Body Scan For Releasing Stress

Welcome to this body scan practice.

Adopt a comfortable position,

Either lying on the ground on a mat or on the carpet,

With your head supported by a cushion,

Your hands by your sides,

Hands resting on your belly or on the floor.

Or seated with your back supported.

Let yourself be comfortable.

We do the body scan practice so that we can connect our minds with our physical body.

Because our bodies are always in the present moment.

A rich ocean of awareness and experience to be tapped.

But our minds are often wandering,

Full of thoughts and preoccupations.

So we use the sensations in the body to bring our attention back into the present moment of our life.

So put down any worries,

Any thoughts,

Anything you've got to do.

And just know that during this practice we're not asking anything of the world.

We don't need to achieve anything.

And then start to feel into your body.

Feel into the places where your body is touched by the ground,

By your chair or your mat.

Notice those sensations.

And just see if there's any sense of holding yourself up,

Holding it together.

Because now you're fully supported by the ground,

By your chair.

There's no need to hold yourself up anymore.

So allow yourself to be supported.

And just release into those points of contact.

And deepen your sense of connection with the ground or with the chair.

Now bring your awareness to the top of the head.

To the scalp.

All around the top of the head,

The sides and the back of the head.

Soften any tension that you find there.

Soften the forehead and the space between the eyes.

And let the eyes rest in their sockets.

And see if you can relax the area around the temples.

Relax into the cheeks.

The lips.

The tongue.

The root of the tongue.

And the jawline.

It's a very common place to hold tightness.

See if you can release any of the tension you find there.

Now feel into the throat.

Just relax the throat area.

And the muscles of the back of the neck.

Such a job all day holding our head up.

Just relax all of those muscles as best you can.

And down into the tops of the shoulders.

See if you can perhaps open a little bit across the collarbone area.

Drop the shoulders down a little bit further from the ears.

Travel the awareness into the tops of both arms.

Into the muscles and the tissues of the arms,

The skin.

Feel where the skin meets your clothes.

And then into the elbows.

And the forearms.

The wrists.

The palm of the hand.

And the fingers and thumbs.

Feel into both arms.

Notice all the many different sensations that arise from inhabiting this living body.

Don't worry if your mind wanders.

Just notice if your mind is creating a story or you're being distracted.

As best you can,

See if you can bring your awareness back to what we're doing.

Now travel the attention back up the arms and into the upper back.

Again,

Another area where we might be holding tightness if we've been working at a computer.

As you exhale,

See if you can release some of this tightness.

And then feel into the middle back and the lower back.

Again looking for tight areas or areas of tension.

Perhaps you can just soften slightly.

Feel the whole spine and its natural curves being supported by the floor,

By your chair or cushion.

Now feel into the front of the chest,

Across the breastbone,

The front ribs,

The diaphragm,

The whole area,

Gently moving with the currents of the breath.

What does it feel like?

Feeling now into the abdomen,

The deeper organs and the skin.

Travelling the awareness down into the pelvic region.

Noticing any sensations there.

And then into the hips and the buttocks.

Let the buttocks be fully supported by the surface you're lying or sitting on.

And the backs of the thighs.

Feel into the front of the thighs and the sides.

Feel the deep muscles and the bones within your thighs.

Work all day to keep us moving.

Feel into the knees and the space behind the knees.

Noticing any sensations in the calves and the shins,

On the skin and deep inside.

And moving the awareness into the ankles,

Softening any tension there.

And the heels,

The top of the foot,

The sole of the foot.

And the toes.

Feel into both legs.

Notice all the changing sensations that are there.

Notice if any particular sensation in the body tries to pull your attention away.

Just acknowledge it and return your mind to the practice.

See now if you can broaden your awareness to feel into the whole body.

The whole of our living,

Breathing body.

What sensations can you feel?

See if you can just observe them without becoming too attached to them,

Too distracted by anything particular.

Notice what it's like to be still.

How do you experience stillness?

Feel the body moving with the ebb and flow of the breath.

What sensations and feelings are arising for you?

Feel again into those points of contact where your body is in contact with the floor or the chair.

And notice whether this feels any different now to when we felt this before at the beginning of the practice.

Notice the quality of the sensation.

Bording the awareness out again to the whole body and expand it further noticing what sounds you can hear.

As you can hear from within your body,

From within this room and outside the room.

I'm going to read a poem and then ring the bell to end the practice.

A place to sit by Kabir.

Don't go outside your house to see flowers.

My friend,

Don't bother with that excursion.

Inside your body there are flowers.

One flower has a thousand petals.

That will do for a place to sit.

Sitting there you will have a glimpse of beauty inside the body and out of it.

Before gardens and after gardens.