Bodyscan Practice

This is a guided body scan meditation.

So lying on a mat or a thick rug or on a bed,

Allowing the eyes to close if that feels comfortable.

Letting the hands lie alongside the body,

The feet uncrossed,

Falling away from each other.

You can also do this practice sitting in a chair.

So as you lie or sit here,

Reminding yourself that we are not trying to get anywhere or striving to achieve any special state.

The intention here is to spend some time with each region of the body,

Cultivating awareness of what's already here.

So we're not looking for anything special to happen,

But allowing things to be just as we find them.

So letting go of the tendency to want things to be a certain way or to judge how you are doing.

Simply following along with the instructions as best you can.

And whenever the mind wanders away as it will tend to do,

Bringing it back without giving yourself a hard time.

Your intention is the most important quality you can bring to this practice.

A sincere intention to just explore your experience to the best you can.

As I guide you through this practice,

I will suggest or direct you to do things and please only do what you feel comfortable doing.

If you become physically uncomfortable during the practice,

It's okay to move.

And seeing if you can move mindfully and include this movement as part of your mindfulness practice.

So now,

Noticing the sense of the body as a whole,

Lying or sitting here.

The contact between the body and whatever is supporting you.

Perhaps starting from the head or the feet and moving up or down the body.

Noticing the weight of the body into the mat or chair.

And perhaps a sense of sinking deeper and deeper into the mat or chair with each out-breath.

Almost as if you were giving yourself over to the mat or chair.

So now,

At a certain point,

Bringing your attention to the breath.

The breath down in the lower abdomen,

In the belly.

Noticing the stretching of the abdomen wall on the in-breath.

And the falling away on the out-breath.

Seeing if that is true for you.

And reminding yourself that the breath can be used as a home base.

A place you can come back to if your mind wanders into thought or daydreams.

Or when you may find yourself coming back from sleep.

So using the breath as an anchor to bring you back into the present moment.

As we only breathe for this moment,

In this moment.

And now gathering the attention and moving it down the body to the feet.

Then into the toes.

And then tuning into the big toes on both feet.

You can choose to explore the toes together or perhaps one at a time.

What is your experience in your big toes right now?

Can you feel temperature?

Pressure?

Pulsing?

Are the sensations strong,

Subtle,

Or maybe no feeling at all?

Just noticing what is there to be felt in this moment.

And seeing if you can just allow what is here to just be.

So not trying to make anything happen.

And seeing if you can feel these sensations versus thinking about them.

Now expanding your awareness to include all the toes on both feet.

Can you sense space between the toes?

Or do they feel like one big lump?

And just noticing that.

This is your experience right now and there is no right way to feel.

Simply allowing the attention to remain here.

If your mind has wandered into thought,

Just gently but firmly bringing your attention back to exploring your toes.

Now taking a deeper breath in and on the out breath,

Letting go of the toes and moving your attention to the bottom of your feet.

Maybe noticing your instep.

The balls of your feet or the weight of your feet into the floor mat.

And taking a deep breath in and on the out breath,

Letting go of the bottom of your feet and moving your attention to the top of your feet.

Perhaps this time deciding whether you would like to explore down deep into the feet.

So maybe becoming aware of muscle and bone.

Or maybe deciding just to stay and explore the surface of the feet.

So doing whatever feels right for you.

Now taking a deeper breath in and on the out breath,

Letting go of the feet.

And letting them dissolve in awareness.

And then shifting the attention to the ankles.

What sensations are in your ankles right now?

These important bony joints in the body.

And taking a breath in and on the out breath,

Letting go of the ankles and shifting the attention to the lower legs.

So dwelling here for a few moments.

Noticing any sense of contact with whatever you are lying or sitting on.

And being aware of any sensations from the surface of the skin as well as from inside the legs.

And taking a deeper breath and on the out breath,

Releasing the attention from the lower legs and shifting to the knees.

Letting the attention rest here.

Not thinking about the knees,

But sensing what is here right now.

Exploring the back of the knees,

The side of the knees,

The front of the knees,

The kneecap.

Noticing what sensations change and what stay the same.

Seeing what is true for you right now.

And at a certain point taking a deeper breath and on the out breath,

Letting go of the knees and shifting the attention to the thighs.

What is your experience in your thighs right now?

Is there a sensation of clothes on the surface of the skin?

Perhaps sensations of heaviness or lightness,

Pulsing,

Vibration.

Maybe not much at all.

So any and all sensations.

Perhaps exploring the connection with the thighs and the hips and the thighs and the knees.

And now taking a deep breath into the thighs and as you exhale expanding your beam of awareness like a beam of a torch to include the whole of both legs,

Feet and toes.

And then on an in breath,

Imagining that the breath can come into the body,

Flowing all the way into the legs,

Right down to the feet and back again on the out breath.

Up and out of the body.

So that you are imagining or sensing what it would feel like if the breath could fill the legs as you breathe in and empty from the legs as you breathe out.

So just playing with this sensation for the next few breaths,

If you choose.

And now taking a deeper breath and as you breathe out,

Letting go of the legs,

Allowing them to dissolve in awareness and shifting the attention to the hips and pelvis.

So begin by beginning by exploring the right hip and the left hip,

The whole basin of the pelvis and the organs in this region.

Perhaps imagining the breath could flow into this region on the in breath and out again on the out breath.

And then taking a deeper breath and on the out breath,

Letting go of the hips and pelvis and shifting the spotlight of attention to the back,

Starting with the lower back.

And now an in breath,

Expanding the field of awareness to take in the middle of the back.

And then again to take in the upper back,

Including the shoulder blades,

Until you're holding the whole of the back in awareness.

As if the whole back was breathing.

Now taking a deeper breath into the back and as you let go of the breath,

Letting go of the back as well,

Moving your attention to the front of the body and then down the body into the lower abdomen into the belly.

Seeing what sensations are waiting as the attention moves into this region.

Feeling the sensations as you breathe in and breathe out.

What is your experience in your lower abdomen,

In your belly right now?

Is it empty?

Is it full?

Can you sense digestion?

From time to time you may find yourself getting distracted by thoughts,

Perhaps daydreams,

Worries,

Or the feelings of wanting to hurry up,

To move on.

Things of boredom or restlessness may come,

Sometimes calling quite strongly for your attention.

And when this happens,

It's not a mistake.

Nothing has gone wrong.

Simply taking the opportunity to notice these feelings and distractions,

Acknowledging them,

Perhaps noticing how they are affecting the body,

Then without judging yourself in any way,

Bringing the attention back to where you had intended it to be,

Now in the lower abdomen,

In the belly.

Perhaps a sense of the breath here and maybe a sense of sinking deeper and deeper into awareness with each out-breath.

Seeing if that's your experience right now.

And at a certain point,

Taking a deeper breath in and on the out-breath,

Letting go of the lower abdomen,

The belly,

And shifting your attention to the chest.

What sensations are in your chest right now?

As you cradle this part of the body in awareness,

Moment by moment,

Breath by breath.

Can you feel the ribcage rising on the front of the body and the back of the body with each in and out-breath?

Can you sense your heart beating?

And at a certain point,

Taking a deeper,

More intentional breath into the chest.

And when you're ready,

As you let go of the breath,

Letting go of the chest as well and shifting the attention to the hands and arms.

Moving the hands and arms center stage in awareness now.

Perhaps exploring your fingers and your fingertips and your hands.

Letting go of this part of the body and moving to your wrist and your forearms,

Perhaps including your elbows.

And letting go of your wrist,

Forearms and elbows,

And moving to the top of your arms,

Including your armpits as well.

What's your experience here right now?

And then taking a deeper breath and letting go of the hands and arms and shifting the attention to the shoulders and neck.

What sensations are here as you arrive?

Attending,

Being here for them,

Whatever they are,

Breathing with them.

And taking a deeper breath,

An on and out-breath,

Letting go of the shoulders and neck and moving the attention to the head and face.

Starting with the lower jaw and the chin.

Perhaps noticing whether your jaw is clenched and maybe creating space between your teeth.

Moving to the mouth,

Exploring your lips.

Are they moist,

Dry,

Apart,

Closed?

Letting go of your lips and moving to the nostrils and then the surface of the nose.

And where it joins the cheeks and the sides of the face.

Exploring your eyes.

Can you sense your eyelashes and your eyelids?

Exploring your eyebrows and the space between the eyebrows.

The forehead and the sides of the forehead,

The temples.

Exploring your ears.

And maybe air against exposed skin.

Perhaps temperature.

And then your scalp.

And now imagining the breath could fill the whole head.

And that you could feel the breath on the back of the face as it comes in.

Refreshing and renewing with each in-breath.

And then imagining the breath could fill the whole body as you lie here.

Breathing into the whole body and out of the whole body.

And perhaps choosing to do this a few times,

To breathe in and out of the body.

And letting go of any intentions for the breath,

Any controlling of the breath.

And simply lying here,

Allowing the body to be just as it is.

A sense of coming home to the body.

Allowing yourself to be just as you are,

Complete and whole.

Resting in awareness,

Moment by moment,

Breath by breath.

And as this meditation,

This body scan comes to a close.

Perhaps thanking yourself for taking the time to be with yourself.

And opening your eyes when you feel ready.

Perhaps wiggling your fingers and toes.

As you become aware of your surroundings.