Eight-Minute Body Scan For Relaxation And Awareness

An eight-minute body scan progressively relaxes the body and brings gentle awareness to physical sensations. This gentle practice will release physical and mental tension.

Rest gentle awareness on the breath, or the weight of the body, then each area of the body in turn.

Transcript

Let's begin by taking a moment to allow your body to settle into a comfortable position. You may close your eyes or keep them slightly open. Allow the spine to lift or become long and the shoulders to soften. Today we're going to practice the body scan and we'll start by taking a full breath in through the nose if you can, Otherwise through the mouth, And then sigh that breath out. We'll do that twice more. Nice big breath in, And sigh out. And once more, Breathe in deeply and sigh out. And now let the breath return to its natural rhythm, Not breathing in any special way, But maybe if it's comfortable for you, Draw attention to the breath, Noticing that as you breathe in, The chest and the abdomen expand to allow the air to enter your body. And as you breathe out, Everything relaxes. So taking a few breaths in and out naturally, And maybe with each out breath, You can relax even more deeply. Now we're going to bring attention into the body, Into wherever the body is touching something else, Whether that's a chair, A bed, The floor or a cushion. Just notice where the body is touching something else. Notice the gentle pressure, The feeling of weight of the body, The feeling of gravity and the earth holding you. If at any point during this relaxation, Your mind starts to wander and starts chasing thoughts, Then that's perfectly normal. Congratulate yourself for noticing and then gently bring attention back to the breath or to the weight of the body. Beginning the body scan now at the very top of the head. Bring your attention to the crown of the head, To any physical sensations in the scalp. Perhaps you can imagine your scalp has grown a size that the skin's a little bit looser but your skull. Moving now to the face, Letting all of the little muscles around the forehead, Around the eyes, Around the mouth, Let go. Your forehead and your brows smoothening and softening. Any clenching in your jaw, Relaxing. Down to your neck and your throat, Let them be soft and relaxed. Moving down now to the shoulders, We're going to bring our attention to any physical sensations in the shoulders and if there's any tension or tightness, We'll let that dissolve. Now to the upper arms, Any tension disappearing. The forearms are soft and relaxed and then bringing a gentle attention and a feeling of softening and relaxation into the hands and to each of your fingers and your thumbs. Bringing attention now back to the shoulders and moving down into the chest. Perhaps you can feel the soft beating of your heart, Perhaps you can bring attention back to the movement of your breath. Bring awareness to the back of your body, Letting any tension or discomfort disappear from the upper back, The middle back and the lower back. Bringing awareness into your abdomen, Your tummy, The organs of digestion and the abdominal muscles. Any tension here, Gently releasing. Moving down now into the hips, Down into the glutes, Into the buttocks, Relaxing any tension. Your thighs are soft and relaxed. The muscles of your shins and your calves, Gently let go. You feel relaxation in your ankles, In your feet and in each one of your toes. Now we're going to bring awareness to the edges of the body, To the skin. See if you can bring awareness to the physical sensations of the skin. Maybe you feel sensations of temperature, Of warmth or cool. Maybe you feel movement in the air. Maybe you can notice your clothes or your blanket touching your skin. Whatever you notice, Just rest your awareness with it and if you feel any tension or tightness in the skin, Let that go. Now if you can, We're going to try and rest awareness in all of the physical body at once, All the way from the crown of your head right down to the tips of your toes. Spend a few moments sitting with the awareness of the body as a whole. Noticing the gentle movement of the breath, Of the heartbeats and any other little feelings of movement, Any other physical sensations. Then, As we begin to close this practice, Let your next breath in and out a little bit deeper, A little bit more intentional. Maybe bring a little bit of gentle movement to the fingers and the toes. If you're laying on your back, You might want to lay on your right hand side for a few breaths, Letting everything that we've done settle into the body. Now when you're quite ready, You can blink the eyes wide open, Give yourself a big stretch, Come back into the room, Sitting up, Ready to move on to the day. We're trying, As you move through your day, To keep this awareness of the physical body. Thank you for your practice.