Gentle 20-Minute Body Scan

24:00

24:00

Gentle 20-Minute Body Scan

by Elisa Riutta

Type

guided

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Everyone

Plays

3

A gentle guided body scan to help you slow down, settle, and reconnect with your body with kindness and care. You’ll be guided to move your attention gradually through the body, pausing in each area to notice sensations just as they are. This practice supports a calm, accepting awareness of your experience and can be especially helpful when you need rest, grounding, or a softer way of being with yourself. The body scan is often practised lying down, though sitting is also welcome. Choose a position that allows you to feel both comfortable and supported.

Body Scan Self Care Grounding Breath Awareness Sensory Exploration Emotional Awareness Non Judgmental Awareness Posture Adjustment Mindful Movement Grounding Technique

Meet your Teacher

Portsmouth, Yhdistynyt kuningaskunta

Meet your Teacher

Portsmouth, Yhdistynyt kuningaskunta

Transcript

So in body scan practice this is a great way to care for yourself, Bring some attention to the body, How the body is feeling, To all the different sensations and just bringing focus and it's good if you have a space where you can be undisturbed and you feel safe, Making sure that you feel warm so if you have a blanket that can help and just knowing that you always have a choice with the guidance as well so if you feel that something else is more appropriate for you to focus on please do listen to your own needs and preference always can override the guidance and if at any point you feel overwhelmed by anything anything is too uncomfortable it's always possible to ease off from that coming back to the breath or somewhere else that's helpful, Letting the eyes open, Adjusting posture, Just really taking the time to take good care of yourself and step into this space of non-doing, Just being. So beginning now to just gently gathering your attention to be here, Bringing attention to the body just the way the body is right now, How it's positioned, How it's in contact with the surface, Whether you're lying down or sitting, Letting the weight of the body be held by the ground, Held through the contact points, If you're lying down letting the head rest, Letting the arms rest by your sides if that feels comfortable, Legs either long or if it feels better for your back you can also draw the knees up, If you're sitting just making sure if possible that your feet, Soles of the feet are touching the floor, You can feel the steadiness, Really ground yourself there through the feet as well as your seat, Your sitting bones and then becoming also aware of breathing, Just finding first where the breathing is happening right now in the body, What kind of sensations are there whatever they are like, Perhaps some gentle movement on the belly, On the chest perhaps you can feel the sensations on the upper back, Each in-breath feeling how the breath is received in the body and each out-breath letting go, Releasing coming closer and closer to the floor, Being held here, The best you can during this practice, Bringing kindness and acceptance to yourself, Whatever happens and whatever arises, Holding everything with care, Knowing that you always have choices what to stay with and when to seek for more steadiness and groundedness from the breath or contact of the body for example, So letting the breath to flow in and out in its own rhythm, Maintaining a wakeful and relaxed process. Beginning now by moving your attention to your feet, Both feet, You can begin by first becoming aware of your toes, Both left and right foot and the toes, Perhaps first the big toes, Just seeing and sensing what you can feel there, The underside of the big toe, The knuckles, Top of the toe, From the big toe, Moving, Expanding attention to the other toes next to it, All the way to the last toe, The little toe, Perhaps you can sense the contact on the undersides of the toes or perhaps sensing the sock against the skin, There may be sensations of the toes touching each other or the small gaps between the toes, Just exploring with curiosity and interest what you can find, What you can sense from the toes, Expanding, Broadening your attention to the feet, So both left and right foot, Scanning from the toes to the top of the foot as well as underneath the sole, Perhaps again sensing the fabric of the sock against the skin or the sense of contact with the floor, Perhaps around the heel or the ball of the foot and also a sense of non-contact, The parts that are not touching or perhaps touching the air, Perhaps sensing coolness or warmth, Pounding, Tingling, Just the best you can, Just holding your attention here on the feet, If your mind escapes somewhere else, This is fine, It's not a problem, Simply just moving the attention, Returning it back to the feet, Allowing sensations to change, Allowing there to be lots of sensations and allowing there to be not many sensations equally, Just exploring this, Whatever is here right now, How does it feel on the feet? Breathing in and with the next out-breath, Letting go of the feet and moving to the ankle, Both ankles, This bony structure and again taking a look, Are there sensations inside the ankle? Are there sensations in the back of the ankle, Front or the sides? Perhaps sensing the sensations on the skin or deeper within, In the joint, The ankle joint, All the time allowing the sensations to be what they are, Letting them pass, Letting them shift and change or just be as they are. Breathing in and with the next out-breath, Letting go of the ankle and now sensing the lower legs, Left and the right one, All the way from the ankle to the knees, Including the knees as well. You might become aware of the length of this area, Length of the bone, How the legs are positioned or there may be some mild soft pressure if the legs are resting against the floor or the mat, Both shins and the calves, Calf muscle, The best you can, Just staying here, Not needing to create any experience, It's just simply being and listening, Perhaps surrendering some more weight to the ground, To the lower legs. Sensing the knees, The kneecaps, The backs of the knees and the sides, Again just opening to receive. Is there a difference between the knees? Are they the same? Maybe there's a sense of stiffness, Sense of something else, It's really exploring how does this sensation feel, How do I feel it, How do I notice it, As it's here, Just now, Just as it is. Breathing in again, Nice deep in-breath and with the out-breath, Letting go of the knees and the lower legs and now moving your attention to your thighs, So all the way from the knees, All the way up to the hips, The hip bones and just seeing what comes first, Whether there's a sense of the front of the thighs or just the right or the left thigh, The sides or the backs of the thighs, Perhaps the contact that's there available. The weight, Sensing both inside the muscle, All the way to the bone, As well as on the surface, The skin, Moving attention upwards to the hips and the pelvic region, The buttocks, Sitting bones, The complex structure that's here, An area of the body that can often store emotion, So being just really gentle, Just seeing in what way you want to be here, Letting the ground to support you, From the pelvis and the hip bones, Then breathing in and with the next out-breath, Letting go of this area again, Now broadening your attention and bringing it to the lower back, Sensing perhaps again a contact of the lower back with something or a slight gap perhaps that's there, Sensing this area where the root of the spine is, The spine begins, Again area that can bring some discomfort to us sometimes, The lower back, Seeing if you can just allow yourself to just soften this area a bit, If there's any sense of discomfort or stiffness, Bringing it some space, Sensing the muscles on the both sides of the spine on the lower back and moving also attention from the lower back upwards along the spine, Perhaps vertebrae by vertebrae, Just moving along the spine, Sensing the length of it, The bones and also the muscles in your back, You're moving upwards towards the shoulder blades, The edges of the shoulder blades, Just the width of the upper back, Just opening to receive, Bringing some interest to possibly changing sensations on the back, All the way from the root of the spine, Covering the whole back all the way to the shoulder blades, Perhaps sensing some movement on the upper back from breathing, Sensing something else, Breathing in, Breathing out, Letting go of the back, Moving up to the shoulders and tracing all the way down the arms, The upper arm through the elbows to the lower arms, All the way to the hands and where they are, Perhaps resting by your sides, Perhaps backs of the hands are touching the ground or perhaps resting in your lap, Bring your attention here to the hands, Perhaps feeling your palms, Warmth or coolness, The backs of the hands, As well as each finger, The thumbs and all the other fingers, Their length, The knuckles, Bones, Fingers touching each other or not touching each other, Perhaps even being able to trace around the fingernails, Every sensation, Everything that's arising right now, Just holding it with care, Curiosity about the body's abilities to produce these sensations to you, To show its aliveness, All the important things it can do and offer, Again breathing in and with the next out breath, Moving your attention now to the front of the body, First the belly, What is there on the surface as well as deeper within, The belly is protecting all the organs, Vital functions, Sensing the side of the belly, Both sides, Perhaps sensing some movement on the belly, Moving slightly upwards towards the chest, The lungs and the ribcage, The sense of space or a bit more constriction, How the body is receiving the breath, Moving in and out, Sensing now the whole torso, The front and the back, As well as the arms to the shoulders, Collarbones, Breathing in and with the next out breath, Letting go of this part and coming to the neck and tracing up to the skull, The head, Again what you're feeling there, Perhaps warmth, Coolness, Tingling, Something else, Perhaps sense of hair, Hair on the head, Or not hair, No hair, Broadening your awareness to include the face and the ears, The forehead, The brow, Also between the brow, Whether there's wrinkles or whether that area is smooth right now, Sensing the eyelids and the eyes, Eyes held, The eye sockets, Whether there's a sense of light through the eyelids, Whether all the tiny muscles are relaxed around the eyes or whether they are not, Sensing the cheeks and the cheekbones, Sensing the nose, The length of the nose, And between the brow all the way to the tip of the nose, Perhaps feeling the air going through the nostrils in and out, Feeling your jaw all the way from the ears to the center of your chin, Jawbone, The lips and also inside the mouth, The teeth and the tongue, Top of the mouth and then the bottom under the tongue, Field of sensations around the face, And with the next in-breath letting go of the face as well as your focus point, And with the out-breath letting your attention to cover the whole body, Just expanding bit by bit from the head all the way down, Just in the rhythm of in-breath and out-breath, Holding the whole body in your awareness, How you are inhabiting it right now, All the way from the crown on the top of the head through the body to the toes, And offering yourself some appreciation for taking this time for yourself to look after yourself, To listen, Just to be here, Moving attention through the body and giving each region of the body some care and attention, And even if you have experienced busy mind during the practice or something hasn't gone the way you wished, Still knowing that just the intention of being here is enough, It's more than enough, Just stepping into the space of non-doing, Spending some time in relative stillness, Learning from the present moment and just how things are for you right now, Growing self-awareness and kindness to yourself as you are at home, And really taking time to wake up the body slowly from stillness, So wiggling toes or fingers, Opening eyes gently or taking a couple of deeper breaths, To give yourself time to transition to the next moment. Thank you.