Full Body Scan

For the body scan meditation,

We're really looking to bring the mind into the body.

To begin with,

You can just take in the three long deep breaths,

Breathing all the way down to the center of the abdomen,

Bringing in,

Refreshing,

Enlivening energy,

And letting go of any tension or stress with the out-breath.

So we'll take those three long deep breaths.

With the body scan meditation,

It's really an invitation to relax deeply,

To be fully present to your body.

So we'll just begin by checking in briefly with the different parts of the body.

So we'll start with just feeling the feet and the toes.

Any sensations there?

Coolness,

Pressure,

Warmth,

Tingling,

Numbness,

Whatever it might be.

We feel into the ankles,

Feel into the calves and shins.

We feel into the knees.

We feel into the thighs,

Into the hips and the buttocks and the pelvic region.

We feel into the lower trunk of the body,

So the lower back and lower abdomen.

We feel into the upper trunk of the body,

So the abdomen and the chest,

The mid and upper back.

We feel into the shoulders.

Go back down to the fingers and the hands,

The wrists,

The forearms,

The elbows,

The upper arms.

We feel into the neck and throat region.

We feel into the head and the face.

So now we can just take a moment and try to feel the entire body all at once.

So now we really tune into the various parts of the body,

One by one.

Now we begin to bring the attention up to the crown of the head.

We really feel into the crown of the head and the scalp.

Any sensations there,

Breeze of coolness,

Warmth,

Tingling,

Anything.

And then we bring our attention to the whole top of the head.

So now the entire top part of the skull area and the scalp.

Imaginatively you can even try to feel into the brain.

Of course we don't receive physical sensations from the brain typically,

Unless maybe we're having a headache.

We can just imaginatively feel into the brain and just be curious about what we might feel there.

You can also have a sense of gratitude to that amazing organ,

Our brain,

The way that it functions all day and all night,

From before we're born until the time that we die.

So we feel into the whole head,

All the way down to the base of the skull.

Now we extend our attention forward into the face.

As we feel into the muscles around the eyes and in the forehead,

If we find any excess tension there,

We can just invite those muscles to relax.

As we feel into the muscles in the cheeks and the jaws,

If we find any excess tension there,

We just invite it to relax.

We feel the entire head at once.

If there's any lingering tension anywhere or sense of tightness,

We can invite that to relax.

Now our attention flows down into the neck and throat.

If we find that we're holding any tension there,

We can invite it to relax.

If we think about the vital role that our neck and throat region plays,

That it brings in air through the trachea,

It brings in food through the esophagus,

It's such a vital region.

So we can cultivate some sense of gratitude and appreciation toward our neck and throat.

Focusing blood flowing into every single cell there,

Helping the neck and throat to relax.

Then the attention can flow down into the shoulders.

We feel any sensations on the skin of the shoulders,

Pressure,

Heat,

Coolness,

Breeze,

Whatever it might be.

We feel into the muscles of the shoulders.

We find that we're carrying any excess tension there,

We just invite that to relax.

We can even imaginatively feel into the bones of the shoulders,

The shoulder blades.

Could imagine feeling into them and see if we feel any sensations.

We have a sense of gratitude and appreciation to this whole shoulder region,

Which is so important for our posture,

For being able to use our arms.

We feel through the shoulders into the upper arm regions.

So we feel into the skin of the upper arms,

Into the muscles and the fatty tissues of the upper arms.

Into those big strong bones of the upper arms.

If we feel any excess tension in any of the arm,

The upper arm areas,

We just invite that to relax.

Can imagine that relaxation helps the flow of blood into all those tissues of the arms.

We feel a sense of gratitude for everything that these upper arms make possible for us.

Writing,

Typing,

Holding the hand of someone we love,

Touching a beloved animal,

A friend,

A partner.

Then our attention slides down through the elbows and the lower arms.

We feel into the skin,

Into the muscles and the fatty tissues.

Feel all the way down into the bones of the lower arms.

If we feel any excess tension,

We can just invite that to relax.

We might reflect on all the things that these lower arms make possible for us.

It's actually the muscles of the lower arms that move our fingers.

So all the typing,

All the skilled work,

Playing a musical instrument,

Slicing food,

Any of those things that we take for granted,

Even texting on our phones.

All of that depends on these lower arms.

So we might have a sense of gratitude and appreciation.

We can imagine that as we invite these tissues to relax,

It actually increases the blood flow to them.

Feeling the health of those regions,

Those lower arms.

Now our attention flows through our wrists,

Into our hands and our fingers.

We feel into any sensations in the skin of the wrists and the hands.

We feel into the muscle and the fatty tissues,

The wrists.

Technically there are no muscles in the fingers,

Although it feels that way.

Feel into all those important connective tissues in the wrists and hands.

All the way down into the bones.

If we find any tension still left in that area,

The wrists and the hands,

We just invite it to relax.

We imagine that as those muscles relax,

It allows increased blood flow to those tissues.

A sense of well-being.

We can also reflect on all the wonderful things that our wrists and hands allow us to do and cultivate a sense of gratitude toward them.

And now we come back up to the shoulders and we move the attention down into the chest region.

So we feel into the skin,

Into the muscles and the fatty tissues.

All the way down into the bones of the chest region.

So in the back we can feel the upper spine.

Around the sides and front we can feel into the ribs.

And then inside we feel our lungs and our heart beating.

We can just invite all of those muscles to relax.

And even invite our heart to work as effortlessly as possible.

And here it's probably easy to feel some gratitude to these very important organs in the chest.

To imagine that as we invite this region to relax,

It also helps to increase the blood flow.

Increase the sense of well-being in the chest area.

Now the attention can move down to the mid-trunk area.

So the mid-back,

The upper abdomen.

Can feel into the skin,

To the muscles and fatty tissues of this region.

Can feel into the vital organs here.

Stomach,

Liver,

Kidneys.

These organs that keep us alive.

If we feel any excess tension in the muscles of this region,

Or even in the organs of this region,

We can just invite everything to relax.

And we can imagine that as we invite this region to relax,

It also allows more blood to flow in.

A sense of well-being to permeate this region of the body.

We might also feel a nice warm glow from a sense of appreciating all that these organs do for us every day.

And now our attention flows down into the lower abdomen and the lower back.

Feeling the skin,

The muscles,

Fatty tissues,

The organs of this region,

Our intestines.

Such important organs.

We have a sense of appreciating all that this region of the body does for us.

With the internal organs and also the muscles of the lower back.

They provide such important postural support all day,

Every day.

You can have a sense of appreciation for them and also really invite them to completely relax and allow the body to be supported by the earth.

As we invite this region to relax,

We also allow more blood to flow into it.

Allow our attention to flow into this region.

Creating an increased sense of well-being.

And our attention flows down now through the hips and pelvis.

There's big muscles and bones of this region.

We invite this whole region to relax,

To allow blood to flow into every cell of this region without hindrance.

To allow a sense of well-being to flow in with that physical blood.

We have a sense of gratitude for this very important region.

The way that it supports us.

How crucial it is for posture.

And then we allow the mind,

The attention to flow down into the upper legs.

Feeling any sensations in the skin,

In the muscles,

The fatty tissues.

Down to the big bones.

Even down into the bone marrow.

Very important region for creating blood cells.

We invite any excess tension in any of these tissues just to relax,

To release.

We have a sense of gratitude for all that this upper leg region does for us.

We just imagine as this area relaxes,

The blood is able to flow without hindrance into all the tissues of the upper legs.

And our attention now flows down through the knees and into the lower legs.

So we feel any sensations in the skin,

The muscles and fatty tissues and connective tissues of the knees,

The lower legs.

All the way right down into the bone.

If we feel any excess tension,

We just invite it to relax.

We imagine that as that tension relaxes,

Dissipates,

All the tiny little capillaries,

All the tiniest blood vessels are just a little more free so that blood can flow freely into that region and nourish all the cells.

We also have a sense of appreciating what these lower legs do for us every day in our knees.

Just try and imagine life without them.

We can realize how precious the knees and the lower legs are to us.

And finally,

Our attention flows down through the ankles and into the feet,

The toes.

We bring our attention to any sensations in the skin,

In the muscles and connective tissues of these very important regions,

All the way down into the bones.

If we find any excess tension in any of these tissues,

We just invite it to relax.

We imagine that as those tissues all relax,

We experience increased blood flow,

Excellent circulation to the feet.

We can just take a moment here and appreciate our feet.

How amazing it is that they support our weight every day,

Mostly without incident.

How complex our ankles and our feet are.

Now we bring our attention back to our entire body at once.

If any region of the body has tightened back up,

We can just invite it once again to relax,

To release.

Let's just take a few in-breaths and we can imagine breathing into the entire body at once.

That breath coming into every single cell and every single cell being able to release whatever it would like to be rid of with the out-breath.

Before we close this meditation,

If you'd like,

You can just make an aspiration to bring this sense of the mind being inside the body,

Really paying attention to the body.

Bring this sense with you into the rest of your day or the rest of your evening,

Really the rest of your life.