Body Scan - Cultivating Awareness Of Pleasant, Unpleasant...

Finding a comfortable and supportive posture,

Perhaps lying down is what I recommend,

But this practice can be done seated or standing as well if that's the environment that you're in or the posture your body needs.

But today we'll do maybe just a little shy of 30 minutes of a body scan practice and we'll practice lying down today.

So I'll offer language if you are lying down since that is in fact the posture you're in.

Lying down on that nice thick comfortable yoga mat or maybe in the future you'll do this practice on the bed or couch,

Whatever feels best for your body.

Allowing the body to be long,

The legs extended,

The crown of the head extending up out of the body and the legs like two shoulder widths,

Maybe one is enough wide.

Letting the feet be apart and then allowing the feet to turn out.

That widening and turning out of the feet reduces pressure on the low back,

Can be super supportive.

Maybe your feet come to the edge of your yoga mat or maybe they're in a more narrow position or even wider.

It's all good.

It's not a perfect place for them to be,

Just an area of exploration,

Not tight,

Not tight.

And then allowing the arms to rest wherever is most comfortable.

Sometimes I find that having my left hand on my heart and right hand on the belly is super supportive,

Kind of giving myself a hug and the left hand is in touch with the heart and the right hand is in touch with the breath.

And sometimes I just let my arms lay on the floor next to me or other times I find it's nice to have both hands resting on the low belly,

Playing with it,

Finding the posture that's most supportive for you and knowing that each time you engage in this practice,

The posture may be different and that's not a problem.

So taking the time at the beginning of practice to discern,

To recognize what posture supports me now,

Today,

In this moment.

It's not the same as yesterday or tomorrow,

Might be quite similar,

But it's a little different every time.

Finding our posture,

Checking to see if we need more blankets or less blankets or more padding or something under the head or not under the head or more under the head.

This is a position that I enjoy most.

And sometimes I find that I need a little support under my knees.

So my feet are flat on the floor and the knees are pointing towards the ceiling,

There's a little pillow under them.

And so that might be exploring in the future.

But for today,

I'll try this.

I feel the body resting here,

Allowing the body to come into stillness,

Resting,

Resting,

Allowing the body to be as it is,

Following my words as much as possible.

And of course,

Attention will be drawn somewhere else some of the time.

Not a problem.

Nothing wrong with that.

Notice this and return to the guidance being offered as we're able when we're able,

Kindly,

Gently,

With love and appreciation for yourself for taking this time to cultivate mindfulness,

To cultivate presence,

To cultivate embodied awareness,

Allowing attention,

Inviting attention,

Encouraging attention to rest into the body,

Becoming aware of this body lying here,

Resting,

Precious gift of rest,

Sometimes under reading,

Noticing if we can hold in the field of awareness,

The whole body just resting here from the crown of the head to the tips of the fingers and toes.

Can we feel this body?

Maybe not.

That's okay.

We're exploring.

We're coming to know how things are and allowing them to be.

When we notice something pleasant,

When we notice something unpleasant,

When we notice something that's neither pleasant nor unpleasant,

What we might call neutral,

We might say to ourselves,

It's like this,

It's like this,

Finding that freedom of acknowledging and allowing this moment to be as it is,

This conditioned moment that can be no other way.

Rest,

Feeling the whole of the body as much as is possible,

Resting,

Being,

Allowing ourselves to tune into the experience of breath in the body.

Perhaps we feel the breath under the hands and the low belly,

Gentle rising and falling of the low belly,

Feeling the length of the breath in the body,

Breathing in.

I know I am breathing in,

Breathing out.

I know I am breathing out,

Riding the waves of the breath,

Noticing the heart,

Mind and body's response to the arising and passing of sounds,

Sounds like thoughts,

Like emotions,

Like all sensations in the body rise and pass due to causes and condition.

It is their nature,

Resting in awareness of this body resting,

Knowing each time we remember,

We can return to this experience of the body resting,

We can return to awareness of the sensation of breath in the body.

And we'll begin to explore the sensations of the body more specifically,

Bringing attention and awareness down to the feet,

The feet that are resting on the floor,

Resting on the earth.

You can feel the gentle pressure where the feet and the floor meet the mat,

Probably like the backside of the heel,

Back outer edge of the foot,

Feeling that pressure,

That point of contact,

And noticing if it's pleasant,

Unpleasant or neutral,

And recognizing,

Observing our ability to just feel it,

Simply be with it as it is,

To allow the sensation to be as it is.

It's like bringing that same curiosity,

Interest out through the edge of the foot from the heel to the pinky toe,

Noticing the sensations that are present there,

Or the absence of sensations.

Maybe there's a cozy sock or a blanket,

Or there's some cool air or warm air,

Noticing the sensations on the outer edge of the feet,

Feeling into both feet simultaneously,

Or maybe the mind goes back and forth between the two.

And then out into the toes,

Experiencing the sensation of the pinky toes,

That next toe in,

One more toe in,

And then that toe next to the big toe.

Maybe it's possible to feel each toe individually,

Maybe not.

It's all good,

Checking it out,

Exploring,

Coming to know.

Oh,

It's like this,

Feeling all four toes,

And then bringing attention where it's into the big toe of the left and right foot,

Feeling the big toe in both feet as much as is possible.

Maybe there's no sensation.

That's okay.

We're aware of an absence of sensation.

We allow that to be as it is.

And then exploring,

Can we notice the space between the toes?

Maybe,

Maybe not.

It's all good.

Checking it out.

What about the ball of the foot?

Feeling into the ball of the foot,

The right and left foot,

And up into the arch,

High arch,

Low arch,

Feeling arch as it is,

And the sole of the heel,

The ball of the heel,

And into the meat,

Muscles,

And bones of the feet,

Inside,

Feeling inside our feet,

And then onto the top surface,

Feeling the instep or the top of the foot,

And then exploring,

Feeling both feet in their entirety,

Just as they are,

From the inside out,

Feeling our feet,

And bringing awareness up into the ankles,

Appreciating ankles,

Although they do allow us to point and flex our feet to bend,

To walk,

Step,

Climb,

Stretch,

Drive,

These ankles that allow so much to happen,

Balance,

And coming into the calves and the shins,

Feeling the lower leg as much as is possible,

Feeling into the direct experience of the lower leg,

Bringing attention and awareness into our legs,

Our legs that are right here,

Right now,

For the body can be nowhere else but the present,

And into the knees,

Feeling the knees as they are,

And into the thighs,

Feeling the thighs,

And not much sensation is available to be felt,

No problem,

Checking it out,

Allowing the thighs to be as they are,

Allowing our mind to be as it is,

And noticing how it is,

Sometimes it's distracted,

No problem,

When we notice that we're distracted,

That's a moment of mindfulness,

That's worthy of celebration,

For the noticing is mindful,

That's what it is,

We can appreciate that noticing and settle back into the thighs or the breath or whatever the guidance might be at that moment,

Feeling the thighs,

Allowing ourselves to be as we are,

Noticing the sensations that are present in the hips,

Feeling the hip and the buttocks and pelvis,

Feeling into the sensations of the low back,

Noticing what's present,

Pleasant,

Unpleasant,

Or neutral,

And allowing it to be,

Oh it's like this,

What if we didn't fight it,

What if we didn't chase after it,

We notice and allow,

And feeling the length of the spine from the coccyx or tailbone up to the base of the skull,

Allowing the spine to lengthen,

Feeling into the back of the heart center,

That special place between the shoulder blades is often quite tender,

Noticing what's there and allowing it to be as it is,

Perhaps noticing our relationship to it,

Maybe,

And cultivating our ability to allow,

Oh it's like this,

It's okay,

Maybe we drop in a little I love you,

Noticing how that feels,

That brings contraction or expansion,

It's all good,

We're practicing noticing,

Becoming aware,

Becoming aware of the heart center in the front of the body,

Allowing it to be as it is,

You feel the chest and the beating of the physical heart,

Perhaps noticing what's there to be noticed,

This upper torso,

And then bringing awareness out from the chest into the shoulders,

Feeling the shoulders just as they are,

Resting on the floor,

Nothing to do,

Nowhere to go,

Coming home to ourselves again and again,

Each time appreciating and remembering,

And returning to rest,

Feeling in to the upper arm,

Noticing what sensations are present,

Or noticing an absence of sensation,

Or noticing the attention is somewhere else entirely,

It's okay,

You noticed,

Beautiful,

Feeling the upper arms,

As much as possible,

Bringing awareness through the elbows,

Thanking the elbows for all that they make possible,

Each sip of water,

Each word we write is thanks to our ability to bend our arms at the elbow,

Appreciating the elbow,

Then bringing awareness down to the forearm,

The forearm of the left and right arm,

Noticing what is there to be noticed,

Or noticing an absence,

Don't always feel anything,

No problem,

And bringing awareness in and through the wrists and out to the hands,

Out to the hands,

Feeling the hands resting as they are,

Noticing warmth or coolness,

Gentle pressure,

Absence of pressure,

Simply feeling the hands,

The palms of the hands,

Noticing warmth or coolness,

Dampness,

Dryness,

The backs of the hands,

The ten fingers,

The length of the thumb,

Pointer finger,

Middle finger,

Ring finger,

And pinky,

Feeling the ten fingers,

The space between them,

And then expanding awareness to feel both hands in their entirety,

Just resting here,

Nothing to do,

Nowhere to go,

Becoming aware,

And allowing ourselves in this moment to be as it is,

As we are,

Feeling the hand,

We might just start a slight pulsing or tinkling,

Maybe not,

Just exploring,

Expanding our awareness from our hands,

Adding in the wrists and arms,

Adding in the shoulders and torso,

Chest,

Belly,

Back,

Adding in awareness of the hips and pelvis,

The buttocks,

Thighs,

Knees,

Shins,

Calves,

Ankles,

Feet,

Toes,

As well as the head resting,

Having a break,

Feeling this whole body lying here,

Doing absolutely nothing,

Resting,

Feeling the body at ease,

As much as ease is there,

Maybe there's some tension as well,

No problem,

This is the experience of this moment,

We are cultivating our ability to allow it to be as it is,

Resting in awareness of this body resting,

You can rest into awareness of the whole body,

Or if the low belly is more supportive,

Or the experience of breath,

That's great,

Spend a minute or two resting in awareness,

Whole body,

Or body breathing,

Whatever is most suitable right now,

And savoring whatever level of presence has arisen,

Not gonna be perfect,

It doesn't exist,

We notice the level of presence that's here,

And allowing that to expand as we begin to engage the little movements,

Starting with circling the ankles,

Wiggling the toes,

Feeling the movement of the body,

Stretching the legs in whatever way feels best in this moment,

And then as you're ready,

Expanding,

Letting the legs rest,

And coming into the hands,

Rotating the wrists,

Wiggling the fingers,

With awareness,

Feeling this body moving,

Allowing attention to be fully present to the movement of the body,

And then maybe the stretching of the arms gets a little bigger,

Shoulders get involved,

We stretch the forearms,

The elbows,

Feeling in,

It's the most important piece here,

Is the feeling in,

And we find out how else this body wants to move in this moment in time,

And gradually expand the movement until the whole body has gotten to stretch,

And whenever the body is ready,

Probably not yet,

But at some point after a bunch of stretching,

The eyes will open,

And we'll notice light and sight,

And then coming into a fetal posture,

Letting the eyes close once more,

And resting on our side for a beat,

Before continuing to engage with the rest of the day.