Welcome to this body scan meditation.
So find your meditation seat,
Either sitting on a chair with the feet on the floor parallel to each other,
Or you can sit on the floor cross-legged,
Elevating your hips by sitting on a pillow or a folded blanket.
You can also choose to do this practice lying down on your back.
Whatever position you choose today,
Make some little adjustments now,
So your spine is nice and long and you feel as comfortable as you can be.
And then bring your awareness to your feet,
Sensing the sensations in the soles of the feet,
The top of the feet and the ten toes.
So both feet in full awareness.
And then travel your awareness up to the ankles,
The shins and the calves,
Noticing any tension in the muscles of the calves,
Using the next exhalation to release that tension from the lower legs.
And then continue to the knees,
The front of the knees,
The back of the knees and the side of the knees.
And then moving up to the thighs,
Front of the thighs and the back of the thighs,
Observing the sensations in the whole of the thighs.
And then awareness to the hips and the pelvis,
Let the muscles of the pelvic floor to relax and release gripping.
And then move your awareness up to the belly,
Feel the navel,
The lower back and the tissues in the organs inside the belly.
Let them soften and relax.
And then move up to the chest,
So the front of the chest,
The back of the chest and the sides,
Feeling the chest expanding and releasing with the breath.
And then the shoulders and the shoulder blades,
The upper arms,
The elbows,
The front and back,
The forearms,
The wrists.
And then awareness to the hands,
The palms of the hands,
The back of the hands and the ten fingers.
And then travel up the arms once more to the throat and then back of the neck and right side and left side of the neck,
Acknowledging any tension and contraction in this area.
And then move up to the face,
The chin,
The lips,
The nose,
The ears,
The eyes,
The forehead and the temples,
Relaxing the whole face.
And then the crown of the head and the back of the head.
And then hold the whole of the head into your awareness,
The whole right side of the body and the whole left side of the body,
The whole body in full awareness.
And then start to deepen the breath to find your gentle return.
You can start to wiggle the fingers and the toes.
Maybe you move the head from side to side.
And if you are seated you can roll the shoulders very gently up,
Back and down.
And then start to wrap the palms of the hands,
Feeling the sensations in your physical body and returning fully to your body and the space around you,
The room you are in.
And then place your hands on your eyes,
Apply some gentle pressure on the eyes.
You can open the eyelids and start to see through the palms,
Getting used to the light again.
And then start to move your hands away from the eyes to fully come back to the room.
