Body Scan Meditation Practice 35 Minutes

Body scan practice.

So finding a comfortable position for this practice,

We can either lie down on our backs,

Or we can choose to do it in a different position,

Maybe sitting on a chair,

And if we're lying on our backs,

Making sure that we are comfortable with a mat or a bed beneath us,

And our legs can be straight,

Feet flop to the sides,

And if that is uncomfortable on our lower back,

We can bend a little bit the knees,

And let our legs rest to the sides,

And resting our arms besides our body,

Maybe with the palms facing upwards or downwards,

Or you can rest the palms on the belly,

And then checking in with our shoulders,

Checking that our shoulders are relaxed,

Our back straight,

Chin a little bit tucked in,

And maybe having a small cushion beneath the head,

And then remembering that when we do this practice,

Our intention is to fall awake,

But sometimes in this practice,

We fall asleep.

That's absolutely ok,

Just being aware,

Being mindful of this process of moving between awakeness through drowsiness,

Towards sleep,

And back again,

Remembering,

Knowing what's happening while it's happening without preference.

So setting our intention to fall awake,

And then becoming aware of the whole body,

The whole body resting,

Supported by the ground,

And surrounded by space.

The whole body,

From the top of the head,

All the way down the body,

To the tips of the toes,

The whole body,

From the right side of the body,

All the way across,

To the left side of the body,

The whole body,

From the back of the body,

All the way up to the front of the body.

So aware of the whole body,

The whole body breathing.

And maybe noticing the sensations of the breath,

Moving in and out from the body,

Breath after breath,

Noticing the sensations of the breath,

Brushing in and out through our nostrils,

And maybe noticing any sense of the breath moving up and down the region of the throat,

And maybe noticing any sensations of the rib cage expanding on the in-breath and contracting on the out-breath,

And noticing any sensations of the belly rising and falling as the body breathes in and out,

And noticing our next out-breath,

There's a sense of the body relaxing or letting go as the breath breathes out,

And for the next few out-breaths,

Having a sense of letting go of the whole body.

So breathing out and letting go of the whole body into the unconditional support of the ground beneath the body,

And opening up to the space surrounding the body.

So the whole body supported by the ground and surrounded by space,

And then gently shifting our awareness down the body,

Down the torso,

Down both our legs,

Through the feet,

And becoming aware of the toes,

Becoming aware of any physical sensations that are present in the toes just now.

Maybe there are strong sensations,

Maybe there are subtle sensations,

Or maybe there are no sensations to be felt in the toes just right now.

So reminding ourselves that within this practice there is no right or wrong way to feel,

Just noticing whatever sensations are present and allowing them to be here and now on their own terms.

So if there is no sensations at all,

Just simply registering a blank,

And then becoming aware of the soles of the feet,

Any physical sensations here,

Noticing the heels,

Maybe there are some sensations of contact between the heels and what the heels are resting upon.

How does that contact feel?

What are the patterns of sensations that make up something that the mind labels as contact?

And then becoming aware of the soles of the feet,

Noticing any physical sensations at the soles of the feet,

And noticing the heels,

Maybe any sense of contact between the heels and whatever the heels might be resting upon.

How does that contact feel?

What are the patterns of sensations that make up something that the mind labels as contact?

And then feeling the tops of the feet,

And maybe noticing the difference between thinking about the tops of the feet and directly sensing the physical sensations that are present now in the tops of the feet.

So in this practice we are not thinking about the body,

But we are directly sensing into the body,

So to feel,

To experience any physical sensations within the body,

And then noticing the insides of the feet.

How do the insides of the feet feel?

And gently noticing the skin surrounding the feet,

Maybe noticing any sense of temperature,

Or contact,

Or any tingling,

Noticing any sensations present in the skin surrounding the feet,

Just noticing,

Allowing them to be there.

And then becoming aware of the whole feet,

So gently shifting our awareness,

To notice whatever sensations are present just now in our feet.

And then on our next in-breath,

Imagining as if we're breathing in and out of our feet,

In whatever way works for you.

So as we breathe in,

Imagining that we're breathing in into our feet,

And as we breathe out imagining as we're breathing out from our feet,

Into the space surrounding our feet.

And you can visualize this,

Or have a general felt feeling of it,

Or just imagining the breath going in and out of the feet,

So in any way that works for you.

And then on the next out-breath,

Letting go of the feet,

Gently shifting our focus to the ankles,

Noticing the bones inside the ankles,

Noticing any sensations of the skin surrounding the ankles,

And maybe noticing any sense of the bones extending along the inside of the lower legs,

From the ankles to the knees,

And noticing any sensations at the back of the lower legs and our calf muscles,

And noticing any sensations at the front of our lower legs and our shin,

Noticing any sensations present here at the front of our lower legs,

And then noticing the skin surrounding the lower legs.

How does this feel when we focus our attention in this body area,

The skin surrounding the lower legs?

What do we notice?

Maybe any sense of contact between the clothes and the skin,

Any tingling,

Just noticing.

And remembering all the way throughout this practice that the mind may wander and get caught up in thinking activity.

And as with all mindfulness practice,

Whenever we notice that the mind has wandered,

We can simply notice where the mind has wandered to,

And then gently bringing the mind back,

Like focusing on the body,

And noticing the knees,

Noticing the insides of the knees,

Noticing the kneecap at the front of the knees,

Any sensations here at the kneecap,

And then noticing the soft part at the back of the knee,

Any sensations here,

Any sensations of temperature,

Tingling,

And then noticing the skin surrounding the knees,

Any sensations in the skin surrounding the knees,

And maybe noticing the sense of the long bone extending between the knee joint and the hip joint,

And noticing the hamstring muscle at the back of the thigh,

Maybe noticing any sense of tightness or softness in our hamstring muscle at the back of the thigh,

And maybe noticing if the mind labels these sensations as the same as tight,

Soft,

And seeing if it's possible to look underneath the label and directly experience the detailed pattern of the sensations,

The constellations of feelings that make up something that the mind labels as tight or soft.

And then gently noticing the quadriceps at the front of our thighs,

How does the quadriceps muscle feel at the front of our thighs?

And gently noticing any sensations in the skin surrounding the thighs,

Maybe the sense of the clothes touching,

Resting against our skin,

Being curious about the details of the sensations that are presenting themselves to us as we focus on the skin surrounding the thighs,

And gently shifting our awareness to the hip joints,

Noticing any physical sensations at the hip joints,

Or no sensations at all,

Maybe noticing the sense of the ball and socket joint at the hip joints,

And then gently spreading our focus from the hips so that we become aware of the whole of both legs,

Between the hips and the ankles,

So allowing our awareness to reveal any sensations that are coming and going,

Within the whole of the legs.

And on our next thin breath,

Imagining that we're breathing in and out from the legs,

In any way that works for you,

So breathing in through the legs,

And breathing out through the legs into the space surrounding the legs.

And on the next out breath,

Letting go of the legs,

And gently shifting our focus towards the region of the pelvis,

Noticing any feelings,

Any general felt feelings of the big bone of the pelvis,

Maybe noticing any sensations of contact between the buttocks and the chair,

Or the bed beneath us,

And then moving on into the lower back,

Any sense of the little bones that make up the lower back,

And maybe noticing the curvature of the spine at our lower back,

And then noticing the sides of the waist,

Any movement here at the sides of the waist,

As the body breathe in and out,

And noticing the abdomen,

And maybe noticing any sensations of the abdomen,

Rising and falling,

With the in breath and the out breath,

And maybe noticing any other sensations in the abdomen,

Maybe any sense of the organs inside the abdomen,

And then moving up along the spine,

Noticing the top of the upper back,

And maybe noticing any sensations of the rib cage,

Rising and falling,

With the breath,

And sensing any feelings at the top of the chest,

Maybe any sense of the lungs expanding and contracting with each breath,

And maybe trying to notice whether it's possible to feel the heart beating,

And gently shifting our focus towards the region of the collarbones,

Noticing any sensations present here,

And noticing the shoulder blades,

How do the shoulders feel just right now,

Maybe sensing into the insides of the shoulder joints,

And the outside of the shoulder joints,

Noticing any sensations at the top of our shoulders,

And then gently spreading our focus from the top of our shoulders to become aware of the whole of the torso,

Between the shoulders and the hips,

So holding the whole torso in our awareness,

Noticing allowing any sensations to reveal themselves,

Whatever sensations are manifesting themselves,

Just right now within the region of the torso,

And then imagining that we're breathing in and out of the torso in any way that works for you,

So breathing in,

Breathing in into the torso,

And breathing out,

Breathing out through the torso and into the space surrounding the torso,

And then on our next out breath letting go of the torso,

And shifting our focus towards the fingertips,

How are the fingertips feeling,

Any sense of warmth,

Coolness,

Any sense of tingling,

Noticing the fingers,

Maybe the space between one finger and another,

Maybe noticing how the fingers feel from the insides,

And noticing the palms of our hand,

And the back of our hand,

The insides of the hands,

And noticing the skin surrounding the hands,

Being curious of any sensations present in the skin surrounding the hands,

And then becoming aware of the whole hands,

Allowing our awareness to reveal any sensations that are present now in the whole of the hands,

Just noticing,

And then on our next in breath,

Imagining that we're breathing in and out from our hands in any way that works for you,

So breathing in through our hands,

And breathing out through our hands into the space surrounding our hands,

And on our next out breath letting go of our hands,

And noticing the wrists,

Maybe noticing the bones inside the wrists,

Maybe noticing the skin surrounding the wrists,

Any sense of the pulse within the wrist,

And maybe noticing if there is any sense of the long bone extending between the wrist and the elbow,

And noticing the skin surrounding the lower arms,

Any sensations present here,

Maybe of contact between the arms and the clothes,

And then noticing any sense of the long bones extending between the wrists and the elbow,

And noticing the skin surrounding the lower arm,

Any sensations here,

Maybe of contact,

Any tingling,

And noticing our elbow,

Noticing the heart outside of our elbow,

Any feelings here to be noticed,

And noticing the insides of the elbow,

How do the insides of the elbow feel,

And then noticing if there is any sense of the long bone extending between the elbows and the shoulders,

Noticing the biceps at the front of the upper arms,

Any sensations here,

And noticing the muscles at the back of the upper arm or triceps,

Any sense of tightness or softness here,

Just noticing whatever sensations are present,

And remembering all the way throughout this practice,

The mind may wander,

Get caught up in thinking,

And as with all mindfulness practice,

Whenever we notice that the mind has wandered,

We can simply notice where it is that the mind has wandered to,

And then very gently bringing the focus back to the body,

And then gently spreading our focus from the shoulders to take in the whole of both arms between the shoulders and wrists,

And simply allowing,

Noticing whatever sensations are manifesting right now in both arms,

And then on our next in breath breathing in and out from the arms,

So on the in breath breathing in through the arms,

And on the out breath breathing out from the arms into the space surrounding the arms,

And on our next out breath letting go of the arms,

And gently shifting our focus to the neck and head region,

Noticing the back of the neck,

Any sensations at the back of the neck,

Maybe noticing the small bones at the back of the neck,

And maybe noticing any sensations at the throat and the front of the neck,

Any sensations at the throat,

And how does the skin feel surrounding the neck,

Any sensations there,

And moving up noticing the jaw,

The hinge at the back of the jaw,

Noticing the chin,

The front of the jaw,

The teeth inside the mouth,

Any sense of the space between the upper and the lower teeth,

Maybe noticing the feelings of the tongue resting within the mouth,

And maybe noticing any sensations of contact between the tongue and the insides of the mouth,

Maybe noticing the contact between the upper lip and the lower lip,

How does that feel,

And noticing the cheeks,

Temples,

Our eyes,

Any sense of the eyes resting within the sockets,

Noticing our eyelids,

Maybe any sensations of contact between the upper and the lower eyelid,

How does that sense of contact feel,

Or maybe any sense of tension or tightness or softness in the eyelids,

And then noticing the foreheads,

The eyebrows,

The nose,

The insides of the nostrils,

Maybe any sense of the breath brushing in,

Past the insides of the nostrils with each breath and with each out breath,

And maybe noticing the contrast in sensations between the breath going in and out of our nostrils,

And noticing the scalp,

The top of our head,

Noticing the back of our head,

And maybe noticing any points of contact between the back of our head and the cushion or the bed beneath our head,

And then gently spreading our focus to become aware of the head and the neck region,

Gently resting our focus on the whole of the head and the neck region,

Noticing any sensations that are emerging right now in the head and the neck region,

And then on our neck thin breath breathing in through the head region in any way that works for you,

So breathing in through the head region and the neck region,

And then gently breathing out through the head and neck region into the space surrounding the head and the neck region,

And then on your next out breath letting go of the head and neck region,

And once again becoming aware of the whole body,

The whole body,

From the inside of the body to the outside of the body,

The whole body unconditionally supported by the ground beneath us,

So the whole body unconditionally supported by the ground,

Surrounded by space,

And just allowing our awareness to reveal whatever sensations are emerging,

Coming and going right now within the body,

Allowing our experience of the body to be just as it is,

No wrong way or no right way to be,

And now breathing in and out through the whole body,

So breathing in through the whole body,

And on the out breath breathing out through the whole body,

Into the space surrounding the body,

How does this sense of breathing in and out of the body feel,

And then once again becoming aware of the whole body,

The whole body resting on the ground,

Surrounded by space,

Nothing to do,

Nowhere to go,

Just being here now,

In the room,

And on the sound of the bell,

Gently ending the practice.