Hi,
My name is Beth Burgess and this is a short 15 minute body scan exercise to help train your brain to stay in the present moment and to relax.
There are no ways of doing this wrong,
It's all about the progress and what you learn.
So just start by making yourself comfortable.
You can do this exercise sitting down or lying down as long as you are able to focus and relax.
First you can close your eyes and take a deep breath in and out.
And as you are breathing in and out,
Just focus on your breath,
Following it up and down in whichever way you can sense it best.
Maybe you can feel the cool air as it enters your nostrils or the air hitting the back of your throat travelling down to the lungs.
Maybe you can feel the rise and fall of your rib cage and belly.
Perhaps you can even hear it,
Just hear the breath travelling up and down.
Just focus on it for a few moments,
Breathing in and out.
And if you find your attention drifts away elsewhere,
Just bring it very gently back.
There is no need to tell yourself off if that happens,
There is no way of doing this incorrectly.
Our minds like wandering,
So just gently bring it back,
Like a friend guiding home.
Now we are going to scan the body.
Start by imagining a band of light,
Just at the top of your head.
It can be any colour you wish,
Whatever colour feels right for you.
And we are going to bring that band of light down through your body slowly.
And when that band of light touches any area of your body,
You are just going to examine what is happening in that part of the body,
Right here,
Right now.
So just starting at the top of your head and noticing any sensations where the band of light hits the scalp.
Does it feel cool or warm?
Tight or relaxed?
Maybe there is tingling,
Maybe it is neutral.
Bring that band of light down over your eyes.
Notice if there is any tension in or around the eyes.
Seeing sensations in the eyelids.
And bring that band of light down over your cheeks.
Maybe you can feel the inside of your mouth or your teeth.
Maybe you can notice a wet sensation or dryness.
Perhaps you can feel your tongue.
Notice where it is lying in your mouth.
Bring the band of light down over your chin.
Down through the neck.
Notice how you are holding your neck.
Does it feel stiff or loose?
Is it straight or curved?
You don't need to judge however it is,
Just be aware.
If you have got anything around your neck,
Jewellery or clothing,
Just notice how your body feels in contact with other materials.
Noticing the pressure,
The temperature.
And bring that band of light down over your shoulders.
Slipping it down over your arms.
Maybe you can feel contact between your arms and your body.
Whatever surface you are on.
Just noticing the sensations that are quite subtle within your arms.
Perhaps prickling sensations,
Tingling,
Certain heaviness or lightness.
Just reminding yourself if your focus drifts elsewhere,
It doesn't matter.
The purpose of the exercise is just to gently bring it back,
Time and time again.
Now bring the band of light over your hands and focus in there.
You might like to just shift your attention to one hand.
Noticing the shape of your hand,
The feeling of the bones and skin.
And then maybe shifting over to the other hand,
Noticing if it is different or the same.
You can even bring that light so it is focusing on only one part of your hand.
Maybe your little finger or the tip of your little finger.
Next that band of light is going to travel down through your thighs.
Just examine what the band of light is showing you.
Perhaps the contact where you are sitting down or lying down.
Perhaps the muscles feel heavy,
Strong,
Loose,
Tight or weak.
Just notice.
We may even feel slight discomfort sometimes with the band of light resting.
It's ok too.
Maybe the surface you are on is a little hard or not quite as soft as you'd like.
Sometimes when we do this our attention gets dragged away because we've got a lich somewhere.
You can just notice that and bring your attention back to wherever you are shining the light.
Sometimes we even get drawn to pleasant sensations in our body,
Somewhere we feel particularly cosy or warm or relaxed.
Again just notice and enjoy it for a minute and gently bring your attention back.
If you do notice that you have discomfort in your body it's ok to sit with it or if it's very uncomfortable you can always shift your position a little.
Meditation is not about being rigid,
It's about being flexible.
But just be aware of those feelings and notice the liking or not liking of sensations.
Then bring that band of light down over your knees.
What are the joints in your knees feeling like today?
These things change day to day,
Hour to hour,
Sometimes moment to moment.
Let's check in with your knees now.
Focus on the bend in one of your knees,
The shape.
You can shift your attention to the back of the knee.
Bring that band of light down through your calves.
Perhaps your legs are a little bit in contact with each other.
Just noticing what that feels like.
Perhaps you can sense the texture of your clothing against your legs.
And bring that band of light down over your ankles.
Going through the joints of the ankles.
Noticing how they might feel different to your knee joints,
How they felt.
Perhaps you can get a sense of the size of them.
And bring the band of light into your feet.
Noticing maybe the difference between one side of the foot and the other,
The top and the bottom.
Does the heel feel different from the sole?
Or from the top of your foot and toes?
Or do you have sensations that spread out all over your feet?
Notice if your feet feel tired today.
And whatever's on your feet,
Your socks,
Shoes.
Maybe noticing that one foot is slightly warmer than the other.
And bringing that band of light and your attention to just one of your toes now.
Perhaps the big toe.
Just focusing there.
Perhaps you can feel the nerves of your toes.
The tingling of the skin.
Maybe if you wiggle your toe just a tiny little bit,
You can notice how the skin pulls.
Notice if that causes sensations in the other toe when you do that.
And then if you feel any annoyance at that or pleasure at that feeling,
Just notice that.
And to finish,
I'm going to bring that band of light out and away from you.
So letting that light reach the ground and pull out the floor around you and slowly disperse.
And then bringing your attention just back to your breath again for the moment,
Which has always been there.
Just noticing how that feels now.
Is it different from when you started this exercise?
Is it slower,
Faster,
Deeper?
Just noticing now the length of the breath,
Where it travels in and out of your body,
Wherever you notice it most.
And when you feel completely ready,
You can just slowly open your eyes and reorientate yourself back in the room.
