This is a six minute body scan exercise.
And if you're new to this,
It can take some time to see the usefulness of a body scan.
Some weeks of practice with some additional steps.
But this can prove to be extremely useful in daily life dealing with stress and being more resilient.
So for this exercise,
If possible,
Find a comfortable,
Relatively quiet space.
Somewhere you can lie down or sit comfortably.
And hopefully a place where you're not going to be interrupted for the next few minutes.
And we're going to just simply tune in to physical sensations in the body very specifically.
Still aware of thoughts,
Emotions as they come up.
But we'll redirect the mind to the physical sensations.
And we're not trying to make anything happen.
We're not trying to get anywhere.
Or even we're not even trying to make ourselves relax.
We even let go of that as the goal.
And so starting by just feeling the sensations of breathing.
And just noticing all the sensations in your body right now.
All the sensations of being alive.
Bringing a freshness,
A curiosity,
What's called beginner's mind.
Feeling these sensations of breathing and anything you feel in the whole body.
And we'll start now by feeling the sensations in the legs and feet.
Shining your awareness.
Like moving a flashlight to those areas and feeling both of your legs from the hips all the way down to the toes.
Feeling the full width,
Breadth,
Depth,
Weight of your legs.
Noticing whatever sensations might be there.
Could be many things.
There could be heaviness or itching or warmth,
Touch of clothing.
Or no sensation at all.
Just noticing that.
And coming now up into the trunk from the pelvis all the way up into the abdomen through the back and chest.
Feeling your whole trunk right now.
Maybe there's some sensations associated with breathing.
Noticing now the sensations in the arms all the way from the shoulders down to the fingers.
Both of the arms.
And seeing what you notice.
How do you know you have arms without looking?
And maybe noticing the difference between thinking about the arms and feeling them from the inside.
And coming now into the neck and head including the face and seeing what you notice there.
If you notice any areas of tension that are unnecessary and you can let them go,
That's great.
We often carry a lot of tension in our forehead or traps and then back of the neck.
And so letting those areas be soft.
You could even breathe into them.
And if any tension remains,
Just being okay with that.
Letting it be.
Just noticing it.
Again we're not trying to force anything to happen here.
And now opening up your attention to the whole body from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet.
And breathing with all these sensations of the whole body.
And so staying with these sensations for a few more seconds until the bell ends this exercise.
So maybe taking stock and noticing if there's any difference in the mind or in the body compared with when you started.
And if you'd care to go back and scan through more areas of the body in the same way if you have time right now,
That's good.
And otherwise moving on with your day.
