Body scan.
To prepare for this practice lie down on the ground.
Make sure that you're warm and that you're comfortable.
Allow your shoulders to sink back and your palms to face the ceiling.
Bring your attention to your natural breath.
Watching your belly rise and fall as you breathe in and breathe out.
Now draw your attention to your right foot and become aware of any sensation you notice arising in your right foot.
You might feel tingling.
You might feel the touch of your foot against the ground.
If you're wearing a sock you might feel the touch of the fabric on your skin.
Noticing any sensation at all.
Even numbness is a sensation.
Now draw your attention to your right ankle.
Noticing any sensations in your right ankle.
Not analyzing just noticing.
And you might find that the sensation might change or another sensation might become more pertinent,
More obvious.
You can then focus on that.
And now drawing your attention to your right calf.
Noticing any sensation as it arises naturally in the right calf.
Maybe you sense the touch of your calf against the ground.
Maybe there's tingling,
Pulsing,
Sensations of temperature,
Hot or cold,
Numbness.
All of these are sensations.
You don't need to mentally note them but just be aware that all of this is sensation and allow the mind to focus on the sensation.
Now draw your attention to the right shin.
Noticing sensation in the right shin.
Following sensation in the right shin and know the right knee.
Allow your mind to rest on sensations or sensation that arises in the right knee.
Watching if that sensation changes and also noting if it stays the same.
The right thigh.
Bringing the mind's attention to the right thigh and the right buttock.
Feeling sensation,
Whatever sensation is naturally occurring in the right buttock.
The left foot.
Feeling sensation in the left foot.
Allowing the experience of sensation to become magnified as you allow the mind to rest on sensation.
The left ankle.
Noticing sensation in the left ankle.
The left calf.
Magnifying your awareness of sensation in the left calf.
The left shin.
The left knee.
Maybe you feel hardness or tightness,
Lightness or softness.
All of these are sensations and if your mind becomes distracted that's fine.
Just notice that and gently guide it back to sensation in the body.
Become aware of the left thigh and any sensations in the left thigh.
The left buttock.
The left buttock is pressed against the floor.
Maybe you feel this or maybe you notice something else.
The lower back.
Notice sensations as they arise in the lower back.
Try to avoid perceiving any sensations as pain.
If there's tension or tightness in your lower back see it as this.
The tension or the tightness.
Pain is subjective.
Try to allow your experience of sensation to be objective.
Become aware of your middle back and any sensations in your middle back.
And become aware of your upper back and any naturally arising sensations in the upper back.
And now as the mind has been focusing on the body for a little while we're going to speed up.
Just a little bit.
Draw your mind's attention to the lower belly and sensation as it arises in the lower belly.
And now draw the mind's attention to the upper belly.
You might feel the natural movement of the rising and falling.
You might notice something else as well.
Be conscious of whatever seems to be naturally there.
Notice sensation in the chest.
Maybe the chest feels heavy or light.
Maybe there's movement,
Pulsing,
Coldness,
Hotness.
Any of these things.
The right hand.
Notice sensation in the right hand.
The hands tend to have lots of sensation.
The right wrist.
Notice sensation in the right wrist.
The forearm.
The right elbow.
The right upper arm.
Notice sensation in the right upper arm.
And the right shoulder.
The left hand.
Notice sensation in the left hand.
The left wrist.
Left forearm.
Elbow.
Left upper arm.
The left shoulder.
Notice sensation in the left shoulder.
The back of the neck.
If you don't feel sensation,
Numbness is a sensation.
You can be aware of numbness.
The front of the neck.
Drawing the mind's attention to the face.
The lips.
The nose.
The cheeks.
The forehead.
There tends to be a lot of sensation in the face.
Watch this constant arising of sensations in the face.
The top of the head.
The back of the head.
Notice sensation in the back of the head.
And now let your awareness be free-floating.
Noticing any sensations naturally arising in the body.
And once again bring your attention back to the rising and falling of your breath.
The body scan is now complete.
Feel free to rest here or come up in your own time.
