Body Scan Meditation

We'll come into meditation today and we'll begin by allowing the eyes to close gently.

And if you prefer eyes open,

Just allow a soft gaze downward.

Sensing the body sitting just as you are.

Feeling the breath coming and going.

And begin by noticing sounds in the room.

Maybe even sounds outside of the room.

Not as if going out to listen for something,

But bringing the awareness to hearing.

Noticing sound wherever it is.

And then returning to an awareness of the body,

Once again sitting just as you are.

And sensing the feet touching the floor.

You might notice a sensation of contact.

What do the soles of the feet actually feel like as they touch the floor?

Noticing the toes and the whole foot.

And then moving the awareness up the legs to the knees.

Noticing the bend of the knees.

Moving to the upper legs to the place where the legs meet the hips.

Sensing into the base of the body,

Right where the sit bones are pressing into the chair.

Even noticing how the backs of the thighs press into the chair.

How the back is making contact.

Opening up the body,

Noticing the shoulders,

Arms,

Elbows,

Forearms,

Hands and fingers.

And inviting the shoulders to relax,

Which helps the hands relax.

Noticing the front of the body,

Softening as you can.

And then becoming aware of the neck,

The throat area,

The sides and the back of the neck.

And moving all the way up the head.

The ears,

The back of the head,

The face,

Jaws,

Lips,

Tongue,

Nose and eyes,

Forehead.

And then becoming aware of the breathing.

Simply breathe and know your breathing.

However your breathing is just right.

For the next few breaths,

Sensing into the inhale and the exhale.

And even noticing the subtle movements of the body with the breath cycle.

How there's a slight expansion and rising with the inhale.

And a little contracting and falling with the exhale.

And up and down,

Out and in movement with the breath.

Allowing and inviting the breath to be comfortable.

Not needing to change it to any special rhythm or depth.

So notice the posture of sitting.

Just sit and know your sitting.

And breathe and know your breathing.

Becoming aware of the state of mind.

Whatever the state of mind is,

Is fine.

Whether it's busy,

Tired,

Excited,

Calm.

Maybe there's some agitation or anxiety.

Or maybe it's completely at ease or some combination.

Just noticing.

And as we continue to sit quietly,

Allow just enough energy in the back body to keep the mind bright and alert.

Let the front body soften so you have room to breathe.

And invite a quality of relaxation into your whole being.

Strong back,

Soft front,

Relaxed body.

Starting to breathe.

On your next inhale,

Bring your awareness to the crown of the head.

Just notice any sensation at the crown.

Sometimes there may be a sensation of vibration or pulsing.

Maybe a little bit of pressure.

Or maybe nothing at all.

Whatever you notice is just what you notice.

That's what's here.

And on your next exhale,

Moving the awareness down into the forehead,

Into the sides and the back of the head,

This area where a hat would sit.

Then moving down the face to the eyelids,

The eyeballs,

Even the space behind the eyes,

Breathing.

Moving down the nose and the cheeks,

The upper lip,

The jaw,

The upper jaw and the lower jaw.

Just notice.

Maybe even sense the teeth,

Allowing the tongue to relax.

And letting the throat relax,

Sensing.

And then moving to the sides of the head to the ears,

Noticing the space all around the ears,

Even the insides of the ears,

Breathing.

Moving to the back of the head,

Down the back of the neck,

Even the sides of the neck,

Sensing the whole head from the base of the neck and throat all the way up the face,

The sides of the back of the head,

Back to the crown,

Sensing into the whole head.

And if at any time during this meditation the mind wanders off,

Just know that that's natural.

When you notice it,

Come back and begin right where we are.

And now bringing the awareness to the tops of the shoulders.

And as you exhale,

Moving down the back as if you are gently soothing,

Sweeping the back,

Moving down the scapula to the mid-back,

Down into the low back,

All the way to the coccyx.

And inhaling back up the back,

Exhaling down the back as if you're soothing your own back,

And then scanning up and down with the breath,

Just the back.

And then moving to the side body and moving the awareness up the sides to the armpits,

Back down to the hips,

Synchronized with the inhale and the exhale.

Now coming to the front of the body,

The deep low belly,

Same thing,

Moving the awareness up the torso,

The whole chest,

Up to the throat area,

And then moving back down,

Letting the whole belly and chest musculature soften so you have room to breathe.

On the next inhale,

Drawing the awareness to the tops of the shoulders,

And this time turning the awareness inside the body,

Scanning down through the lungs,

All the digestive organs and the heart,

Down into the pelvis and the organs of the deep pelvic bowl,

Breathing ease into all the internal organs,

Breathing,

Inhaling your way back to the tops of the shoulders now,

And as you exhale,

Moving down through the shoulders and the upper arms,

Standing in the elbows,

Breathing,

Moving down the forearms and into the wrists,

Take a breath,

Now moving into the hands,

The fingers and the palms of the hands,

Noticing the hands,

There may be sensation in the hands or in these various body parts,

Just notice,

As if you're observing from the inside out,

Sensing the body from the inside out,

Breathing,

Last time drawing the awareness to the tops of the shoulders,

And then moving down both the front,

The sides and the back of the body,

The whole torso down into the hips and the groin area,

The perineum,

Take a breath,

Noticing the sit bones,

General sense of the weight of the body,

Into the base of the body here,

And on your next exhale,

Moving down the upper legs,

Both through the quadriceps and the hamstrings,

The inner and outer thighs,

Down into the knees,

Breathing,

And moving the awareness down the lower legs,

The calves and the shins,

Coming past the Achilles tendons and into the ankles,

Breathe,

And then moving the awareness down the tops of the feet and the toes,

The undersides of the toes,

And into the soles of the feet,

Noticing the whole foot,

And breathe,

And now on your own,

Take your time to move the awareness from the feet to the crown of the head,

Breathing as you go,

Sensing the body as you breathe.

And when you get to the crown of the head,

Take a couple breaths there,

Sensing once again into the crown,

And now leave some of your awareness at the crown of the head,

Now put some of your awareness back into your feet,

As if you have both a north and south pole,

And in between the body breathes,

You may even have a sense of the body being breathed,

With the groundedness of the feet and the openness of the crown,

We'll stay here for a little bit,

Simply breathe and know your breathing,

Sensing wherever you feel your breath the most,

Try to keep your mind there,

Inhabiting the breath just as it is,

Come back when the mind wanders and begin again,

You can even say begin again,

Being gentle,

There's nowhere to go,

There's nothing to do,

Simply breathe and know your breathing,

Bamboo d statistical quietly inviting the breath and the awareness to come into the heart center just sensing into the heart energy of the heart the front and the back the sides above and below even the diagonals how the energy of the heart center fills the whole body and if you like imagining breathing in and out of the heart center fresh air from all directions into the heart and as you exhale exhaling back out into every direction and each time you breathe in and out of the heart center the heart becomes a little softer a little more spacious little more available couple breaths like this this is called the heart's breath and then bring to mind if you like any being human or non-human could be a pet you hold very dearly someone for whom it's just so easy to love and bring this one to mind as if they're sitting or standing before you keeping you company and we begin by just knowing how dear they are and what that feels like to have this being in our lives and we begin to offer them blessings of goodwill wishing for them to be well and I'll give you these phrases and repeat them silently to yourself but as if you're giving this being a gift because you are,

May you feel safe may you feel peaceful may you feel healthy may you live with ease and as you offer these blessings can you see on their face how they can accept that and appreciate it to have your goodwill to let it radiate from your heart to theirs may you feel safe may you feel peaceful may you feel healthy may you live with ease and because this being holds you dear also they extend these blessings back to you so you could you too can feel the warmth of their heart and they say to you may you too feel safe just absorbing that may you too feel peaceful may you feel healthy may you live with ease and sensing into the exchange of this radiance between you and this being the hearts exchange of care we begin to offer this to ourselves to really take in how it feels and what it means to wish well for ourselves so once again repeating silently to yourself giving yourself the gift of your own goodwill may I feel safe may I feel peaceful yeah I feel healthy yeah may I be at ease breathing sensing into the breath and this time we'll use just one word for each phrase and see if you can let the intention of that word spread out throughout your body safe what does safe feel like peaceful sensing any amount of peace in the body healthy health and the mind heart and body ease allowing ease to pervade the whole being now letting the phrases go or any imagery go coming back to an awareness of sitting just as you are breathing just as you are sitting breathing returning yeah