Body Scan Meditation (MBSR), Spaciously Led

Hi,

This is Chris from MindSpace.

I am a qualified teacher of mindfulness-based stress reduction,

MBSR.

I will now guide you through a 45-minute body scan meditation.

Let's begin by finding a comfortable position for you.

The typical position is to lay down on a mat or on a floor.

But if you prefer,

You can also do it sitting,

Maybe on a chair or on a meditation cushion.

If you decided to lay down,

Simply stretching the arms out and legs out to a distance that feels good to you.

And if you have chosen to sit,

Then maybe just bring your shoulders back and practice having a straight back with the head balanced on top of the spine.

The hands can be placed on the knees or in the laps,

Hands facing up or down.

Once settled in,

You might want to gently close your eyes.

When we are stressed,

We can actually feel it in the body.

However,

Most of the time,

We don't feel it because we are not aware of it.

We are not aware of our body.

That is why the intention of this body scan is to become more aware of the body.

See if we can bring an attitude of acceptance,

Curiosity and kindness towards our body.

Practicing bringing your attention into the body,

Turning towards,

Inhabiting and checking in with each area of the body,

Staying a while and then letting go and 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.

If at any time sensations in the body become too uncomfortable,

Thoughts or emotions arise that are too difficult,

Simply remembering that it is always possible to return to the rhythm of the breath or the contact with the ground or the chair as a safe place,

A retreat for you to rest in until you are ready to come back to my words.

So we're bringing now the attention to the entire body lying or sitting here,

From the soles of the feet to the top of the head.

Slowly breathing,

Feeling and letting go.

Maybe we have a really busy mind today and that's alright,

But just see if you can really arrive here,

Here in this moment,

Here with the body,

Just lying or sitting here and breathing.

Maybe you can notice the movement of the breath,

The rhythm,

As the breath rolls in and rolls out,

Simply riding the waves of the breath from moment to moment.

And when the mind has wandered off into thoughts or emotions,

Which is completely normal,

Just noticing that this is happening and gently but firmly bringing your attention back to the sensations of the entire body sitting or lying here.

So starting now with the feet,

Feeling both feet right now.

What can we notice in the feet?

Maybe there's a sense of touch or maybe a sense of temperature or maybe the left foot feels very different than the right foot,

Simply observing what's here.

Maybe you can also bring your attention into the toes.

What do the toes feel like?

Maybe there's a sensation of touch between the toes or maybe we can feel the texture of a sock or maybe how the toe touches the ground or simply touches air.

What can you observe?

And when you are ready,

Now letting go of the feet and the toes and moving up into the ankles and the lower leg.

What can you observe here?

Maybe there's a sensation of touch against the floor or maybe no sensation at all.

And that's alright too.

Simply observing.

Maybe you can notice a sensation in the ankles.

Maybe the right ankle feels different than the left one.

Or maybe there's nothing really and that's okay.

Just noticing.

And when you are ready,

Letting go of the ankles and the lower legs and moving on into the knees and the upper legs,

The thighs.

What is here to feel?

Maybe your mind has taken you into the past or the future and that's okay.

Simply noticing that this just happened and choosing to come back to my words and into the sensations in the knee and the thighs.

Maybe just bringing a beginner's mind to the practice and see what you can notice in these areas.

Perhaps there's a sensation of pressure,

Temperature or the position of the legs.

Maybe numbness or nothing at all.

Simply observing what's here for you right now in your knees and your thighs.

And then,

Feeling.

And then slowly letting go of the legs and moving the attention into the pelvis.

Really imagining how there's so many muscles attached to your pelvis and maybe how the bone feels,

Different pressures,

Against the floor or against the seat.

Just observing what's here.

There might be areas and muscles of tension and see if we can just maybe breathe into those areas and out of these areas with kindness,

Even if those sensations are unpleasant.

And when we are caught up with thoughts or emotions,

Various illuminations,

That's our right,

That happens to all of us,

Simply acknowledging that this just happened and bringing our attention back into the pelvis with kindness.

Then,

Moving further up into the tummy,

What can we feel here?

Maybe there's a sense of calm or maybe quite a different sense,

Sense of arousal.

Either way,

We just practice to be with things as they are.

Maybe you can notice the breath in the belly as we breathe in and breathe out.

Or maybe not,

That's fine too.

Just observing what's here right now.

And when it feels right,

We're moving up into the chest,

Perhaps feeling the sensation of breath here as the breath rolls in and rolls out.

There's no need to do or change anything.

Simply allow yourself to be here,

Noticing the chest and maybe the breath.

And if it feels right,

You can also just let go with the next out-breath,

Maybe becoming a little bit heavier.

And when we are caught up in worries or rumination,

Emotions or problem solving,

Simply noticing this and coming back to the sensations in the chest in a kind and loving way.

No need to judge ourselves harshly.

And when you are ready,

Letting go of the chest and now bringing the attention into the spine,

Into the whole spine from the top until the bottom.

In case you are laying on the floor,

Maybe you can feel where the spine touches the ground at certain parts and in other parts there seems to be air.

And when you are sitting,

Maybe you can feel different pressure points along the spine,

Just being with the spine,

Observing what's here.

And the spine and the back is a particular prone body part for tension and pain.

And simply see if we can be with that and maybe breathing into it and breathing out of it,

Letting go and practicing not to resist against those unpleasant sensations.

And when ready,

Letting go of the spine and bringing the attention into the hands.

What can we feel in the hands?

Maybe just becoming aware of the position of the hands.

Are they flat or are they curled up?

Are they touching something and if so,

How does that feel?

And then also becoming aware of the fingers.

Is there a sensation of warmth or cold?

Or maybe we can feel the space between the fingers or the touch of air.

Or maybe nothing and that's alright.

Just noticing.

And when you are ready,

Letting go of the hands and the fingers and bringing the awareness into the wrists and the lower arms.

What do the wrists and the lower arms feel like?

Maybe there is contact with the floor?

Or in case we are sitting,

There might be contact with air that we notice.

The wrists on the left and the right might feel different.

Then,

Letting go of the wrists and the forearms and bringing our attention into the elbows and the upper arms.

And in case we have wandered off into the past or the future or are caught up in emotions,

That's okay.

That happens to all of us.

We just come back into the body,

Into the upper arms and the elbows.

In a kind and patient way.

And then slowly letting go of the upper arms and the elbows and moving the attention into the shoulders and the neck.

What can we notice here?

There might be a sensation of tightness or looseness.

Maybe some pain or maybe no pain at all.

Or maybe no feeling.

Simply noticing what's in that area.

And in case there is tension or pain,

See if we can just allow that to be here.

Maybe breathing into it and breathing out of it.

Just letting go.

So,

Even if tension or pain is here in the neck or the shoulders,

There is no need to judge.

We just practice to let go.

Maybe be with the breath and allow things to be as they are.

Letting go of the shoulders and the neck.

And moving up to the head.

What does the head feel like?

Is the head heavy or light or another sensation?

Or no feeling at all?

And in case our mind has wandered off,

That's alright.

We'll just practice with kindness to come back to the feeling of our head.

And even if that happens a hundred times or a thousand times,

Knowing that this is completely normal,

We just practice to be kind to ourselves and come back to the meditation again and again.

This is what strengthens our awareness muscle.

So,

Coming back and sensing into the head.

And when you are ready,

We now go into different parts of the head.

First into the forehead.

What can you feel here?

And now into the eyes and the nose.

The cheeks and the ears.

And now feeling into the jaw.

There might be tension here.

That's okay.

You might practice to just let go of that tension with the next outbreath and notice what's here for you.

And then becoming aware of the mouth,

The lips,

The tongue and the teeth.

And then letting go of the awareness of the face.

And allowing the awareness 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.

Investigating the feeling of being alive as you are inhaling and exhaling.

Really being in this moment.

Grounding and just noticing where your body makes contact with the ground or the chair.

And just observing the breath as it rolls in and rolls out.

Becoming fully aware of your body and your breath.

And practicing to just let go.

To just really be here and softening into any resistance.

Becoming and breathing.

Maybe becoming even a little bit heavier with the next outbreath and just letting go of any tension.

Maybe tension in your face,

In your legs or your trunk.

Just letting go.

And as we slowly draw this practice to a close.

You can now become aware of your physical positioning in the room.

And maybe now also become aware of sounds inside you.

Maybe sounds inside the room.

Sounds outside the room.

And then just maybe taking a deep breath in and out.

And starting to introduce some movement into the body.

Maybe stretching or starting to do some circles with the feet and the hands.

Maybe moving the head from side to side.

And then slowly starting to open the eyes and fully coming back into the room.

This body scan meditation is now complete.

There is no rush.

Just take the time you need and slowly come back into the moment and into the rest of your day.