This is a guided meditation for the body scan.
So finding somewhere where you won't be disturbed for about 15 minutes and making yourself comfortable.
Mostly people do the body scan lying down and I'll lead it in that way.
But you can sit if you prefer and adapt my guidance as you need.
Making sure that your head is well supported,
Your legs relaxed and your feet falling away from each other.
Your hands either resting gently on the belly or next to your body.
Your eyes closed unless you're very sleepy.
And take a few deep breaths as you let your body sink downwards.
Giving your weight up to gravity.
Feeling the contact between your body and whatever you're lying on.
And bringing to mind the helpful intentions for this practice.
A kindly curious interest in the body and its sensations.
Becoming aware of whatever's happening just as it is and meeting your experience with kindness.
Bringing your attention now to the fact that you're breathing.
Allowing the body to breathe as it wants to.
And following the flow of breathing in and out for a few moments.
And now we'll start to move the attention gradually through the whole body.
Starting with the feet.
So inviting your attention to move down the legs and all the way into the feet.
The attention moving like the beam of a torch and coming to rest,
To play over the feet.
And noticing any sensations here.
Perhaps warmth,
Pressure,
Pulsing.
And if you find little or no sensation in the feet,
Then just being with that experience.
Moving the beam of attention now into the lower legs.
The calves.
The shins.
Knees.
Are there any sensations here?
And now up into the thighs.
What sensations do you find here?
And when the mind wanders,
Just noticing where it's gone.
Not judging the mind for doing its thing.
And gently returning to sensations in the body.
And now having a sense of both legs as you rest here.
Breathing in and out.
Letting go of the legs now and taking attention to the pelvis.
How it rests on the ground with its natural curve.
Feeling any sensations here.
Perhaps noticing the echo of breathing down here in the pelvic area.
Breathing out.
And moving now into the lower back as it rests on the ground.
And into the middle of the back.
The upper back.
The shoulder blades.
Letting your awareness sink into the back of the body.
Feeling any sensations here.
Now inviting the attention to move round to the front of the body.
The chest.
The rib cage.
Expanding and subsiding with the breathing.
Noticing any sensations on the surface of the skin.
Or deep inside the body.
Perhaps noticing the heartbeat.
And now taking attention into the belly.
Any movements,
Warmth,
Gurgling from inside the belly.
And now broadening out your awareness to a sense of the whole torso.
This central part of the body resting on the ground.
Breathing in and out.
And now moving the beam of attention into the shoulders and letting it flow down through the arms and into the hands.
A sense of your palms.
Fingers.
Thumbs.
The hands often so busy,
Just resting now.
Perhaps noticing that the mind has its own ideas about what to attend to.
Maybe going off into dreaminess,
Planning,
Irritation,
Boredom.
Whatever arises,
Bringing a gentle curiosity to the movements of the mind.
Drifting off,
Getting caught up.
And now taking attention into the lower arms.
And the elbows.
Where do the elbows start and finish?
Bringing awareness into the upper arms.
The two arms often very busy,
Now resting.
Now letting go of the arms and moving into the neck and the back of the head.
Are there any sensations here?
And now into the face.
And letting the face be soft.
Softening the jaw.
Feeling any sensations in the mouth of taste and moisture.
Noticing the skin around the cheeks.
Any subtle tensing of the small muscles here.
The eyes.
And the forehead.
And now broadening out your awareness to the whole body.
Perhaps with a sense of the breath filling the whole body.
And as you're breathing,
Resting with awareness in the whole body.
Allowing whatever's going on to be there.
Meeting your experience just as it is.
Letting yourself be just as you are.
And now dropping in the thought of bringing this body scan to a close.
Giving yourself all the time you need to come out of the practice.
Dropping in the idea of moving.
But in no rush to do it.
Thank you.
