Kind Body Scan

Finding a comfortable pose lying down on your back.

Maybe you want to put your legs onto a cushion so you can really relax your hips here.

Start by bringing your awareness to your breath.

Noticing the breath in your body.

Bringing your awareness into this moment,

Into your body.

And we'll go on a journey through the body.

We start by cultivating an attitude of kindness.

So bringing the awareness to your body as if you were bringing your attention to a beloved child sitting on your lap.

Cultivating the same quality of kindness,

Well-wishing,

Benevolence toward your own body.

Then bringing your awareness to your right foot,

The toes,

The sole of the foot,

The heel,

The top of the foot,

The ankle,

Feeling the sensations in your right foot,

The tingling,

The pulsing,

The temperature,

And seeing if you can observe this with the same kindness and benevolence.

Bringing your kind awareness to your lower right leg,

Feeling the sensations in the lower right leg.

Maybe the contact with your clothes or the mat,

The sensations of pressure,

Temperature,

Tingling,

Pulsing.

Then observing with kind attention the lower right leg,

Moving up to the knee,

Feeling the knee.

Some people have issues in their knee,

Have pain.

Seeing if you can observe the same kind of attention,

The sensations in the knee.

And if there's any pain,

In particular if there's any pain,

Seeing if you can bring a real kindness to this experience,

An openness.

Noticing maybe any pinching or stinging sensations,

Learning,

Moving up to the right thigh,

Feeling into the thighs,

A big group of muscles and a big bone there,

Lots of tissue structures.

In this kind attention to the thigh,

All the way into the hip joint.

And again,

Some people suffer pain in the hip joint.

Seeing if you can stay open and well-wishing with your awareness as you meet any sensations of warmth or tingling or pulsing,

Tightness in the hip.

And in particular,

If you need any sensations bordering or pain such as stinging,

Burning,

Pinching.

See if you can stay open,

Kind and aware of this experience in your body.

Feeling the entire right leg,

Maybe feeling the weight,

Maybe feeling the contact with the floor,

The earth.

Bringing this kind attention to the right leg as a whole.

Moving your awareness over to the left foot,

The left toes,

Sole of the foot,

Top of the foot,

The heel,

The ankle.

Becoming aware of sensations in the foot,

Temperature,

Weight,

Tingling,

Pulsing.

And again,

If you meet sensations that border or are outright pain,

Such as burning or stinging or pinching,

See if you can stay open.

And just for now,

Meet them with an attitude of kinds.

Moving into your thigh,

Your shin,

Lower part of the leg.

Feeling the lower part of the left leg.

Feeling your knee.

See if you can feel that knee from inside out.

It's a very complex structure.

Be aware that there's also the possibility of numbness.

Maybe you don't feel anything.

Can you meet that too with openness and kindness?

See if you can just be open to the sensations coming to you.

Don't have to go looking for them.

They're already there.

Bringing this kind attention to your thigh.

Feeling the thigh from the inside out.

And all the way up into the hip joint.

And again,

Feeling into the hip joint.

Maybe you don't even feel much.

Maybe this is where you feel tightness and the pinching and the pain.

And familiarize yourself with these particular sensations.

Bringing this kind attention to this experience.

Feeling the entire left leg,

Its weight,

Its temperature.

Any pleasant,

Unpleasant or neutral sensations in the leg and its particular structures.

Moving with the awareness into the pelvic floor area.

Maybe feeling the butters.

Pulsing the pulse on the mat,

On the ground.

Sensing the weight.

Any sensations of tingling or pulsing,

Other sensations that may be present.

Sensing the pelvic floor,

Reproductive bonds,

Organs of elimination.

Often associated with lots of societal beliefs and taboos.

Just feeling what's present there.

Again,

Maybe numbness.

Maybe pleasant sensations.

Maybe unpleasant sensations bordering on pain that you have experienced or experienced now.

Just bringing this kind,

Well-wishing awareness to that part of your body.

Moving up on the lower back,

In the middle of the back.

Maybe slightly not touching the mat.

Again,

The back muscles tend to be very strong.

Some people feel a lot of tightness or even pain that's reaching.

Just being aware.

Shifting into the belly.

Maybe you almost feel like you're feeling all these organs in the belly.

All these organs that work by themselves without us noticing anything until something goes wrong.

Maybe there's a moment of appreciation for that amazing process,

Processes that go on in our body all the time.

Maybe this is the place where there has been pain or even surgery for some of you.

And just noticing that too,

Bringing the kind awareness to that experience.

Moving with awareness to your upper back,

Middle of your shoulder blades,

Your shoulders.

Maybe you feel the upper back heavy on the floor.

And again,

In sensing any sensations there.

Sometimes it's almost like we carry a huge big backpack around with us.

We're not even aware of it.

Maybe you're the one who's completely free and spacious on the back.

Just feel that too.

Noticing also psychological sensations that may have landed in your body.

Things like back stepping or somebody holding your back.

Notice what's present in your body,

The memory of the body.

Just feel it,

Feel the wisdom of your body with that kindness and openness.

And then bringing the awareness to the chest,

The movement of your chest as you breathe in and out.

And then the marvelous movement of the breath in the body,

Carrying naturally without you having to do anything at all.

The body breathes you,

Fills you many times per second with life energy and exhales what you no longer need.

Just noticing this process.

Feeling your heartbeat.

Maybe you notice it,

Maybe you don't feel it.

That muscle too that always works.

And that is the wisdom of the heart and maybe you can connect with it.

It's this energy field of finding out in the heart that connects us to others.

And you can feel the sensations in the heart region.

Again,

There are these images like the heart coming wide and open or there's a stone on your heart and you can notice what the body wants to tell you depending on sensations.

And see if you can meet it with openness.

In particular if there's been heartache,

Physical or emotional and you're still carrying it,

Can you meet this experience with openness and kindness?

You can bring the awareness to your hands,

Fingers,

The palms,

Outside of the hands,

The wrists,

The lower arms.

Just notice those hands that are so busy all the time.

They're so active,

They're so helpful.

If there's been any real pain in your hands just notice that too.

See if you can stay with an open kind non-judgmental awareness.

Moving up to your elbows,

Your upper arms,

Your shoulders.

And then feeling the entire right arm,

Sensations in your right arm,

And the entire left arm,

Sensations in the left arm.

And then moving up to your neck,

Sensing your neck.

And again many people,

They tightness your pain in the neck.

So see if you can meet this experience with openness and kindness.

And really sense the sensations,

What is the tightness like?

Is it hot or cold?

Holding to the throat?

Just noticing in the throat what's present,

What's the body telling you?

Maybe the words that shouldn't have been said,

Or the words you've been wanting to say for a long time and then for some reason don't come out.

Maybe the pattern of trying to be nice all the time,

Or the search for finding your own voice.

Feeling the energy in your throat,

Any sensations.

And again meeting them with openness.

Feeling the contact of the back of your head on the mat,

Maybe heaviness.

And then feeling your face,

Muscles in your face,

Sensations around your mouth.

Maybe you're biting your teeth.

Maybe you noticed that somehow there is a wish to go in your jaw.

Muscles around your nose.

Maybe holding your breath.

Maybe you've been breathing deeply lately,

Your spaciousness in the east.

Muscles around your eyes.

Can notice a little,

You've been narrowing your sight.

We can relax your gaze,

Open the perspective.

What does it feel like in your eyes?

Your ears?

What are the sensations around your ears?

Sometimes it feels like we put up our ears like the animals do when they listen for something.

We're so focused.

Sometimes it feels like we're relaxed around the ears and we're just able to listen with an open,

Establishing awareness.

The space between your eyebrows and behind your forehead.

Sensing the sensations between your eyebrows,

Behind your forehead and even frowning.

Or are there spaciousness and relaxation?

Again,

An open-mindedness or narrow-mindedness in the sensations of your body.

The roots of your hair.

Again,

You can feel tension in the roots of your hair.

If you're busy and stressed or a sense of warmth and relaxation maybe.

The top of your head.

Do you feel the top of your head?

Maybe you feel even some light or tingling.

Maybe there's numbness.

Maybe there's nothing.

Just notice what's present.

And then sensing your entire body lying here.

Feeling your body from the toes to the top of the head.

Can you bring this kind,

Loving attention to this body?

Even if it's not perfect.

Even if it's hurt.

Even if it's been ill.

Can you bring this kind,

Loving attention to this body which is your whole and this lie?

And what is it like?

What is it like if you meet your own body and your own sensory experience with kindness and openness?

To sensing that kindness spread from the top of the head into the entire body.

And in particular to those places in the body that may hurt,

Maybe ill,

Or you may not like,

May not look like you would like to or society expects to.

Can you bring this loving kindness to your own being?

And just stay there.

Be there in this field of loving awareness.

And then you can gently start to inhale more deeply.

And you can follow the next impulse to move the body,

Stretch,

Wake the body up.

And you can choose maybe you want to lie over to the right side and stay a moment on the right side before you get up again.