Compassionate Body Scan (extended)

The best way to do a compassionate body scan is actually laying down.

So I would really invite you if you can to lay down for this practice.

And then I'll be leading you through about 35 minutes of instructions.

So you do need to be able to hear me as well.

So I'll give you a few moments to make yourself comfortable.

If you can't lay down then that's fine.

Just make sure you're really comfortable.

That's the main thing is to be very comfortable.

Okay.

So what we'll be doing during this practice is bringing our attention to each part of our body one by one and bringing kindness to each part of our body.

So you're invited to incline warmly,

Tenderly towards each part of your body as we move from one to the next.

Maybe in the way you might incline towards.

And when I say incline it's like a movement of,

It's a gesture of affection,

Love,

Tenderness,

Sort of that aww,

Aww,

That sort of feeling.

You know when we see a puppy or a kitten or a baby aww.

So that's what we're doing to each part of our dear body is aww.

What you might find as we're doing this is you may have judgements about particular parts of your body or associations that go with particular parts of your body.

You know health concerns or mobility issues or you know things like this.

Shame even,

You know body image shame is rampant in our culture.

If you notice any of these things as we're moving through and attending to each of our body,

Well the first thing is to notice that.

The second thing is to know that we're not white knuckling it through.

We're not hanging on hoping that the difficulty will go away.

You know hardening ourself as we sit with difficult emotion around a particular part of our body.

Notice if you're feeling any judgement or unpleasantness.

Make the decision,

Am I able to sit with this kindly?

Am I able to bring myself some love?

Because there is some judgement,

Some difficulty.

If you feel that you're not,

That this feeling of difficulty is really large and for some of us it is,

If it's overwhelming,

Please just move away from that part of your body.

That's a very skillful response to any difficult emotion we have associated with a part of our body where we don't quite have the skills yet to handle that.

We will in future.

So just tell yourself that,

I'll continue with my practice and somewhere down the line I will have skills to be able to be with this level of difficult emotion.

So just bookmark that and move on to another part of your body if you need to do this.

Alright so,

Bringing your awareness firstly down to your feet,

Down to your left foot.

And starting by simply being aware of the toes on your left foot.

Are your toes warm or cool?

Are they moist or dry?

Do you feel tingling or any kind of sensation in the toes on your left foot?

Can you feel where they touch each other or they touch your socks or your shoes or the floor or whatever they're touching?

Can you feel the movement of air around the toes on your left foot?

Maybe you're not feeling anything at all in the toes on your left foot.

Bringing your awareness to your toes.

If there's any discomfort,

Bringing a little kindness to the toes on your left foot.

Maybe even a little gratitude for the toes on your left foot.

And then moving your awareness to the sole of your left foot.

That tiny little patch of skin that holds you up all throughout the day.

It connects you to the ground.

Noticing any sensations in the sole of your left foot.

Maybe giving the sole of your left foot a little love,

A little appreciation for everything it does.

Feeling your whole left foot,

The top of your foot,

The sole,

The toes.

If you're noticing any discomfort there,

You might even just say to yourself,

There's a little bit of discomfort there.

There's a little bit of pain.

I'm going to keep myself company as I feel that pain.

I offer myself a little love,

A little kindness.

Moving your awareness up your left leg to your shin and your calf on your left side.

You can include your ankle as well because I forgot the ankle.

Your ankle,

Your shin and your calf on the left side.

These bones,

Muscles,

Tendons,

Ligaments,

All holding you up and allowing you to move throughout your day,

Giving you mobility.

We expect a lot of our ankle in particular.

It does its best for us.

It's working hard for us.

Sometimes it's injured in trying to help us do what we want to do,

In trying to help us to run or play sports.

But it's always doing the best it can to allow us to do what we want to do.

Moving up to your knee,

Your left knee.

Very complex joint,

This one.

Once again,

A joint that we can tend to injure because it is so complex and it holds a lot of weight for us.

It's holding the weight of our body and trying to help us move at the same time.

Bring a little kindness to your knee,

A little appreciation for all of its hard work.

Whenever you notice that your mind is wandered,

If you do notice that,

Being very kind with yourself,

Simply returning your awareness gently to the part of the body that we're attending to.

Maybe ushering your awareness kindly,

The way you might usher a puppy or a small child back to where they need to be.

Worshivering if you feel any uneasiness or judgment about a particular part of your body.

Making a choice.

Do you want to stay with this part of your body?

Are you able to offer it some kindness to soften a little around this discomfort?

Maybe you put a hand on this part of your body?

Or do you need to move on to the next part of your body?

You make that choice for yourself.

Moving up to your left thigh.

This is a part of our body we can have some judgment around.

The reality is our thigh is a very powerful,

Large sequence of muscles.

Very strong,

Helping us to move throughout our day.

Allowing us to crouch,

To stand,

To walk,

Run,

Dance,

Do yoga.

Bringing some awareness and gratitude to your left thigh.

And then moving your awareness to your left hip.

Very large joint in our left hip.

Another joint that can wear out over time.

Left hip working very hard for us to give us mobility.

And then bringing loving awareness to your entire left leg.

All of those muscles,

Bones,

Joints,

Ligaments working together.

Always doing the best they can to give us mobility.

To give us the freedom to move throughout our day.

Moving your awareness to the other side of your body,

To your right leg and down to the toes on your right side.

Once again noticing any sensation in your toes.

Can you feel breeze across the skin of your toes?

Can you feel where your toes make contact with each other or with your sock or your shoe or your blanket?

Is there any discomfort in your right toes?

Right toes are vital for our balance,

For our ability to walk.

Bringing some gratitude to the toes on your right foot.

Moving to the sole of your right foot.

Once again this tiny patch of skin holding us up all day.

Connecting us to the earth.

A lot of nerve endings in the sole of our right foot.

So we can receive exquisite sensations through the sole of our foot.

Bringing us a lot of information about the ground we're standing on.

And then bringing your awareness to your whole right foot.

So many tiny bones,

Ligaments,

Tendons,

Muscles all working together to give us balance,

To give us power,

To hold us upright.

And bringing your awareness to your ankle on the right side.

Very complex joint moving in so many different directions in all directions.

And you offer a little appreciation for your ankle.

Noticing any sensations,

Do you feel the air moving across your ankle?

Is there any discomfort there?

And if so,

Offering yourself a little kindness,

A little softening,

Maybe putting your hand on your right ankle.

Moving up to the shin and calf on your right side.

The long muscles in your calf,

The long bone in your shin.

Bone holding us upright and the muscle giving us power and strength.

Moving up to your right knee.

Another very complex joint.

Noticing if there's any discomfort there.

Noticing if you're not feeling anything in particular there.

Whatever you're experiencing,

When you simply be with that kindly,

Tenderly,

Warmly.

Moving up to your right thigh.

Once again,

Being aware of any judgment you might have about your right thigh.

Such a powerful muscle in our right thigh.

Giving us freedom,

The freedom to move throughout our day.

Always doing the best it can for us.

Moving up to your right hip.

Really focusing your awareness on your right hip.

We don't often bring our focused awareness,

Our focused attention and our affection to one particular part of our body.

Giving yourself,

Giving your body this time of appreciation,

Of attention.

And being aware of your whole right leg.

Such a complex sequence of bones,

Muscles,

Tendons and ligaments.

And then moving your awareness up to your torso.

Moving it to your belly,

Your abdomen.

Those really important processes of digestion happening in our belly.

Allowing us to take in the nutrients of the food that we drink,

We eat.

Another area we might have some judgment about.

So notice if you're feeling any judgment about this part of your body and bringing in a little kindness if that's your experience.

Bringing your awareness down to the area in your pelvis,

That pelvic bowl area.

All those processes of elimination and also reproduction in that part of our body.

There's a lot going on in that part of our body.

And a lot that can go wrong in that part of our body.

Giving a little tenderness,

A little kindness to that part of your body.

Acknowledging how complex those processes are.

Acknowledging any discomfort around that part of your body.

And then moving around to your buttocks,

The back of your body.

Very large muscles in our buttocks that are required when connected to our legs,

Required to help us to move,

To walk.

We need these very large muscles.

We need our buttocks to allow us to sit,

To cushion our body as we sit.

Noticing any sensation in your buttocks.

Maybe pressure where you're sitting or lying.

Maybe even tension.

We can be tensing the muscles in our buttocks without even realizing it.

So maybe inviting a relaxation of those muscles,

If that's your experience.

Then moving to your lower back,

That area of your back where you have a backbone and a lot of internal organs inside there.

Part of our back can often feel tense,

Feel tired.

It's the main hinge for our body,

The hinge between our upper body and our lower body.

We can overwork it so that it feels it needs to tighten up.

Or sometimes it will hold stress for us.

Noticing if you're feeling any tightness in your lower back,

Any discomfort in your lower back.

Offering some appreciation and love to your lower back.

Moving your awareness to your upper back,

Your rib cage,

Your backbone,

Scapula.

Another part of our body where we can hold a lot of tension is in our upper back.

So many very small muscles in between our ribs.

Muscles supporting our arms.

Muscles allowing us to breathe.

Noticing any sensation on your skin of your upper back,

Maybe pressure when you're resting against something.

Moving around,

Moving your awareness around to the front of your body again,

To your chest,

To your breasts.

Moving with some tenderness if there's any judgment about this part of your body or any discomfort.

Holding yourself in loving awareness.

Then moving your awareness just a little bit lower to your stomach,

That place right at the bottom of your rib cage.

It's also your sternum there,

Your diaphragm allowing you to breathe.

Your stomach allowing us to start the process of digestion.

Working very hard for us every day to start processing our food into energy for us.

Maybe sending a little gratitude to your stomach.

Then moving your awareness to the left side of your body to your left shoulder.

Once again,

It's another part of our body that can hold a lot of tension for us.

We can tend to hunch our shoulders,

Readying ourselves for fight or flight.

We may not even notice that we've been doing this throughout the day.

So if you notice any tension in your left shoulder,

Inviting this part of your body to release.

Not requiring it to release,

We're just inviting it to release.

Moving your awareness to your upper arm on your left side.

Abs,

Triceps,

Skin on your upper arm.

Being aware of any sensations on the skin of your upper arm.

Noticing if there's any discomfort there,

Any judgment.

Moving your awareness down to your left elbow.

Another complex joint.

Giving us the power to move things in our environment.

Our whole arm is designed to allow us to manipulate,

To move things in our environment.

To feed ourselves,

To push ourselves up from the floor,

The couch or the chair.

To brush our teeth.

So much power and freedom in our arms,

Offered by our arms.

Our elbow being a vital part of that.

Moving your awareness to your lower arm,

Your forearm.

These bones,

Tendons,

Ligaments,

Muscles connecting to your hand and your wrist.

Giving a little appreciation for your left forearm.

Moving further down to your left wrist.

This is a very delicate,

But very important joint.

Allowing us to move our hand.

Noticing any sensations in your left wrist.

If there's any pain,

You might even wrap your other hand around your left wrist in recognition.

Giving your left wrist a little love,

A little kindness.

Moving to your left hand,

The palm of your hand,

The back of your hand.

All those nerve endings in the palm of your hand,

Giving you an exquisite sense of touch.

And cushioning in the palm of your hand,

Allowing you to grasp things,

To hold things.

And then moving your awareness to your fingers on your left hand.

Probably quite amazing tools that we have.

Allowing us to hold things,

Allowing us to hold people and loved ones.

Allowing us to brush a tender knuckle against the cheek of a loved one.

To massage sore muscles,

To pat a puppy or a kitten.

Some appreciation to the fingers on your left hand.

Being aware of your whole left arm and hand.

All of those muscles,

Tendons,

Ligaments,

Bone,

Working together to give you some amazing flexibility,

Amazing independence to move throughout your day.

Then moving your awareness over to the right side of your body,

To your right shoulder.

Once again,

Our right shoulder can be a place where we hold tension.

We may have been hunching our right shoulder,

Hiking it up towards our ear.

Notice any tension there,

Maybe just giving your right shoulder permission to release,

To relax in this moment.

There's nothing it needs to prepare for in this moment.

We'll be offering a little gratitude for the fact that it does readiness for action.

It does prepare.

But in being ready for action so often and for so long,

It does tire itself out.

It does become painful sometimes.

Moving your awareness down to your right upper arm.

Noticing any sensation in your upper arm.

Maybe you feel the air moving across the skin of your upper arm.

The sensation of your skin against clothing,

Against your chair,

Your mat,

The floor,

The couch.

Moving your kind awareness down to your elbow on the right side.

And then moving down a bit further to your lower arm on the right side.

We hardly ever think about our lower arm.

Maybe bringing a little gratitude,

A little appreciation to your lower right arm.

Moving your awareness down to your right wrist.

Giving us all of that range of movement in our hand.

Allowing us to grasp something and then move it around,

Twist it,

Turn it.

All of that being done by our wrist.

Moving your awareness to your right hand.

Very sensitive,

Our hand,

Very,

Very sensitive to sensations to touch.

Such an intimate connection with ourselves when we tend to our right hand and with others when we hold hands,

When we connect through our hands.

A lovely form of expression coming through our right hand.

Moving awareness to the fingers on our right hand.

Noticing any sensation.

Maybe offering a little gratitude for the fingers on your right hand.

And then being aware of your whole right arm and hand,

Your shoulder,

That whole limb,

All those muscles and tendons,

Ligaments,

Bone,

Sinew.

Giving you so much power in your life.

And then continuing to move our awareness upwards to our throat,

The front of our throat.

All of our food and all of our air passes through our throat.

All part of our body and yet we hardly ever think about our throat and how hard it's working.

Also allowing us to communicate,

To talk,

To sing,

To chant,

To hum.

A vehicle for expression,

For expressing ourselves.

Being aware of the back of your neck,

Bone in the back of your neck,

The muscles.

Back of our neck works so hard to hold our quite heavy head up all day.

And it's another part of our body that can hold a lot of tension.

We can tighten.

We can find that the muscles in the back of our neck are tight without us even realizing that we've been doing that all day.

Noticing any tightness in the back of your neck.

You might even put a hand on the back of your neck.

Just to acknowledge how hard the back of your neck works.

And then moving your awareness up to your skull,

The back of your head,

Very large and very important bone in the back of your head,

Protecting your brain.

And it's sensitive to touch the back of our head.

We hardly ever think of the back of our head.

Maybe offering a little gratitude,

A little appreciation for the back of your head.

Moving around to your forehead.

Another place where we express ourselves through frowning,

Raising our eyebrows.

We communicate to the world through our forehead.

And also be quite a source of discomfort and pain when we get headaches or migraines.

You're feeling any tension in your forehead or any discomfort.

You might just put a loving hand on your forehead.

Even kindness flowing through your hand and into your forehead.

And then bringing your awareness down to your eyes,

Window of your soul.

Always allowing you to see your environment,

Allowing you to connect with another being.

Finding some appreciation for your eyes.

Being aware of your nose,

Bringing your awareness to your nose.

Processes of breathing happening through our nose.

Also a way for our body to discharge things that are making us sick.

Process of elimination happening through our nose.

We hardly ever think about it like that,

But it's a way of protecting our body.

Removing things from our body that are making us sick.

Sense of smell coming through our nose.

Allowing us to experience our environment through scent.

Being aware of your mouth,

Your lips,

Your tongue,

Your teeth.

Allowing us to talk,

To eat,

To sing,

To breathe.

Allowing us to connect with others through language,

Through our voice.

Moving your awareness to your ears.

You sense organ allowing you to hear,

To experience your environment through sound.

Allowing you even to do this meditation because you can hear my voice.

And finally moving your awareness up to the place that is furthest from where we started.

So up to the crown of your head,

Very top of your head.

Part of you that is closest to heaven.

And then moving your awareness in one last sweep of gratitude and appreciation from the crown of your head down your body slowly noticing each part of your body as you go.

Eventually ending up back at your toes again.

As much as we might feel disappointed by our body sometimes,

Let down,

Angry,

Afraid,

Ashamed of our body,

The reality is it is always doing the best it can.

It is always moving towards a place of health.

It is always bringing in whatever tools it has to help us out,

To allow us to function.

It might not feel like it sometimes but our body is designed to take care of us.

That is its sole function is to take care of us.

And when you're ready,

Really taking your time,

Gently opening your eyes.

With your eyes closed,

Before you even move your body,

Just looking around your environment,

Just orienting yourself again to the place that you're in.

Allowing yourself to orient slowly,

Kindly,

Transitioning slowly.

And as you're ready,

Very slowly and gently raising your body up if you've been laying on the ground.

You might like to roll over onto your right side first.

That can be a nice way to support our body in raising it up to a standing or a sitting posture.

Very gently pushing your body up.

Being aware to move just as slowly enough so you don't feel dizzy as you raise your body up.

Your blood pressure will have dropped as we've been laying down.

Allow your blood pressure to keep up with the speed with which you raise your body up.

It's a lovely act of self-compassion to tune into your blood pressure and respond kindly.

Action slowly in response to that.