Welcome to the short form body scan.
Bodies come in all shapes and sizes.
Young bodies eventually mature into older bodies.
Skin,
Eyes,
And hair exist in a wide variety of colors and textures.
Some bodies are tall,
Others are short.
Bodies get sick and become well.
We abuse our bodies,
Love our bodies,
Feed them,
Ignore them.
But they're always with us because a body is an undeniable requirement for being a person.
This short form body scan offers a doorway to embodying the moment by feeling into ourselves with curiosity and compassion,
Allowing us to expand our relationship with our body,
Our thoughts,
And our emotions,
And perhaps feeling into areas we haven't connected with for a while.
As we move through the body,
We may notice sensations like tingliness,
Heaviness,
Lightness,
Movement,
Heat,
Or coolness.
Or perhaps the sensations are more neutral and subtle,
Cultivating acceptance and friendliness for whatever arises in our awareness as best we can.
So coming into a comfortable position now seated or lying down,
Choosing a posture that feels awake,
Alert,
And available for our body scan today.
If we notice areas of tension or imbalance,
Perhaps choosing to soften and adjust as we settle in.
Let's begin now by feeling into our relationship with the Earth in whatever position we've chosen.
Hardness,
Settledness,
Groundedness.
What does it feel like when we notice our connection to the Earth and our foundation?
This sense of stability can be a safe place to land during the body scan,
A place we can return to if we get carried away by sticky thoughts,
Emotional winds,
Or random daydreams.
Perhaps it's the breath that feels most available and welcoming,
The gentle feeling of air swimming in and flowing out of the body.
For others,
It's a gentle gaze with eyes softly open that feels most supportive and available,
Or the warmth of a hand on our heart.
Taking a few moments now to establish our refuge or anchor for this practice.
Imagine when we feel ready bringing awareness to the hands and noticing what we feel.
Buzziness,
Openness,
Vitality,
Hardness or softness.
Feeling into sensations already present in the hands.
Embodying the hands with non-striving and acceptance.
If sounds arise in the room or outside the window,
What does it feel like to kindly guide our awareness back to the hands as a way of coming home to ourselves?
And when we are ready releasing the hands and moving into the arms.
Lower arms,
Elbows,
Upper arms.
It's here for me to feel as I tune in and listen.
Embodying the arms with a sense of curiosity and kindness.
Sharpness,
Dullness,
Soreness.
Feeling into the articulation of the elbow.
The shape of the arms without expectation as best we can.
Moving to the shoulders now.
Tension,
Tightness,
Balance,
Imbalance.
The weight of our shoulders,
Heavy or light.
Not thinking about the shoulders but allowing our sense of touch to guide the journey.
If thoughts or stories arise in the mind but don't carry us away,
Perhaps we simply choose to stay with the sensations in the shoulders,
Letting go of thinking for a while and choosing to rest our awareness in the body with kind attention.
Moving now into the neck and throat.
We sometimes notice that awareness changes our experience.
We may feel the need to swallow or soften or adjust,
Noticing that.
Feeling into the sensations present in the neck and throat without needing to fix or figure anything out.
Cultivating faith and trust in our experience.
Feeling into ourselves exactly as we are.
Remembering that our refuge,
The stability of our base,
Our steady gaze,
The feeling of the breath or something completely different is always available as a safe place to land until we feel ready to participate in the body scan again.
Moving now from the neck and throat up into the head.
Perhaps feeling the heaviness of the skull in whatever position we've chosen.
How does the skull feel?
What do we notice?
The hardness of the earth,
The softness of the air.
Moving now into the delicate skin and bones of the face.
Feeling into the forehead,
Our seat of wisdom and insight.
How does this area feel as we tune in and listen?
Using the eyes now,
Brightness,
Darkness,
Texture.
Redirecting awareness to the ears as we feel ready.
Can we feel our outer ears,
Inner ears?
What do we notice?
Sounds coming and going,
Allowing it all to be.
Moving awareness to the mouth now.
The lips,
The teeth,
The tongue,
The jaws.
Moistness,
Dryness,
The flavor of the moment.
Bitter or sweet,
Salty or sour.
And then when we are ready,
Releasing the mouth and moving down into the chest.
Feeling into the chest and rib cage.
Do we notice the gentle movement of the breath?
The beating of our heart.
Perhaps an emotion is present.
Is there a reflection of that emotion here in the heart center?
What does it feel like?
Using ourselves gently like we would a good friend.
And if thoughts carry us away,
Nothing's gone wrong.
Allowing our thoughts to be part of the meditation.
Cultivating patience with ourselves as we tune in and listen.
Releasing the rib cage and moving down into the pelvic bowl and lake of the belly.
Do the waves of breath move through this area of the body?
If they do,
What do they feel like?
Constricted,
Flowing,
Rising and falling.
What other sensations are present here?
Tightness,
Spaciousness,
Emptiness or fullness?
Allowing the pelvic bowl,
Belly,
Low back and hips to be our reference in the now.
And riding the waves of sensation.
Feeling our way down through the legs,
Moving through the articulations of the knees to the shins and calves.
Feeling into what we are feeling as a way of coming home to ourselves through the practice of the body scan.
Just coming and going,
Flowing focus,
Allowing it all to be.
Getting into the feet now,
How do the feet intersect with the earth?
Heels of the feet,
Bones of the feet,
The texture of socks or skin,
The arches,
The toes,
The soles of the feet,
Right and left.
And as we feel ready,
Expanding our body scan now to include the whole body.
From the feet,
Through the legs and hips,
Including the entire torso,
Inside,
Outside,
Front and back,
The shoulders,
Arms and hands,
The neck and throat,
The entire head.
Feeling into the symphony of sensation that is the whole body.
Arms arising and falling away.
Feeling into the feeling of being human,
Cultivating a sense of acceptance and trust for ourselves just as we are.
A friendliness.
A kindness.
Returning now to our foundation,
Feeling into our relationship with the earth.
Hardness,
Settledness,
Groundedness.
And from this sense of rootedness and stability,
Beginning to bring our body scan to its close.
No need to hurry or worry.
Perhaps choosing to spend some time in our refuge.
Practicing good self-care as we prepare to move back into our day,
Allowing it all to be.
Beginning to move the body now in a way that feels nourishing and available.
Wiggling fingers and toes.
Perhaps rolling the shoulders or bending the knees to bring fluidity to the low back.
The short form body scan is now complete.
