Hi,
This is Chris from MindSpace.
I am a qualified teacher of mindfulness-based stress reduction MBSR.
And as such,
I offer the official MBSR course.
I will now guide you through a 10-minute body scan meditation.
Let's begin by finding a comfortable position for you.
The typical position for a body scan is to lay down onto the back,
Onto a mat or the floor.
But if you prefer,
You can also do it sitting.
Maybe sitting on a chair or a meditation cushion.
If you decided to lay down,
Stretching the arms and legs out to a distance which feels comfortable to you.
And if you have chosen to sit,
Just making sure you have a straight back,
The shoulders are tucked back,
The head is balanced on top of the spine and the hands can be placed on the knees or into the lap,
Palms facing up or down.
Once settled in,
You might want to gently close your eyes.
The intention of this body scan is to become more aware of the body,
Bringing an attitude of acceptance,
Curiosity and kindness.
We bring the attention into the body,
Turning towards,
Inhabiting and checking in with each area of the body.
Staying a while and then letting go when moving on to the next body part.
Now let's start with the body scan meditation.
I invite you to take a deep breath in and slowly letting the air out.
Perhaps you repeat this one more time,
Taking a deep breath in and slowly letting the air out.
Bring your attention to the entire body lying or sitting here,
From the soles of the feet to the top of the head.
Simply breathing,
Sensing and letting go.
Maybe you can feel the movement of the breath,
The rhythm as the breath is rolling in and rolling out.
Slowly riding the waves of the breath from moment to moment.
And now,
If you can bring your attention into your feet and toes.
What can you feel here?
Maybe a sensation of temperature,
Such as cold or warm.
Or maybe you can feel the touch of the floor or some fabric such as the socks.
Just observing what's here.
Then letting go of the feet and bringing your attention into the legs.
So becoming aware of all parts of your legs,
The ankles,
The calves,
The knees and the thighs.
Simply breathing into them and out of them,
Letting go.
And then moving on,
Bringing the attention into the pelvis.
What can you feel here?
Maybe there's some tension or maybe relaxedness.
Whatever there is,
Simply acknowledging it's here.
No need to change or do anything.
Then letting go of the pelvis and moving into the belly.
What can you notice here?
Maybe there's a sensation of the breath as the breath rolls in and rolls out.
And when the mind has taken us somewhere else and we drifted off,
That's alright,
This is completely normal.
It happens to all of us.
Just coming back into the sensations of the belly.
Then letting go of the belly and bringing your attention into the chest.
What can you feel here?
And now becoming aware of the entire back,
The spine,
The lower back,
The upper back,
The shoulders.
How does that feel right now?
Maybe certain parts touching the ground in case you're laying and other parts not touching the ground.
And if you're sitting,
Maybe just feeling the touch of air against your back.
Then letting go of the back and bringing our attention into the hands and the fingers.
Maybe noticing how the hand on the left side might feel quite different than the hand on the right side.
Then moving up into the entire arms,
So feeling into the wrists,
The lower arms,
The elbows,
The upper arms.
Just noticing what's here.
Maybe pressures and tension,
Maybe looseness and relaxness.
And then moving up into the neck and the head.
How does that area feel like?
And if there's tension and pain in that area,
Maybe breathing into it and out of it and just letting go.
And then just becoming aware of the face,
The entire face,
The forehead,
The nose,
The mouth,
The jaw.
Just letting go,
Letting relax all the muscles.
And then when you're ready,
Now letting go of the awareness of the face and allowing the attention to open,
To include once again the entire body lying or sitting here.
From the soles of the feet to the top of the head.
Basically investigating the feeling of being alive.
And as we draw this practice to a close,
You might now become aware of your physical position in the room.
Maybe there are sounds inside the room or outside the room.
And then you can start to introduce some movement such as wiggling the hands and toes,
Turning the head from side to side and move and stretch in whatever way feels good to you right now.
And when you are ready,
Gently opening the eyes and fully coming back to the room.
The body scan is now complete.
