Body Scan For Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction

This Body Scan Meditation for the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course guides the listener to bring non-judging, kind awareness through the each part of the body, noticing any sensations, thoughts and emotions along the way. It includes instructions for working with physical pain or discomfort. The 8-week MBSR program is designed to teach mind-body awareness and self care to people living with physical or psychological symptoms due to stress, pain, or illness. It is also essential for preventative care and leading a most fulfilling life. It is based on the work of Jon Kabat-Zinn, Ph.D. at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, and offers lifelong tools for increased well-being.

Transcript

The following is a guided body scan meditation.

Please find a comfortable position,

Either sitting upright or lying down on your back,

In a quiet,

Protected place.

For more support,

You may lie on your back with your lower legs resting on the seat of a chair.

What's more important than your body position is the quality of alert attention and focus you bring to the practice.

Acknowledge yourself for taking this time to be present.

Remember that this is a time for you to stop and tap into the sources of strength and healing within yourself.

In the body scan,

We'll slowly bring our awareness through the body,

Part by part,

Noticing whatever sensations are occurring in each area of the body.

Sensations may include tingling,

Pulsing,

Pressure,

Warmth or coolness,

Itchiness,

Lightness,

Heaviness,

Pain or no sensation.

Whatever occurs,

The practice is to be present with it.

Feel whatever is there,

Observing it,

Getting up close to it.

If you notice a feeling of tension or tightness,

See if you can allow it to soften or simply be with it as it is.

It is helpful to have an attitude of gentle curiosity towards any felt sensations,

Whether they are pleasant,

Unpleasant or neutral.

If pain or discomfort is present,

Notice the difference between how the sensations feel and your reaction to having the feeling.

Let yourself be curious about how you are feeling,

Noting if the sensation is dull or sharp,

Persistent or passing,

Sensing any changes in the quality of pain.

As we go through the body,

You may also notice thoughts and emotions arising.

Allow yourself to view feelings of restlessness,

Boredom,

Irritation as simply mental and emotional events in the continuously changing landscape of human experience.

In this way,

The practice is about being with things as they are from moment to moment.

Now beginning the body scan,

Allow yourself to settle in,

Arriving here in this moment,

Dropping down into your body and closing your eyes if that feels comfortable.

Letting go into the floor or the chair as it supports you,

Surrendering to gravity,

Becoming aware of how you're feeling physically,

Mentally,

Emotionally.

And now let's shift our focus to mindful breathing.

Notice where your breath is most prominent,

Either as it passes through your nostrils or as your abdomen expands and contracts as you inhale and exhale.

And continue to feel the rhythm of your own breath,

Breathing in,

Breathing out,

Waves of breath coming and going.

During the silences,

You may notice that your mind has wandered away from the breath,

That you've lost track.

Without judgment,

Direct your focus back to your inhalation,

Your exhalation,

And be with how it feels to breathe.

Now draw your attention from your breathing down to the left foot and feel the place where your foot is making contact with the floor or the chair or the bed.

And notice the sensation of pressure here.

And now expand your awareness to include your entire left foot and ankle,

Including the toes,

The sole of the foot,

The top of the foot,

The heel,

And the ankle.

Simply observing any sensations that are present throughout the entire left foot and ankle.

And now imagine that you could breathe all the way down and into your left foot.

And as you exhale,

That you're breathing back out from your left foot,

Allowing it to relax.

Rather than trying to relax,

Just allow the foot to relax without any forcefulness,

Just a letting go.

And then bring your awareness from your foot and ankle up into your lower leg,

Your left calf and shin,

And your left knee.

And sensing into your lower left leg,

Tuning into any sensations that are present.

Or if you find no sensations,

Take note of that.

And now breathing down into your lower left leg and exhaling from it,

Allowing it to release.

And bring your focus up into your left thigh.

Feeling any sensations in the front of the thigh,

The back,

The inner and outer edges,

The inside,

Into the muscles,

The bone.

From time to time,

You may notice your mind wandering or even emotions arising,

Especially in areas of past injury or illness or feelings of pain in this moment.

Simply observe what you're feeling,

Acknowledge it and allow your experience to be as it is.

Always coming back to the physical sensations.

And now breathing down into your left thigh,

Exhaling out from your left thigh,

And drawing your awareness all the way down to your right foot.

Notice the place where your right foot is making contact with the surface that it is on.

Feeling the sense of pressure there,

Heaviness,

Whatever is present.

And then without moving the toes,

Notice if you can sense into the toes,

The big toe,

The little toe,

The toes in between,

Any sensations.

And expanding your attention throughout the entire right foot,

The top,

The sole of the foot,

And the ankle,

Being present.

And now breathing down into the right foot,

And as you exhale,

Letting it release and draw your awareness up into your lower right leg,

Feeling the shin,

The calf,

The knee,

Noticing whatever sensations are present.

Tuning into sensations of tightness,

Softness,

Temperature,

Any sensations at all,

Or if there are none,

Allowing that to be okay.

And then breathing down into the lower right leg and exhaling back out from it,

Drawing your awareness up to the right thigh.

Feeling the front of the thigh,

The back,

The inner and outer edges,

All the way inside the thigh.

If you find that your mind wanders away from the thigh,

Just take a moment to notice where it has wandered.

And without judging,

Just coming back to feeling into the thigh.

Remember,

We're not trying to push away thoughts,

We're just noticing them when they arise.

And then coming back to the sensations of the body,

The felt sense of being in your body,

And in particular,

The sensations in the right thigh in this moment.

And now breathing down into the right thigh and exhaling out from it,

Allowing it to release even more deeply.

And bringing your awareness from your right thigh to the area of the pelvis and the hips,

Including the buttocks,

The anal region,

And the genitals.

Sensing into the entire pelvic region the systems of sexuality,

Elimination,

Feeling any sensations in these areas.

If you notice that your attention has wandered into thoughts,

Stories,

Memories,

Just acknowledge where the mind went.

And with kindness,

Escorting your attention back to sensing into the pelvic region.

So each time we come back to the body,

Doing so with a gentleness,

A caring,

Loving quality of attending to yourself.

And now breathing down into the pelvis and exhaling back out from it,

Releasing any tension and drawing your awareness up into the abdomen.

Noticing if you feel your abdomen expanding and contracting with each inhalation and exhalation.

Tuning into any deeper sensations associated with digestion,

If you notice any tension,

Just take a step back and observe it and see if looking at it in this way will help it to relax.

And if not,

Just being with whatever you're experiencing.

Now breathing into the abdomen and exhaling from it,

Drawing your awareness around to the low back,

Feeling the low back and the tailbone,

A place where many of us hold tension or feel tightness or pain from time to time.

And allow yourself to sense into the low back,

Whether you're feeling something or nothing,

And have it be a friendly noticing,

A kind attention.

And expanding your awareness from the low back up through the middle back and the upper back.

See if you can feel any sensations along the entire spinal column,

From the tailbone all the way up through the low back,

Middle back,

And upper back.

And sensing into the muscles of the back,

The many layers of muscles,

As you allow them to soften if there's any tension.

Or simply being with things as they are.

And now breathing into the back,

Exhaling out from it,

And draw your awareness around to the chest area.

Noticing if you feel the chest expanding and contracting,

A system of respiration.

Or notice if you're feeling the heart beating as it circulates blood.

And expand your awareness to the skin of the chest and the breasts,

And down through the rib cage.

Feeling the ribs in the front and around the back.

Noticing any thoughts or emotions that may arise.

And then coming back to the feeling sense of the chest,

The rib cage.

Breathing into the chest area,

Breathing out from it,

And bringing your awareness down to your left hand without moving your fingers.

See if you can sense each finger and thumb.

Noticing any sensations of tingling,

Pulsing.

Drawing the awareness up through the top of the hand,

The palm.

Observing any sensations of moisture,

Dryness,

Warmth.

And up through the wrist.

Noticing any pulsing in the wrist area.

Drawing your awareness now from the hand and wrist up through the forearm.

Feeling where it may be making contact with your body or with the surface that you're lying on.

And up through your left elbow and upper arm.

Noticing any tightness or holding on or softening.

Drawing the awareness up to the left shoulder and armpit.

Being curious and open to whatever is in your field of awareness here.

And breathing down through your arm and hand.

Exhaling back out from the left hand and arm.

And moving your awareness down to the right hand and without moving the fingers.

Seeing if you can feel each one and the right thumb.

Sensing into your right hand,

The palm,

The top of the hand.

Noticing any tingling,

Any sensations.

Up through the wrist.

And drawing your awareness from the right wrist and hand up through the right forearm.

Noticing what you can feel and what you can't feel.

Observing sensations or no sensations with the same objective awareness.

Just noticing.

Remembering that whatever you're experiencing is what you're experiencing.

Then drawing the awareness up through the right elbow,

Upper arm,

The right shoulder and armpit.

Noticing any sensations of temperature,

Moistness.

And breathing down into your right hand and arm.

And exhaling back out from your right arm and letting it relax.

And now drawing your awareness to include both shoulders and the neck area.

Noticing if you feel any tightness or tension.

And whether your attention to this area changes the sensations in any way.

Making room to experience the way things are at this moment.

Being present.

Acknowledging any thoughts or emotions if they draw you away from the experience of the neck and shoulder area.

Sensing as you breathe if you can feel the breath moving through the throat area.

And then breathing into the neck and throat and shoulders.

Exhaling out from there.

Bringing your awareness now to your entire face.

A place where many of us hold tension.

And sense into the jaw,

The hinge of the jaw.

If you do find any tension there,

See if your awareness of it allows it to soften.

And notice how your chin and your mouth are feeling.

Observing whether you can feel the lips,

The tongue,

And the teeth.

Drawing your awareness now up through the cheeks.

Noticing any pressure,

Tightness.

And then expanding your awareness to include the nose,

The sinus cavity.

And up through the eyes.

Feeling any sensations associated with the eyelids resting on the eyes.

Noticing any tightness behind the eyes.

Seeing if you can allow it to soften.

Or just be present with it.

Now drawing the awareness up through the forehead,

Across to the temples.

Feeling whatever there is to feel in the forehead and the temples.

And then up through the top of the head.

And the back of the head.

Draw your awareness now to your ears.

The outer ears,

The inside of the ears.

And now see if you can feel any sensations inside of the head,

In the brain area.

And imagine now that you can breathe into the head and breathe back out from it,

Allowing it to release any remaining tension.

And being with it as it is.

Noticing any sense of solidity,

Constriction,

Ease throughout the head.

And now bringing your awareness to the connectedness of the whole body.

From the head,

Down through the neck,

The shoulders.

Down through the chest area,

The ribs,

The abdomen,

The entire back.

Down to the hips and pelvis.

Both legs all the way down to the feet.

Feeling the entire body as one whole organism.

Resting here.

Gently breathing.

Feeling the whole body expanding and rising on the inhalation.

And gently contracting and falling on the exhalation.

Being present to how it feels to be in your body in this moment.

As we complete the body scan,

May you carry forward the intention of more fully inhabiting your body with awareness and presence in each

Reviews

Very good guided bday scan. Help keep me focused.

Pace just right. Gentle and soothing. Thank y ok u

Thank you so very much Wendy for such a beautiful meditation.