Compassionate Body Scan: Exploring Sensations With Kindness

Welcome to this compassionate body scan guided by Eris Riutta from South Coast Mindfulness.

In this body scan we will be moving our attention to different areas of the body in a sequence,

Simply experiencing what happens as it comes,

Cultivating attitudes of friendliness and curiosity towards everything that's here.

You can choose to lie down or sit during this practice,

Making sure that you are warm and comfortable,

Knowing that you can move during this practice at any point you need to increase comfort.

And also,

If there are any moments that feel especially difficult,

It is completely fine to let go of the guidance,

Maybe opening eyes or just finding some steadiness,

Tapping into the breath,

Or somewhere else in the body that feels comfortable to you.

So beginning now by sensing your whole body here in this posture,

Sensing the contact that the body makes,

And really letting what is underneath to hold you gently.

If you're lying down,

Letting the body to sink closer to the floor,

The body held by the gravity.

If you're sitting,

Really let your seat to come into contact with the chair,

The cushion,

Letting go of any additional tension,

Any additional holding that doesn't need to be here.

However,

Without trying to remove anything or change your experience in any way.

Finding the flow of your breath from the tip of the nose,

Chest,

And the belly,

Just to the movement as it happens,

In the rhythm that it happens,

Sensing the air coming into the nose,

Moving down to your chest,

Expanding the ribcage,

Perhaps moving the belly out,

And each out-breath releasing the air.

And in each out-breath also to a closer connection with the surface,

Making any small adjustments to the body and how your legs and arms are positioned here,

Making sure your head is comfortable,

Just letting the flow of the breath to move as it does,

Without trying to interfere with it,

Without needing to change or judge how it is in any way.

Taking this practice as a way of looking after yourself,

Showing friendly curiosity to anything you can sense and notice,

Doing your best giving it space,

Whatever it is,

And just seeing if you can rest your awareness in here and now,

As things happen,

This is your time.

Now letting the breath to continue following its own rhythm,

Knowing that you can always tap into it when you like to find some more steadiness and connection.

And if it feels okay now,

Moving your attention down the body all the way to your feet and to your toes,

First perhaps sensing the tips of your toes,

Also under the toes and top of the toes,

Any sensations you can feel here,

Perhaps warmth or coolness on the toes,

Or the space between the toes,

Or how the toes are touching each other,

The best you can,

Really zooming into the toes and sensing any detail that is here in the form of sensations.

And if you can't sense very much,

That is fine too,

Just holding this area in your awareness from the toes,

Expanding now your awareness to your feet,

The soles,

The top of the feet,

And the sides,

Sensing the heel,

Instep,

Sensations on the skin level on the feet,

Perhaps the sock touching the skin of your foot,

As well as the structure of the feet,

Tendons and joints here,

And any difference that might be between your feet,

Addive sensations or lack of sensation.

Some sensations may cover a larger area on your feet,

Some may be narrow and focused,

Whatever you sense is enough and correct,

There's no need to sense more or differently,

Just simply in each moment opening your attention towards what you feel on the area of the body you are at,

Holding your attention on your feet a few moments more,

If you notice that you have gone to thinking of the sensations,

Or thinking about something else,

Just noting this,

And in the next moment when you can,

Just bringing your attention back to sense your feet again,

Perhaps like sensing the feet from inside out,

From the core to the surface,

And whenever your attention escapes elsewhere,

Just reminding yourself that this is not a fault,

Or mistake,

Or sign of anything being wrong,

Our attention moving is completely natural,

And you can always begin again in the next moment.

Now beginning to let go of the feet,

And moving your attention to your legs,

From the ankles,

Through the lower legs,

And upper legs,

To where thigh bones connect to the hips,

Taking a moment just to sense the whole length of the legs like this,

From the hips down to the ankles,

Holding both of your legs in your awareness,

Sensing the back of the legs,

Perhaps some pressure there,

Some sensations on the shins,

In the front of the legs,

Sensations on the knees,

This complex bone structure of the knees,

And sensing the thighs,

All around the thighs,

The volume,

Perhaps the density that's there,

The bones inside,

The big muscles,

Perhaps even sensing how the bones are attached to each other,

Perhaps there's a sense of softening on the legs,

Or tiredness,

Or stiffness,

Just getting a sense of what it is like for you,

What is tiredness as a physical sensation,

How does it feel,

Does it feel dull,

Or soft,

Or heavy,

Or something else,

Taking interest even in the sensations that don't immediately feel pleasant or nice,

Seeing if you can allow them be there as well,

Not taking a stand whether they are good or bad,

This is how your legs feel now,

Allowing different sensations to exist side by side,

If they do,

And if you can't sense very much,

This is equally fine again,

Just remaining awake for the legs,

Whenever you notice your attention has gone somewhere else,

Again just offering yourself some kindness and patience,

Not getting upset about getting caught by thoughts,

Which is completely normal,

Especially when we practice longer,

This tends to repeat,

And it's just part of this moment,

Even if you get carried away for longer times,

Or start feeling sleepy and drowsy,

It is all entirely normal,

So just seeing if you can let go of any frustration about the practice and your ability to concentrate or not concentrate,

And just softening your attitude,

Taking it as an opportunity to work with distractions,

From patience and acceptance,

Beginning again in the next moment,

Coming back to the region of the legs,

Letting the legs to sink in to the contact that they are making,

With the cushion,

With the floor,

With the bed,

Whichever way they are positioned,

Now breathing in and breathing out,

Breathing in,

Holding your legs in your awareness,

And breathing out and letting go of this region in your awareness,

And moving to your hips and pelvis and buttocks,

Taking a moment to just sense this area,

Perhaps how the weight is spread on the buttocks,

Some mild pressure from the contact,

The area that can be complex at times,

An area where we maybe don't connect so much,

Or just sensing some discomfort there,

Just letting what you notice be enough,

Not trying to achieve anything,

Just lightly sensing hip to hip,

Letting there be space,

Again breathing in,

And with your next out breath,

Letting go of the pelvis and buttocks,

And moving to the upper body,

First to the front of the body,

From the base of the belly to the chest,

All the way to the collar bones,

And holding in your awareness the whole front of the body,

Belly,

Many important organs here,

Sensing any tension here,

Any tightness,

As well as softening,

Lightness,

Heaviness,

The different layers on the stomach,

Abdomen,

Any gentle movement you can feel here,

Again not creating anything,

But just simply openly receiving sensations in the belly and the chest,

The ribcage,

The lungs,

The heart area,

Perhaps sensations of expanding,

Releasing,

Just as it happens,

Just the pace as it happens,

Sensing the skin,

Protecting all that is within,

The breath moving here,

Moving the body,

The cycle expanding and deflating,

Tightening,

Relaxing,

Whatever it feels like to you is correct and enough,

The aliveness and fullness of the body,

Also its roughness,

Smoothness,

All that it is,

Acknowledging that there can be different sensations at different moments,

You feel different things,

And at times it can be also challenging to be with what we sense,

If you notice anything like this,

Knowing that it's absolutely fine to step back as well,

If you like,

Open your eyes,

And just focusing on your breath,

And just pausing,

Taking a moment,

And then coming to the practice when it feels okay,

If it's okay to be also with more challenging sensations now,

If you sense there is capacity for it,

And just giving it some space,

Seeing if you can let go of thoughts and opinions about what you sense on the front of the body,

But just looking after it for now,

Just resting attention here,

And now letting go of the front of the body and moving to the back,

From the base of the spine to shoulder blades,

All the way to the upper back,

Again taking a moment to just sense the whole back as it is,

Are there regions that you sense clearer,

Are there regions that have a clear contact with something,

Areas where you can sense pressure or warmth or cold,

Pounding,

Stiffness,

Release,

Again sensing the aliveness of the back,

From tinier details to more substantial sensations on the back,

Some of the areas of the back also store different experiences,

They can store worry or stress,

So noting how your back feels in this moment,

And allowing it also to change from moment to moment if it does,

But not needing it to be anything specific,

Not relaxed or anything else either,

Your job is just to observe kindly what is unfolding here for you,

There are always experiences and moments that we have that we don't like so much,

This is natural,

And through mindfulness we can increase our capacity as well to hold different kinds of experiences,

Where we are not pushing ourselves or putting pressure on ourselves about being anything really,

But just pacing ourselves and finding an expanding space to all that we are,

To all experiences,

Which is never static or just one thing,

But rather the flow of experience,

It is easy to get caught up by the cycle of not wanting things to be as they are,

And we might find ourselves fighting against physically tensing or enough thoughts tensing with what is here,

When feeling stressed or anxious we might really physically tighten up in the region of our body,

Like tightening around the sensation,

Kind of protecting it,

But this way we can sometimes add to the physical or mental suffering,

So if you come across with any kind of discomfort or uneasiness now,

Or at any point milder or stronger,

Ache,

Tension,

Restlessness,

These are the opportunities to consider how to offer yourself the best support,

If there is discomfort in the body that is likely not to ease off by moving your legs,

Stretching or changing posture,

But might be more emotional in nature,

Instead of as the first thing trying to push it away or be harder yourself about it,

See if you can still allow some space for it to exist,

Perhaps just very lightly acknowledging it,

Without staying with it too long or trying to find out anything more about it,

Going to fixing,

Thinking it further,

Just even only an intention to allow can be enough,

Connecting with your breath and pausing here,

Letting all the thoughts just pass your awareness,

Sensing your back for a few more moments and gently letting go of it,

Letting it be as it is,

Moving to your hands next,

Sensing your hands,

Top of them,

Your palms,

Your fingers,

Where the hands might be resting,

Where the fingers are straight or curled,

Any difference between right and left hand,

Sensing the hands is also a good way to increase connection,

Use hands as an anchor where you can come back to,

The same way as you can connect with the breath,

Again not needing to sense anything special in hands,

Just holding them in your awareness as they are,

Hands that do so many things all the time,

All kinds of clever things,

Carry,

Open,

Close,

Lift,

Pick,

Ride,

Move in different ways,

Letting them now rest here,

Joints and tendons on the hands,

The skin stretched over the bones,

Letting go of the hands now,

Moving up through your arms,

Forearms,

The bones in the elbows and also the softness on the other side of the elbow to your upper arms,

Sensing the muscles,

Sensing the bones,

Any roundness,

Sharpness here,

Your armpits and your shoulders,

Allowing some space also to shoulders,

Like sensing them from the inside out and from the shoulders moving to your neck,

The delicate structure of the neck,

The neck that carries the weight of the head,

Perhaps sensing the length of the neck,

The vertebras,

Offering this area kindness,

Letting go of the neck and now moving to your head,

Sensing the entire skull,

Your scalp and the back and sides and the very top of your head,

The crown,

Being present for sensations all around your head,

Sensing the ears,

The earlobes and now expanding to include your face and just sensing how these different areas on the face feel now,

The forehead,

The brow,

Your temples,

Eyes,

Eye sockets,

Your cheeks,

Their shape,

Their dimension,

The bridge of your nose,

Nostrils,

Inside the nose,

Down to your jaw,

Your mouth,

Your teeth,

Your tongue and your chin,

All this detail here,

Whether there's any tension on the face or whether there's softening again,

Just being there for this part of the body,

Noting,

Sensing,

Observing,

Being receptive to whatever arises into your awareness in this area and again if you notice you've been caught up by thoughts,

Some other aspects of the moment,

Just noting where you went,

Knowing that you can always continue in the next moment,

Coming back to your face,

Just softening here,

Softening attention and now letting go of the face and the head,

This area coming seamlessly into connection with the rest of the body and letting your attention spread from the top of the head through the whole body,

Your awareness,

Feeling the entire body as you sit or lie down where you are,

Not changing a thing,

Just simply being in connection with your whole being as your body possibly is sinking in the floor,

The chair,

Crushing,

Letting go a little bit more,

Still at the same time being awake for each moment,

Gently awakening your whole being,

Your heart,

Restful open presence,

Allowing sensations to be,

Allowing them to move and shift in their own way and time,

Giving yourself some kindness and appreciation that you have taken this time to look after the body,

Your emotions and your mind,

Practicing mindfulness through a body scan,

Increasing connection and patience with yourself just as you are.

May you go well.