Mindfulness of Body

Today we're going to do a practice in mindfulness of the body starting with a body scan and opening up to the general experience that arises.

So you can allow the eyes to close if you're comfortable doing so and if it feels safer or better for you to leave the eyes open in this moment you can absolutely do so.

Finding what works for you,

What feels kind and generous and as you sit here and arrive in this meditation practice taking a moment to just drop into the body where it is feeling the points of contact where the body is touching the chair cushion.

Perhaps the feet are on the floor tucked up underneath you.

Noticing where the hands are resting.

Maybe you can feel the sensation of the clothes on the body,

The temperature of the air on the skin.

Just tuning into this felt sense of where the body is at.

Recognizing the posture,

The slight movement as the body breathes itself.

And we'll start our body scan up at the crown of the head and as we move through the body giving yourself permission to be with whatever arises.

In this moment we don't necessarily need to fix or change anything.

If it feels kind to do so you can do so mindfully but remembering that the practice here is to observe what is present.

So beginning at the crown of the head just tuning into any physical sensations going on.

You can continue down into the forehead and brow.

Perhaps noticing if you're scrunching the forehead or brow.

Tuning into the eyes or even with eyes closed there may be some movement.

Seeing if you can feel the eyelids touching.

Moving on to the bridge of the nose.

Down the nose and into the sinuses.

Noticing any tension,

Any movement as the body breathes.

Tuning into the cheekbones,

The top of the jaw and the ears.

Noticing if the jaw is clenched.

If there's any tension,

Any sensation at all present.

Continuing down to the upper lip and the nostrils.

Resting here for a moment with the sensation of the body breathing.

Noticing where you can feel the air coming in.

Where you can feel the exhale.

Seeing if you can be with a breath from the beginning of an inhale all the way through the end of the exhale.

Just this one breath in front of you.

And you can move into the mouth,

The lips,

The gums,

The tongue.

Perhaps noticing how the tongue is resting in the mouth.

And moving on to the neck.

From the back of the neck,

The spine,

Around to the sides and the front.

Maybe you can feel the posture of the body in the spine.

Any tension or relaxation in the muscles of the neck.

The movement of the air through the throat or some swallowing.

And into the tops of the shoulders,

The shoulder blades,

The top of the spine.

You may feel the sensation of clothes on the body.

Maybe some movement here as the body breathes.

There's nothing you should or should not be experiencing in this moment.

There's no right or wrong answer.

But tuning into whatever's present for you.

Whatever your experience is arising in this moment.

And you can move out the shoulders into the upper arms and elbows.

Continuing into the forearms,

The wrists.

And into the hands,

Going over the palm of the hand,

The fingers,

The knuckles,

The backs of the hands.

Noticing any points of contact where they're resting in one another,

In the lap or on the knees.

And you can move back up to the chest.

From the center of the chest all the way around into the armpits.

Maybe you can feel that rise and fall as the body breathes itself.

The expansion and contraction.

Moving down the front of the torso,

The diaphragm,

Stomach,

The abdomen.

Again you may notice the body breathing here.

Maybe some sensations related to digestion.

Simply resting your awareness on whatever the physical experience here is for you.

And you can move around the sides through the obliques and into the lower back.

Tuning into sensations related to the skeleton,

The way the spine is stacked in the posture of the body.

Any sensations related to the muscles,

Tension or ease.

Any movement with the breath.

And continuing down into the hips,

The pelvis,

The groin.

Maybe you can feel the butt in the chair or cushion,

The point of contact.

Moving down the upper leg into the knees.

Bringing our awareness to the lower leg,

The calves,

The shins,

All the way down to the ankles.

And finally into the feet,

The heel of the foot,

The arch,

The ball of the foot,

The toes,

The top of the foot.

What does it feel like in this moment to rest your awareness on the feet?

And you can open your awareness up to the body as a whole.

Staying with this sense door of physical feeling.

And with this openness to the body,

Seeing what arises in your experience.

What grabs your attention?

It may be the sensation of the body breathing,

The feeling of the arms resting in the lap.

Maybe an itch or a spot of tension.

As something comes up into your awareness,

Can use a simple mental note just to note where it is.

So if you have a pain in the knee,

Just using the label knee and tuning into that experience for a few moments.

You don't need any further words to describe it.

But making the effort to actually be with the physical experience.

And after resting with an experience for a few moments,

Opening your awareness back up.

Resting in this mode of receiving whatever arises.

When something comes up,

Tuning in for a few moments before opening the awareness back up.

You you you you you when you find the mind wandering can simply recognize that the mind has become lost in some thought or experience and just return to the body.

You can return to the sensation of the body breathing or maybe a point of contact where the body is touching a chair or cushion.

Using this as your anchor.

When the mind wanders,

All we need to do in this moment is to note wandering and bring our awareness back to the body to see what comes up.

Tuning in with a non-judgmental awareness.

Receiving whatever arises in our physical experience.

You you you you you you you you you you you you