the dynamic process of experience,

What's there to be felt,

To be leaned into and closely known?

Grow that shape,

Filling up the inside of the foot to the ankle,

Inflating out to the instep,

The heel,

The bottom of the foot,

The entire space of the right foot.

Become familiar with this too,

Allowing the vibrant awareness to reveal the subtleties that may be unnoticed much of the time,

And simply inhabit the full space of the right foot.

Extending the awareness up to the knee and out of the foot,

So that the lower right leg is the focus,

As you exercise your capacity to move and shape attention,

Move and shape what is forefront in your experience.

How might the lower right leg be different than the lower left leg?

What is it you're noticing on the right side?

Now move this long and narrow field up to the hip,

So the fullness,

The width,

The length,

The depth of the upper leg,

Is the focus of embodied attention.

Draw that attention in to merge with the bone running inside the upper right leg,

Inviting the sense of it,

And then filling out through the rest of the leg all the way to the surface,

Holding the upper leg,

Not separated from it by focusing on thinking about it,

But allowing the experience of it to soak full through attention.

Now extend awareness through the entire right leg,

From the hip all the way through down to the toes,

Opening to a felt sense of the shape,

Volume,

And vibrancy of the full right leg.

You may notice that attention is sometimes drawn away from the body area you're exploring.

It may be a light itch,

An ache,

Or a more pleasant sensation catches the mind.

It may be another sense input,

Like a sound,

Or perhaps a thought arises to pull the mind into rumination of past and future,

And away from experiencing right now.

Know that this is normal.

The environment around you and within you doesn't go away during meditation,

And can often provide objects that pull attention away.

When you recognize this has happened,

This is a moment of mindful awareness.

This is the practice,

This waking up to what's happening.

No need to give yourself a hard time about it.

That's just more traveling away rather than traveling towards.

Just bring attention back to the guidance.

Or if you've encountered a strong difficulty,

You can always inhabit the home base of breathing,

Or other sensation that's helpful to you,

Settle into that,

And then return to the body scan.

That is exercising your natural capacity to be mindfully present.

Bring attention up into the hips and waist,

Noticing the body's contact there with the floor,

The feel of clothing on the skin,

The sense of mass here.

Does it feel light or heavy?

Where is there contact or pressure in this space?

Is there any coolness or warmth here?

What is manifesting for you as attention is held in this lower part of the body?

Noticing physical sensations,

And also aware of thoughts,

Or perhaps if any emotions arise,

What do they like as you experience them?

Practicing self-care at all times,

Sensitive to when you're able to explore physical and emotional discomfort if it arises,

And also sensitive to when returning to a more stable home base is called for.

By moving this flexible,

Dynamic attention up just a bit to the belly,

The solar plexus in front,

The lower ribs on the back and sides,

Refreshing curiosity as needed,

With each movement and shaping of attention,

And as settling in one area occurs,

Opening to the sense of the question,

What's here?

Experiencing the sensations on the surface of the skin of the belly and back,

Perhaps noticing a gentle expanding and release with each in-and-out breath.

Does clothing shift?

Is there a hand on the belly to help clarify the sensation of movement?

Is the experience of breathing in,

What's that like,

Different from breathing out,

And what's that like?

What might be drawing the mind away in this moment,

And what is it like to return to the belly and lower back without being drawn further away into analysis,

Allowing whatever pulls at the mind to simply be recognized,

Just part of the environment,

Rather than coloring it and giving it solidity as a distraction,

And just return to experiencing?

Still attending with the belly,

The lower back,

Extend awareness further up to include the chest,

All of the back,

Up to the shoulders.

What is it like to sense this robust core space of the torso,

To be in this shape?

What's here as you highlight awareness of the skin moving against clothing with each breath,

As you draw attention inwards,

Attending to the space occupied by the lungs,

Heart,

The length of the spine,

What subtle sensations might be revealed?

Playing with turning up your interest,

The closeness with which you attend to the sides of the body,

The place where the arms join this mass of the body,

What is whispered to the senses?

As you observe breathing,

How is it experienced differently in the belly from how it may be felt in the upper chest or back?

As this exploration continues,

Moving through the body,

Experimenting with shape and intensity of awareness,

You may notice sensations that are very clear,

And others that are perhaps more complex,

With more layers.

Temperature,

Pressure,

Sharpness or softness,

Vibrations,

Aches and tickles may all be aspects of sensation in one area of the body.

Notice how they may shift,

One blending into the next,

And how your attention may also touch upon one layer more clearly in one moment,

And another layer in the next.

You may also notice how sensations may be received as pleasant or unpleasant,

And staying with that experience,

Opening up to how you respond to that pleasantness or unpleasantness.

Do you receive them differently?

Does that change in each moment,

Or stay constant?

Also checking into the overall feeling tone of the moment,

Monitoring how you're doing to foster self-care.

Again,

If particularly difficult or physically painful sensations draw attention,

You may with mindful awareness move the body slightly if needed,

Or if emotional difficulties arise,

Exploring them as best you can.

And if they bring a sense of overwhelm,

Dropping attention into the home space of the breath,

Where you feel it clearly,

Or some other neutral place on the body,

Until you're able to comfortably resume the body scan.

Refreshing curiosity about this full shape,

Space,

Mass of the gently moving body,

From the belly all the way up the sides,

The back,

The middle,

Through the chest and upper back with its contact on the floor,

Up through the shoulders.

Wakefully attending to and inhabiting the experience of the torso,

Moment by moment,

And simply receiving what's present without having to push anything away.

Moving the attention up into the left shoulder,

Shaping it to just that area of focus for a brief,

Bright visit.

Noticing what it's like here,

What sensations are revealing themselves in this round shape,

This connection between arm and body.

What's here?

And then shifting awareness down the length of the left arm,

The awareness lengthening and filling the upper arm,

Pausing to get acquainted with it.

Noticing what sensations are here,

From the innermost,

Narrow length of the bone,

The mass of the upper arm surrounding it,

Through every pore of the surface of the skin.

Allowing that to become a familiar space,

And then moving the attention down from the shoulder,

Reshaping attention to fit the lower arm from the elbow to the wrist,

And pausing once more,

Inviting a gentle acquaintance with this unique place and opening up to the unique sensations that might be present.

What's it feel like to light up the lower left arm with awareness,

Get a sense of its shape,

Its volume,

And whatever may be there?

Bringing the attention further down into the hand,

Often so very busy throughout our waking hours,

Touching the palm with awareness,

The back of the hand with awareness,

Each finger having a moment in the bright light of your attention,

One after the other.

What is here in the fullness of the left hand?

And then stretching the field of awareness to take in the entire left arm from the fingertips up through the shoulders,

And pausing once more,

Noticing if thinking arises as a response to the guidance,

And not having to silence that voice,

But just notice it.

Allow it to move into the background as you once again mindfully attend the experience itself of the entire left arm.

Drawing attention up through the left arm and sliding it into the left shoulder,

And then extending it across the back to include the right shoulder too,

So both shoulders are held in a band of awareness.

Noticing that this can be a place where attention might be held,

So opening up to the full spectrum of sensation to discover what might be here in the shoulders for you right now.

Whatever is found,

Not having to push it away or judge it in some fashion,

But just noticing it,

Receiving and perhaps even welcoming with kindness what the experience may be.

Perhaps finding some aches or tightness.

And if you choose to invite a softening,

Being aware as you do so,

As you make that choice and observe how the body responds,

Pausing,

Noticing,

Knowing before shifting attention all the way into the right shoulder,

And then moving it slowly through the upper right arm,

Sensing as you extend awareness.

And then using the feeling along the middle length,

All the way through to the surface of the upper arm.

Again,

Not having to have a particular experience at all,

Sometimes not finding any sensation,

And receiving that too as your experience of the environment of this moment.

Simply investigating with that playful curiosity,

What's here,

Whatever it may be.

Exercising this flexible capacity of attending,

Moving further down the arm from the elbow to the wrist,

And pausing once more with the single length of the body,

The lower right arm,

Warmly held with kind noticing.

What's the sense of it?

What layers of complex experience may touch this shape,

And then move on as the next sensation presents in the lower right arm.

Guiding attention down to the shape and space of the hand with this fluid awareness,

Welcoming its aliveness,

Its tiredness,

Its tingling,

Its contact with the floor,

Or whatever happens to be here.

As you touch with your mind,

Not moving each fingertip,

One by one,

What do they have to show?

How are they positioned?

Is that all changing?

Not having to analyze,

Just becoming acquainted with the feel of the hand as one interesting area of exploration.

Keeping attention established in the right hand,

Extending it back up to include the full right arm.

Is there any subtle,

Or perhaps strong,

Sense of stretch near the inner elbow of the extended laying down arm?

What else is here?

Adding in both shoulders,

Reaching into and including the full length of the left arm and hand as well.

Noticing the shape of both arms and hands together,

Their sense of touch with anything they may be in contact with,

The floor,

Clothing,

Whatever it may be,

And just feeling that as you pause,

Alert to the dynamic of the arms and stillness,

Just as they are.

Withdrawing focused attention from the shoulders and guiding it into the neck,

Taking that shape and energizing curiosity once more.

What's here?

What is knowing the neck like in all of what may be present right now?

Perhaps there's an awareness of some unwanted sensation as there may have been elsewhere in the body,

And exploring that as best you can.

Not having to punish yourself with overwhelming feeling,

But moving attention when you're noticing an edge of difficulty starting to present itself.

And just hovering for a few moments in the neck,

Noticing if you can feel any sense of air in the throat with each breath,

If there's any stiffness or tension present,

And not having to change it,

But just notice whatever it may be.

Releasing attention up the neck and slowly filling the full volume of the head,

Noticing this new shape,

Its size,

The weight,

Perhaps noticing contact with the floor,

Stretching awareness over the top of the head to the brows,

Gently welcoming the eyes,

Noticing what seeing might be like,

Even behind closed eyes.

What is it like?

What do you see right now?

What is the experience of seeing?

Attending to the nose,

What breath might be like as you bring in air,

And then as you release it,

Where may that be felt on the nose,

Or further inside into the nasal passages?

Feeling the large muscles of the jaw,

Again aware of any tension that might or might not be present,

Welcoming whatever is there,

And allowing it to simply be part of this sphere of awareness surrounding and being part of the head.

Noticing the space of the mouth,

The placement of the tongue,

And then focusing attention on the fullness of the face.

What's there?

What is that like to just inhabit the space of the face?

Softening awareness if it becomes narrow,

Lightly including the entire head in a gentle holding as sensations arise,

Touches this living process of simply being,

And moves back as the next sensation takes center stage.

Returning attention when it wanders,

Not having to give yourself a hard time about that expected movement,

And just welcoming attention back as a companion in the exploration of experience.

Now,

A gentle growing as you expand awareness throughout the entire body,

Inviting all the areas,

Shapes,

And sensations into the warm embrace of kind attention.

Inviting a sense of the body as one continuous unit,

Awake and alight in this field of knowing,

Moment by moment.

Noticing the whole body as breathing continues,

As it always has,

As constant companion.

What movement is present in each breath,

With each pause,

With each out-breath,

With that pause before taking in air once more.

Extending the sensitivity of awareness as if the entire body was breathing,

Touched and intimately involved with the gentle ebb and flow of this life-giving interaction with the world around you.

Simply noticing,

Breathing in,

Simply noticing,

Breathing out,

With the full participation of the body.

Extending awareness to your immediate surroundings,

The room you're in,

Perhaps noticing sounds nearby,

And when you're ready,

If you've had them closed,

Opening the eyes when it's comfortable for you to do so.

Perhaps taking in your environment with some gentleness,

Some delicacy,

If sensitivity may be a bit high after practicing listening to the body so closely.

Noticing how the body is calling to be moved,

Maybe welcoming a gentle stretch that's within your comfortable range of motion,

And still being aware as you do begin to move and shift the body.

Perhaps offering an acknowledgement and gentle appreciation of your dedication to the practice,

Your willingness to explore and attend to the body in this way.

Thank you for your practice.

Reviews

Thank you for leading me through this scan, it’s been a while and this certainly helped me find myself again

Excellent. Thank you so much for this beautiful practice.

Wonderful guidance!

I know it shouldn't, but the quality of the voice in a recording still makes a real difference to me when meditating. Ted Meissner's voice is calm, confident and encouraging. The words make sense to me which is also an important point. All in all this is the best MBSR meditation I've come across to now (I still have loads to discover, though).

I found myself gently pulled in by the lulling calmness of Ted’s voice. Good tone, rhythm, and guided instruction.