Body Scan With Beginner's Mind

This twenty minute guided body scan emphasises one of the seven attitudinal foundations of mindfulness - namely 'Beginner's Mind'. The track is suitable for anyone, whether an actual beginner or someone seeking to emphasise this perhaps because of a perceived need to let go of preconceptions.

Transcript

Kind of getting this sense of a beginner's mind, You know, This attitude almost of, I don't know, You may have come across as a quote that I really like by Suzuki, I think DT Suzuki in Japan, That translated says that in the mind of the beginner, There are many possibilities. In the mind of the expert, There are few. So I just really like that quote to kind of settle with you a moment and just have that sense that actually being a beginner, Being a beginner is far more creative, Far more open than being an expert. As much as we might aim for expertise in things, Actually having that beginner's mind, Particularly in mindfulness, Particularly with the body scan. So feeling free to use whatever posture you want for this practice. I'm going to be remaining seated. And by all means, Seated is probably a good posture to do this in. We're gonna spend about 20 minutes on this body scan. So it's not going to be a really long one. And I think that'll be the case for most of the practices today, Because we've got quite a lot of different practices to get in. So let's just close our eyes if that feels comfortable or rest our gaze, Maybe somewhere, Maybe just below the screen, Maybe somewhere that we can keep a soft focus. And start to drop our attention into our body, Into first of all, The sensations of contact, Maybe with the ground, Maybe with the chair, Maybe sensations of contact with clothes, Or of one part of your body with another part of your body. Feeling held and supported, Feeling a sense of stability and groundedness. And just as you're in contact with the ground or the chair, Feeling also in contact with this present moment of experiencing those things. As if you might experience that sense of grounding, Contact for the first time. Just feeling how it feels now. And in this practice, Seeing if you can bring that sense of an intention for freshness, An intention to experience everything for the first time. So not just the practice itself, But each part of it, Each thing as it arises in your experience. Maybe turning towards your breath now, And noticing this breath, And this breath. Noticing the arising of the breath and the passing away of the breath. Seeing if you can follow its full duration, Seeing if you can remain anchored into the present moment. Or as best you can, Returning to the breath with each new moment when you find yourself drawn away to thoughts, Feelings, Sensations. So let's more intentionally draw away from the breath now to pick up the sensations that are there to be felt in the toes. And all 10 of your toes have left foot and right foot at the same time. Maybe seeing if you can distinctly feel between each toe, The spaces between them, The uniqueness of each toe. Yet a sense of being with them at the same time. And then including with your toes, The whole of the soles of the feet, The ball, The instep, The heel. Maybe a sense of the pressure squeezing down of the sole of the feet into the floor. Maybe the contact with your sock, Shoe. Maybe a sense that there's some parts of the sole that are more strongly in contact with the floor and others that are slightly raised and arched. What that's like. And now moving our attention from the soles of the feet to the feet themselves, The tops of the feet, The insides of the feet, Having a sense of all the different muscles, Bones, Tendons, Everything that makes up your feet. What's there to be felt, What's there to be experienced in this moment? And now in this moment, Let's let go of our feet as we shift our attention into our ankles. How do your ankles feel without moving them, Without flexing, Having a sense of what an ankle feels like from the inside, What it's about for you? Maybe left is different from right. Noticing any holding, Any bracing. Any fuzziness or any vibration. Now let's let go of the ankles as we shift our attention into our lower legs. The shins on the front, Calf on the back, Deep into the bones and all the way out to the surface of the skin. Noticing any tension, Tightness, Any itch or twitching. And if you find that your mind wanders, That it's difficult to notice the physical sensations because your attention has gone elsewhere to thoughts, To plans, To memories, To judgments, Simply recognizing that that's happened, That it's not a fault or a mistake, It's just simply what our minds do. And just noticing in that moment, Just notice how that feels. Just notice as best you can what it's like to bring yourself back to the lower legs once more. And if there's any particular thoughts, Any sense of distraction or any sense of, Maybe a sense of having harsh thoughts for yourself, Just recognizing that as well. And simply then returning your focus back, Back to the lower legs as best you can. And then letting go of the lower legs as we shift our attention into our knees. And just noticing any sensations that are there in your knees. Maybe the fronts of the knees, Maybe the sides of the knees, The backs of the knees. What's there to be felt? Again, How do the knees feel without moving them, Without flexing? Then letting go of our focus on the knees and now focusing on the upper legs, The thighs, The hamstrings. What's here? What are you experiencing? What are the sensations? What are the things that are there to be felt? Or indeed if there's a sense of nothingness, Numbness, Just noticing that that too is your experience. Not to be resisted, But just allowed to be there. And letting go of the upper legs, Turning our attention to the pelvis, Sense of stability, Sense of any organs cradled by the pelvis. And then including with the pelvis, The lower back, An area particularly prone to tightness and tension. And then starting to move the focus of your attention up your back, Perhaps vertebra by vertebra, Or just having a sense of moving from lower to mid to upper back, Different sensations of contact, Different sensations of stability or structure, Maybe different pains and different aches. And then doing the same for the front of the body from the abdomen and the organs within the abdomen, Up to the rib cage and the chest, The lungs, The heart. And then having a sense of the whole of your torso. Noticing as best you can any feelings, Any strong emotions maybe held in your torso, Maybe lingering, Maybe seeming to be stuck in some way or held in the body in some way. Not needing to let go of them, But just recognizing their form, Their color, Noticing what they're like, What it's like to not just have them, But also to experience and to observe them. Whether it makes any difference, Simply to observe. And now letting go of the torso as we move our attention into our fingers and our thumbs, Spaces between them, Just as they rest here, Maybe noticing the inclination to move them, To flex, To point, To gesture. How animated our fingers often are. Whether we're typing or drawing, Carrying, Making, What it's like to just experience them as they are in this moment. Then including the knuckles and places the fingers and thumbs attach and form part of the hands, The palms and the backs of the hands. Maybe sensations of the muscles and tendons, The blood flow, Sense of energy, Sense of potential. As best you can, Just noticing all of this as if for the first time, As if you've never noticed before how your hands actually are. Or maybe just noticing how they are right now. And letting go of hands to focus on wrists, Forearms, Elbows and upper arms. Feeling the weight of the arms, Just resting in their place, Helping them to feel the weight of their place held up by shoulders. Letting go of arms as we focus more so on shoulders now, Tops and backs, Sides and fronts of shoulders. Maybe noticing tension, Noticing holding and just allowing it to be there. As if this holding was felt for the first time. With some interest, With some curiosity, We really wanted to just explore how that is without judgment, Without self-criticism. Just noticing, Ah, Here on my shoulders, What's here to be felt? What is my experience right now? Then letting go of shoulders as we move on to neck, To larynx, To throat. Feeling a sense of the weight of the shoulders and feeling a sense of the weight of the head balancing on top. Then picking up with your jaw, Your mouth, Your tongue, Teeth, Gums, Lips, Cheeks, Your nose, Your eyes and muscles around the eyes, Eyebrows, Space between the eyebrows, Forehead, Ears, Your scalp all the way up to the top of your head. Then having a sense of the whole body, Just breathing, Just being as if for the first time. Whole in this moment, Complete in this moment, Just as it is in this moment. With whatever experiences, Sensations, Feelings, Thought, Happen to be here as well. Then as this practice starts to develop, Then as this practice starts to come to a close, Starting to shift your weight, Move your fingers and toes to open eyes if they were closed, Let some of the light into them.