Mindful Body Scan

Welcome along to your body scan practice.

And in the body scan as we move through,

We intentionally and systematically attend to all the various aspects of the body.

This wonderful living,

Breathing,

Sensing instrument that does so much for us,

Carries us around all day every day.

Yet we so very rarely pay any sort of attention to.

And in doing so as we tune into what we so often tune out of,

We can learn a lot of really valuable information about ourselves.

What feels good,

Where there's tension or tightness maybe needs a little more attention or space.

The areas that feel really good and spacious and free.

And all the parts in between.

And the really important thing about the body scan practice is that as we move through there is no state that we're trying to attain.

Nothing that we need to achieve.

Doesn't need to look or feel in any particular way.

That all the aim of the practice is,

Is to simply show up exactly as you are.

The right experience,

Always the one that you're having.

So with that all said now,

Beginning to set yourself up in a position that feels sustainable,

That feels easeful.

And for many of us we lie down,

Maybe on the floor or your bed.

Or you might like to stay seated,

Whatever feels best for you in this very moment.

And just taking a moment or two to find your position,

Whatever that needs to look like for you today.

And you might choose to find a little bit of movement as you start to settle on in.

And often it can feel a little bit challenging to just come to complete stillness after,

Particularly if it's been a busy day or morning so far.

Perhaps you're at the end of your day and it's time to wind down so just taking any of those final little adjustments,

Movements,

Stretches in your body that can allow you to settle on in and be still.

And as you find that position,

Whatever that looks like for you now,

You might choose to close down your eyes.

Or if that's not feeling so helpful for you today,

You might just settle and soften down your gaze if that feels a little more helpful.

And as you do so now,

Beginning by starting to direct that attention inward.

Simply acknowledging and setting an intention to set this time to just be fully with yourself.

Not manipulating or fixing your experience,

Just meeting yourself exactly as you are.

And as a way to really transition that attention in,

You might now start to simply become aware of the fact that you are breathing.

Just paying attention to the inflow of the air through the nostrils.

And as you become aware of that natural rhythm or pattern of breath,

You might also become aware of where else perhaps in your body the breath feels most vivid,

Most alive or perhaps where you most easily detect your breath.

That might be right down with the rise and fall of the belly.

The expansion and contraction of the rib cage.

Or perhaps it's all the way up in the chest region where you feel that lifting and lowering of the chest.

It might even be a sense of the whole body breathing.

Just as best as you can now,

Letting this flow of breath be an anchor,

Somewhere to really hone in and focus your attention as you start to really arrive into this practice.

And knowing that you don't need to force the breath or change it in any way,

That all you're doing is simply meeting the breath as it doesn't want to move in and around your body.

Just in and out.

Just in and out.

Knowing that at any time throughout this practice,

If you find that there are sensations that feel strong or hard to stay with,

Maybe a little too uncomfortable.

Knowing that this anchor of your breath is always there somewhere to arrive back to whenever it is that you need as a refuge before venturing back into the practice of the body scan whenever you feel ready to return.

Now with that,

Start to take your attention on the breath and now directing it all the way down your body.

Right down to the soles of your feet.

And just becoming aware of the very fact that you can do that,

How you can guide your attention all the way down through the back of the body,

Through the legs,

Into the feet and all the way into both left and right side.

You might become aware of the inner arches of the feet.

The blade edges.

Noticing how the feet feel as you attend to the sensations,

All the way from the inside outward.

Maybe there's tingling,

Vibration,

A sense of heat or cool.

Moisture,

Dryness.

Just notice what you notice.

Anything that can be felt.

Perhaps if you're wearing shoes or socks there might be a texture against the surface of the skin or perhaps the slight breeze of the air if the feet are exposed.

Then drawing your awareness from the soles of your feet and all the way up now through to the toes.

All 10 of them.

And as you trace your attention over the ridges of the toes,

Perhaps there's a sense of connectivity there,

Maybe an aliveness of the toes being connected.

Maybe it's the weight or volume of that part of the foot as it rests in the shoe or in your sock.

As it rests against the floor or falls apart,

Resting heavy as you lay against the surface beneath you.

And then when you're ready,

Letting go of the toes and tracing your attention now through to the heels,

The ankles.

Can you feel the heels and the ankles from the inside outward?

Any aliveness,

Tingling that can be felt here?

Or the weight or how gravity has an effect on how the feet are landed or placed.

Just notice what you can notice.

Then letting go of the heels and the ankles and tracing your attention now up to the legs.

The lower part of the legs where the calves and the shins are.

The wider seams and the inner parts all the way up into the knees.

And you might get a sense of broadening your experience outward.

So maybe even taking in the entirety of the body.

The sum of all sensations and then perhaps narrowing your attention right back in.

Maybe there's a sense of the knees having been worked.

Maybe there's a fatigue or tiredness there.

And if at any stage you're not feeling very much at all through this practice,

Knowing that that's okay too.

That simply the right experience is always the one that you're having.

So just noting if there's numbness or nothingness that that's your experience in this moment.

No right or wrong way to practice.

Just simply showing up for what's here.

Then letting go of the knees and tracing your attention up to the upper parts of the legs.

The inner seams and the outer seams.

The tops of the legs,

The quadriceps and the backs of the legs and the hamstrings.

Maybe there's some restriction or tension there.

Maybe there's space and ease or somewhere in between.

Just notice.

There might be a sense of connectivity between the legs and the hip bone centering and spiraling your attention around the entirety of the pelvic bowl.

Maybe getting a sense of the entirety of the space between the hips and the legs.

Maybe how gravity or weight has an effect.

How the legs rest heavy on the surface beneath.

Whether it's the chair,

Your bed or the floor.

And feeling the legs and the hips all the way from the inside outward.

Any aliveness that's felt there.

Any tingling,

Vibration.

Just notice.

Then when you're ready letting go of the hips and now tracing your attention up to the lower back.

To the tailbone all the way to the lower part of the spine.

And you might even get a sense of the space between each of the vertebra.

Or perhaps in your experience you'll notice that the back is an area where we can hold a lot of tension.

A lot of tightness can be felt.

Any sort of restriction that you might feel.

The mid-back area,

The back of the lungs,

The chest.

Maybe you notice the lungs as they expand and contract.

The upper back,

The back of the shoulder blades and again an area where we can hold a lot of our tension and stress.

We can hold sometimes the weight of the world on our shoulders.

So just noticing if that's your experience.

Maybe there's a spot that you can naturally just soften and let go.

Otherwise just noting if you can simply be with your experience as it is.

Not trying to change it.

And if there's a sticky spot or an area that feels unpleasant you might get a little more curious.

Perhaps noting what else maybe felt in that moment.

Perhaps getting a little more curious into the sensation itself.

Is it hot,

Cool?

Clenching sensation in the space.

Burning,

Restlessness,

Boredom.

What's my experience like right now?

And perhaps as you continue to explore you'll begin to notice that your mind is drifted or wandered.

Maybe there's an experience of restlessness or boredom.

Sometimes it can feel so difficult to just sit in stillness or lie in stillness.

That we'd be prepared to do anything other than be here.

And just remembering that all we're doing is showing up for what's here.

Doing your best as you can to have that intention to stay with your experience fully.

Coming back into your body as you re-relax into your physical shape as you breathe.

Noticing how you feel against the surface beneath.

And then when you're ready letting go of the back part of the body.

Drawing your attention now through the front of the body all the way down right into the belly.

And see if you can really re-establish your attention on your breath now through the sensation in your lower belly.

Each breath met with a real softening belly.

Just this breath in.

And just breath out.

Getting a sense again of the pattern or rhythm or pace of each breath as it enters and leaves the body.

Noting what else you can feel.

Depending on time of day maybe there's a sense of hunger.

Maybe you feel really full.

Maybe there's an experience of digestion happening.

And then tracing the attention upward as you feel into that ribcage area.

How the ribs protect the lungs,

Protect the heart and you might even get a sense of the heart beating against the surface of the skin.

Pulsing,

Beating.

Vitality,

A sense of being alive.

And then drawing up into the chest.

The upper part of the body,

The front of the body,

Over the shoulders,

Into the neck,

The throat.

Any restriction or tightness,

Ease.

What's the experience like in the entirety of the body?

Is it changing?

Or is it staying the same and consistent?

And then drawing your attention over the arms into both sides,

Left and right,

All the way down through to the fingertips.

And just like the toes,

Can you sense the connectivity between each of the fingers?

Heat,

Coolness.

Maybe even the ridges of the fingertips,

The experience of the skin,

Whether it feels like tight,

Flaky,

Cracked.

Smooth,

Full of moisture.

Heat or coolness,

The palms or the backs of the hands.

The fingertips if they're bent,

Slightly curled or straight,

Rigid or with ease.

And then feeling into the wrists,

Left and right side,

Maybe an experience of the wrist being worked from texting or typing or driving cars all day.

Just notice.

The wrists into the forearms.

Forearms into the elbows,

Whether they're bent or straight.

And then the elbows into the upper arms,

The inner seams to the armpit and the outer seams up to the shoulders.

Just seeing if you can show up for your experience,

Whatever that may look or feel like here.

And then letting go of the arms and coming back up to the back of the neck.

The base of the skull and feeling the entirety of the head as it rests over the shoulders,

Shoulders over the hips.

Can you feel the base of the skull and trace it around to the center of the forehead?

Is there an opportunity to soften through the backs of the eyes and just allow the eyes to be heavy in their sockets?

Softening or smoothing of the brow area.

Noting the left and the right side,

Cheeks,

The jaw.

Letting the tongue just rest heavy in the mouth.

Noting what feels active,

Tight,

Tense.

Where is it a little more passive and at ease?

When you're ready,

Returning your attention right back at the tip of the nostrils.

Right where we began,

That experience of your breath as it just rests here.

Maybe there's a difference in the temperature as it enters in and leaves.

The experience of the air inside the nostrils and outside the nostrils.

Just remaining here,

Breathing now.

Aware of your in-breath.

Aware of your out-breath.

Staying with and attending to sensation just as it enters and leaves the body.

As it unfolds from one moment to the next.

And then see if you can take your attention from the tip of the nostrils.

And as you breathe in,

Continue it down,

Right down,

All the way to the soles of your feet.

And as you breathe out,

The soles of your feet all the way up the back of the body and out through the nostrils.

And just see if you can continue with that cycle,

That pattern of breath from nostrils to soles of feet as you breathe in.

And from the soles of your feet back out through the nostrils as you breathe out.

And just stay with that as best as you can,

Moment by moment.

And as you move now to what's the end of our practice together?

Starting to invite in some gentle movement as you bring some aliveness back into your body.

Maybe some gentle movement in the fingertips and the toes.

Maybe gentle sway of the head side to side.

And as you're ready,

Take your time and there's absolutely no rush whenever you feel ready to.

You might slowly start to begin to open up your eyes or blink the eyes open.

Take back in your surroundings and just give yourself a moment to thank yourself for taking the time to just be with yourself today.

And even if you found that practice challenging or difficult,

Knowing that even in the act of showing up,

That you're simply making choices to attend to and support your wellbeing.

So thank you for taking this time to practice with me today.

Hopefully you can take some of this in with you as you move into the rest of your day or your night as you prepare for sleep.

I look forward to seeing you again next time.