Mindful Body Scan

Welcome to today's body scan mindfulness exercise.

Find yourself a comfortable position in which to sit or lie down.

Making any final adjustments.

Getting yourself truly comfortable.

As you close down your eyes or soften your gaze.

Taking a moment to acknowledge yourself for showing up for today's practice.

For taking this time out for yourself.

Let's begin by listening to the sounds that are furthest away.

Beyond the sound of my voice.

Beyond the sound of the music.

Beyond the space that you're in.

What are the sounds that are furthest away?

That you can hear.

See if you can stretch your listening.

Knowing that as you're stretching your listening,

In fact what you're stretching is your awareness.

Allow these sounds to help you geolocate yourself in the present moment.

As these sounds are occurring in real time,

Allow them to inform your presence in the here and the now.

From here now,

See if you can contract your awareness to the sounds of the space that you're in.

The sound of my voice.

The sound of the music.

Do you hear the sounds of the space or the room that you're in?

Sounds outside still occur,

But bring into crisper focus the sounds in this space.

As you're learning to focus your listening,

In fact what we're focusing is your awareness.

Now contracting your awareness a little bit further to your immediate space.

To your personal space.

See now if you can go from listening to the sounds to listening to the body.

As you follow the rise and the fall,

The sensation of breathing as the breath enters and escapes the body.

Listening to the sensations of the breath and the body.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Let's start today's body scan by tuning into the crown of your head.

Bring your awareness to the top of your head.

Tuning into whatever sensations are present for you.

Can you feel the skin of the scalp?

The temperature of the air on your skin?

The sensation of your hair?

As always,

There's no right or wrong here.

Just an invitation to tune into whatever is physically present for you.

As you continue to breathe and tune into the crown of your head.

Now drop down into the forehead and the brow.

Again,

Tuning into whatever is present.

Maybe noticing the temperature of the air.

Maybe a slight scrunching of the brow.

Perhaps some relaxation.

Whatever is present,

The invitation is to simply be with it.

Dropping down now into the eyes and the cheekbones.

And even with the eyes closed,

Perhaps you notice some movement in the eyes.

The weight of your eyelids.

Continuing down now to the tip of your nose and the upper lip.

Perhaps you can feel the body breathing gently and naturally.

Noticing the coolness of the air on its way in through your nose.

And the warmth of the air that escapes.

Moving down now into the mouth.

Feeling your lips,

Your jaw,

The tongue.

Maybe noticing the moisture.

How and where the tongue is resting.

Any tension or slack in the jaw.

Or whatever is presenting itself in your experience.

From here dropping down into the neck and the throat.

Noticing any tension or any movement of the body with the breath.

As always,

There is no right,

No wrong.

There is nothing that you should or shouldn't be experiencing.

Just continue to be present and tune into the direct physical experience of your body and your breathing.

Letting go of any judgements,

Any thoughts.

Continuing to return to your breath and the sensation of your physical body.

Moving now into the tops of the shoulders and into the shoulder blades.

Perhaps noticing the movement with the breath.

Or the sensation of clothes on the body.

Dropping down now into the upper arms and the elbows.

Tuning into whatever is directly present in your experience.

Continuing down now into the forearms and the wrists.

Perhaps noticing any points of contact.

Maybe your arms are resting in your lap or on the arms of a chair.

Just notice how that feels.

Scanning into your hands.

Go over the palms,

The fingers and the back of the hand.

Notice any points of contact where the hands may be touching each other or resting in your lap.

Perhaps you can notice that the temperature of the air feels different on the back of the hand than it does on the palm.

Come back up into the chest and rest here for a moment.

Connecting back into the body's breathing.

Noticing the rising and the falling.

The expansion and the contraction.

The natural movement of the body as it breathes itself.

Breathing in.

And breathing out.

Scanning down now into the abdomen and the stomach.

Again you may notice the sensations of the body's breathing.

The body's breathing is very similar to the sensations of the body's breathing.

Again you may notice the sensations of the body's breathing.

Pressure awareness within the body and stick to whatever sensations arise.

Dropping down now into the hips,

The pelvis and the glute.

You can probably feel the point of contact where your body meets the chair or the cushion.

Take a moment to feel all these sensations.

Scanning the thighs and the knees.

Noticing any points of contact.

Any tension.

Perhaps a sensation of the clothes on the body.

Or anything that's presenting in your direct experience.

Moving into the calves,

The shins,

The ankles.

Seeing what's present for you.

Perhaps there is some ease.

Or a different feeling in the legs.

What's present.

Invite yourself to be with it.

Finally moving into the feet.

Going over the heel,

The arch,

The ball of the foot.

The top of the foot.

And the toes.

Tune into the points of contact where the feet are touching the earth or tucked up underneath you.

Tune into the sensation of your feet.

As you continue to breathe now,

Take a moment here to tune into the body all together.

From head to toe.

You may be able to feel the energy of the breath as it moves through the body.

You may get a sense of the entire outline or the posture of the body as it continues to rest here.

Breathing in.

And breathing out.

Breathing in.

And breathing out.

Gently bringing some movement to your fingers and your toes.

Maybe even inviting a light stretch as you proceed to awaken your body.

And just before you open your eyes,

Taking a moment to acknowledge yourself for taking the time out for yourself today.

To be mindful.

To be present.

As you open your eyes,

Turning to the day,

Revitalized and energized.

Gently bringing some movement to your fingers and toes.

And just before you open your eyes,

Taking a moment to acknowledge yourself for taking the time out for yourself today.

Gently bringing some movement to your fingers and toes.

Gently bringing some movement to your fingers and toes.