Progressive Body Scan (Tense & Relax)

Hello there,

We are going to do a meditation together.

It is called a progressive body scan.

And what we'll do is we'll move our attention to different parts of our body.

And as we do that,

We will tighten and release different groups of muscles.

By tensing and releasing the muscles,

We are allowing our energy to move more freely through our body and also allowing our bodies to relax.

So this is a great meditation to do before bedtime if you want to assist yourself from falling asleep,

Or maybe even just when you want to relax.

So let's get started.

You can sit on the floor or on a chair or in your bed,

Whatever works best for you.

You might even like to lie down for this meditation.

Perhaps you might like to rest afterwards,

Or even do this before sleep,

As I mentioned before.

So go ahead and close your eyes and get your body comfortable.

Let your arms rest gently by your sides or in your lap.

If you ever need to open your eyes or adjust your body during a meditation to get more comfortable,

That's okay.

So we'll start with some mindfulness to help bring our attention to the moment we are in.

So open up your ears and notice the sounds happening around you.

Stretch your hearing and see if you can hear some distant sounds.

Something far away,

Like on the road outside your house,

Or an airplane flying in the sky.

And for the next few breaths,

Focus on the distant sounds.

Now slowly begin to listen for closer sounds,

Sounds in your house or in your room.

No need to wonder what they are or why they are happening.

We're just using them as a tool to help us notice what's happening right now in the moment we are in.

And now we're going to shift our focus and begin to feel our breath.

Take a nice full breath in through your nose,

Filling up your belly,

Making it the deepest breath you've taken all day.

Then open up your mouth and sigh the breath out,

Relaxing your body and your mind.

Letting anything that's bothering your mind leave with your breath if it will.

As you breathe in your next breath,

Count for a count of four on your inhale,

Breathing in for one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

And then breathing out for six,

Or a count of one,

Two,

Three,

Four,

Five,

Six.

When we breathe out for longer periods of time,

It helps our body relax even more.

And so now find a breath that feels comfortable for you.

There's no right or wrong way to be breathing,

Just breathing in a way that feels good to your body and doesn't require any concentration or thinking.

So we will now begin the body relaxation.

So we'll start by putting our attention on the top of our heads.

Notice your scalp and your forehead and both of your eyes.

And so now I'm going to invite you to squeeze the muscles in these areas.

Scrunch up your eyes really tight so that there's some wrinkles in the forehead and around the eyelids.

And hold this while you're breathing for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

And now unscrunch everything,

Letting the area that was just tight,

Relax and soften.

Take a few breaths here and notice what that feels like.

Okay,

Now we'll move down through the face to the left and right cheek,

Your ears,

Mouth,

Chin,

And jaw.

And we'll tighten these areas,

Either scrunching your mouth up really tight or smiling as big as you can so the corners of the mouth are reaching out towards the ears.

You can even move your ears up if you can.

And continue to breathe,

But hold this for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Release and allow that tension and tightness to melt away.

Imagine it's like snow melting on a sunny day.

Let your face relax completely and enjoy the feeling,

Taking a few breaths and noticing what it feels like.

There's no right or wrong way for it to feel.

We're just practicing noticing how our bodies feel and accepting whatever's there,

Whatever is happening,

Knowing we're okay.

Okay,

Now let's tense up our neck and chest and shoulders,

Including the shoulder blades on the back of your body and your whole upper back.

Squeeze these areas tight.

You may even raise your shoulders towards your ears and squeeze them together along your back.

And hold this while you're breathing for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

And one.

Now release and allow your neck and shoulders and back to relax,

Breathing for a few breaths and seeing how that feels.

And now we'll move to our arms.

We're going to tighten the muscles in both of our arms.

Be sure to include your upper arms,

Elbows,

Wrists,

Palms,

And all of your fingers.

You can either make fists with your hands or bring your palms together in front of your chest in a prayer position and press them so hard that the elbows begin to lift.

You may feel some trembling in your arms and possibly your chest as well.

And just hold this,

Continue to breathe for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

Okay,

Release and allow your arms to relax,

Breathing for a few breaths and seeing how that feels.

Okay,

We're now going to move down the body to the next area that we will tighten.

And this will be your belly,

Lower back,

Hips,

And your bottom.

So tense up this area,

Squeezing your muscles tightly,

And hold this while you're breathing for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

One.

And now relax,

Release the tightness,

And just breathe and notice.

Bring your attention now to your legs.

We're going to tighten the muscles all through both of your legs.

Include the front and back of your legs,

Your knees,

Ankles,

Heels,

The soles of your feet,

And all of your toes.

You might want to try pointing your toes away from you or flexing your foot,

Pressing your heel out and feeling the toes point back towards your face.

Hold this as you breathe for five,

Four,

Three,

Two,

And one.

Release the tightness and relax your legs,

Allowing them to melt into your bed or chair or the floor,

And taking a few breaths to notice how they feel.

And now to finish up our meditation,

We'll move back up the body without tensing any muscles,

But noticing if there is any tightness remaining that could be released.

And if so,

Pause at that area and let go of whatever is willing to go.

And if it wants to stay,

That's okay.

Accept that too and keep on moving.

Starting to scan up your body at the tips of your toes,

Moving past your feet,

Your lower legs,

Your upper legs,

Releasing any tension as you go,

If there's any left.

Moving now to your hips,

Your belly and lower back,

To your chest and upper back,

Relaxing any areas where tightness is still holding on.

Noticing your arms,

Your shoulders,

Your neck,

Your jaw and ears,

And your whole face,

Up to your scalp.

And just feel as your whole body relaxes.

And when you're ready,

Slowly move your attention back to noticing your breath,

And as we finish this meditation,

You might want to drift off into sleep.

Or if you're ready to come out of the meditation,

You can start to wiggle your toes and fingers and give yourself a big thank you for giving such loving attention to your body today.

You may even like to give yourself a hug and bring a smile to your face.

And if you feel ready,

You can open your eyes gently and slowly,

Taking just one more moment before entering back into your day to notice how you feel.