Hi,
Hello,
And welcome to this introduction to the body scan meditation.
I've created this recording separately so that if you'd like to listen to the meditation by itself,
You can do so.
And if you need a refresher or more introduction on the body scan,
You can simply listen to this recording.
So a few points of gentle explanation around the body scan and why we might use it or why we do use it in meditation practice is that we can remember that the idea of mindfulness and meditation is to create a connection between the body and the mind.
We don't see them as functioning independently or separately from one another first and foremost.
What also is helpful with the body scan meditation is recognizing that it requires a constant change of focus,
We are scanning through the body looking at different sensations.
And sometimes it can be a little bit easier on the meditator versus just anchoring on one section like the breath and using just the breath as an anchor.
So it does require a sort of seemingly constant change of focus.
The second reason we might like the body scan or practice with the body scan meditation is that,
As I mentioned earlier,
It isn't meditation isn't just working with the stuff of the mind,
It is also working with the body and the body scan meditation helps us get reacquainted with physical sensations as they manifest and can allow us to learn to work with physical sensations in the body.
And then thirdly,
We can work with body scan meditation subsequently to practice letting go and also acceptance.
You may notice that when a feeling sensation arises in the body that we sort of have an aversion to or we find less than pleasant,
We often want to try to run away from that.
And certainly there can be times when it's it's relevant to do so.
But when we can also at the same time,
Learn a level of acceptance with the body,
We may find that we don't have to be quite so averse to unpleasant sensations.
And we can learn to stay a while and also find out what really is happening with areas of tension or pain,
And then decide when it's time to move on.
So a few different reasons that we can work with the body scan meditation and you have a couple different ways to go about doing it as well.
We can use different postures and it may feel best for you to sit in a chair or on a cushion.
You might even enjoy lying down during the body scan.
However,
I would recommend that if you do so that you have your eyes open and it can be helpful to lay one arm sort of the bent elbow next to you so that you stay awake if you start to drift off you,
Your arm will move and fall and will wake you up.
What we pay attention to in the body scan is really just starting in different areas.
And I'll guide you through that in the actual meditation.
But we can follow different sensations or even sometimes the absence of sensation.
And we pay attention to whatever's there.
We don't need to add to it or add to our experience in any way.
For example,
We might notice temperature,
We might notice where we're at in space,
Maybe where our foot is in relationship to the ground or pressure.
We may even notice tingling sensations,
Tension,
We may be aware of touch or skin,
Feeling of our skin against our pants or shirt or jacket,
What have you,
Sweater.
We may notice sensation,
The feeling of our for sitting on a cushion,
How it feels to sit on the cushion.
So we simply just pay attention as if the sensations were present,
Which they are,
And we pay attention to what's happening in the body,
We may even notice the sensation that happens around our ears or even with with hearing.
The body scan meditation is also a great practice for what we would call non-striving.
We're not trying to get somewhere,
We're not asking the body to do anything,
We're not asking it to be different than it is for simply paying attention to sensation.
Now,
Let me say a word about pain and discomfort really with the body scan.
You've probably noticed,
As I mentioned that we often want to avoid physical pain and discomfort.
I think this is probably a good thing for most of us.
However,
We don't want to only put our attention on areas that hurt and subsequently,
We also don't want to find ourselves constantly running away from difficult sensations or difficult feelings.
But what we do want to practice with is a sense of kindness to ourselves.
So if anytime we're feeling overwhelmed by discomfort in the body or feeling so it's getting too much,
It's,
It's worthy of redirecting our attention to the breath.
It's worthy possibly of changing positions.
But we're not here to make this some quest,
As I mentioned,
For tolerating pain.
Really,
It's just a matter of being able to be with things in a way,
And in this case,
Being with sensation in a way that allows us to be present and alert to our experience.
So I'll guide you more through that in the meditation itself.
But just to put a point on that,
You may notice that when you start the body skin meditation,
You may feel tired or sleepy or fall asleep.
This is not an uncommon experience.
It's also one of the hindrances to meditation.
Now,
If you fall asleep,
Every time we start to meditate,
You may want to get more sleep.
And it's pretty normal,
As the body calms down.
And as we relax,
We may actually realize that we do need more sleep.
And if you've noticed that you're struggling with that it's completely in a kind mode to open the eyes or possibly move shift the posture or just return to the breath.
But again,
I'll guide you through that during the meditation.
So this is the introduction to the body scan,
You can feel free to proceed with the meditation as you like now and enjoy the body scan meditation.
