Body Scan Meditation - Contemplation Of The Skeleton

Taking our time to arrive and settle into a comfortable supine position,

Lying down upon the floor for this meditation,

The contemplation of the body through the mindfulness of the anatomical parts.

Perhaps placing a yoga mat or blanket underneath you,

A pillow beneath the knees to release any pressure upon the lower back,

And bringing a slight downward tilt to the tailbone,

Allowing the body to rest as comfortably as possible in an anatomical position with the palms open towards the ceiling above you.

In the Buddhist tradition,

The supine position for meditation is considered very challenging for how easily the mind can fall into a state of dullness or even sleepiness.

In fact,

This posture is not recommended for beginner meditators,

Which is defined as anyone with less than 30 years of experience.

But today,

We will bend the traditional rules a little bit,

Doing our best to maintain wakeful awareness of the anatomical parts of the body from this supine position.

In this practice,

We will be drawing awareness from the feet to the skull,

Bringing attention to and developing objective awareness of the bones that comprise the skeleton.

So let's now intentionally arrive into this reclined position upon the floor,

Inviting the windows of the eyes to soften and close,

Directing the gaze internally through the mind's eye to this body in space,

And taking a few final moments to make any last subtle adjustments to the body,

Eventually arriving into relative stillness.

As awareness settles and gradually expands within the body,

Taking a moment to envision the skeleton that makes up the structural framework of this embodiment,

Appreciating the incredible 206 bones of the body,

Which act as the factories of production for the red and white blood cells,

The cage that protects our vital organs,

And the infrastructure through the attachment of tendons and muscles that allows us to move through space.

Drawing mindful awareness down the length of the body,

We will begin our mindfulness of the bones by bringing attention into the feet and the touching points of our heels against the floor.

Visualizing within the mind's eye the solid foundation of the heels,

The calcaneus of each foot,

And then inviting awareness to scan towards the toes through the soles of the feet,

Envisioning the other 25 bones that make up the skeletal anatomy of these feet.

From the feet,

Beginning to draw awareness up through the ankle joint composed of three bones.

Once again,

Taking a moment to envision the calcaneus or heel,

And then the bone known as the talus that rests atop it.

The talus combined with the lower or inferior portions of the tibia and fibula,

The bones of the lower leg,

Make up the ankle joint.

Taking a moment just to rest attention here.

Now beginning to mindfully draw awareness up the lower leg,

Visualizing the two bones,

The thicker of the two,

The tibia,

Commonly referred to as the shin bone,

And the smaller supporting fibula located to the lateral or outside of the tibia.

Holding space within the mind's eye for the anatomy of the lower leg,

Beginning now to scan awareness upwards towards the superior or upper end of the tibia and fibula,

Eventually arriving at the knee joint.

Taking a moment here to visualize the kneecap or patella bone,

And then envisioning and feeling into the sensations of the knee joint itself formed by the ligamento connection between the tibia,

Fibula,

And the lower end of the upper leg bone,

The femur.

Picturing within the mind,

The femur,

The longest and strongest bone of the human body.

Slowly drawing awareness up its length towards the head of the femur,

Where it articulates with the pelvis to form the hip joint.

From the hip joint drawing awareness into the pelvic girdle or pelvic bowl,

And the largest bone of the pelvis,

The elephant ear-like shaped hip bones referred to as the ilea.

Connected to the ilea,

Drawing awareness downwards to locate the ischium,

More commonly referred to as the sitting bones.

Taking a moment to envision these bones that support our seated posture.

And then imagining the small pubis bones which become fused over time with these sitting bones and complete the pelvic girdle.

From the pelvis now beginning to draw attention to the axial skeleton and the base or the inferior end of the spine.

Connected to the pelvic bowl,

Drawing awareness around the back or posterior side of the pelvis and feeling into the contact of the large triangular shaped sacrum composed of five fused vertebrae.

Scanning down the length of the sacrum,

We bring awareness to the remnants of our former tail,

The coccyx comprised of four fused vertebrae.

And then gently drawing objective awareness back up the sacrum,

Arriving into the lower back and the five or in some human bodies the sixth lumbar vertebrae.

Continuing to slowly and mindfully scan up the length of the spinal column,

Visualizing and feeling into the 12 vertebrae of the thoracic spine,

All the way up between the shoulder blades to the base of the neck and the seven vertebrae of the cervical spine.

And now taking a moment to envision the entire 33 vertebrae of the spinal column from the cervical spine all the way back down to the coccyx.

Seeing this incredible piece of natural engineering that allows for both an astonishing range of movement and simultaneously acts as the protective shell for the central nervous system.

Gently bringing attention back to the thoracic spine between the shoulder blades,

Beginning to envision and feel into the connection of the rib cage against the floor beneath us.

Picturing within the mind's eye the 24 ribs aligned in 12 pairs,

Attaching on the back side to the spinal column and wrapping around to the front of the body,

Attaching to the sternum.

Taking a moment to visualize the architecture of the rib cage,

A vitally important component of the body that protects the vital organs of the heart and the lungs.

Bringing attention now back to the backside of the rib cage,

Beginning to feel into the contact of the shoulder blades or scapulae against the floor beneath you.

Each scapula combines with the clavicles or collarbones to form the shoulder girdle.

Taking a few moments just to rest awareness into this anatomical region of the body.

Now moving from the clavicles into the upper arm,

Locating within the mind's eye the head of the humerus or upper arm bone.

And then beginning to gently draw awareness down the length of the humerus,

Arriving into the elbow joint.

The elbow joint is the coming together of the humerus and the two bones of the lower arm,

The radius and ulna.

Feeling into the contact of the elbow itself,

Part of the ulna,

And the touching point it makes with the floor beneath you.

As we scan mindfulness down the length of the lower arm now,

Envisioning these two bones of the radius found on the thumb side of the forearm and the ulna located on the pinky finger side.

And then taking a brief moment to pause as we visualize and feel into the anatomy of the entire arm,

The humerus,

The radius,

And the ulna.

Coming down to the base or the inferior ends of the radius and ulna,

We arrive at the wrist joint composed of eight small bones.

And then gradually moving into the 27 bones that make up the hands and fingers,

Taking our time to rest attention in each finger and each thumb.

Gathering awareness now mindfully back up the arms through the shoulder towards the midline of the cervical spine.

We arrive into the base of the skull and the protective housing of the brain composed of eight separate cranial bones.

From the base of the skull drawing awareness up the back to the slightly protruding occipital bone that is making contact with the floor beneath you.

As we now shift awareness around to the front of the skull,

Visualizing the orbital bones or eye sockets composed of three cranial bones and four facial bones that come together to create the cavern-like depression in which the eyes rest.

From the base of the eye socket drawing awareness now into the upper cheekbones referred to as the zygomatic bones.

From these cheekbones moving the mind now down into the upper jawbone known as the maxilla.

And then gradually into the jawbone or mandible,

The strongest and largest bone of the human face.

Now taking a moment to envision in its entirety the bones of the cranium and face.

As best we can resting in detached observation and objectively looking at this face that we commonly take to be us,

To be me,

To be who I am.

Watching these bony structures that give this face its shape.

Now from the bones of the face and cranium allowing the mindful and objective awareness we have cultivated to expand and include the totality of this human skeleton,

The structural framework of our physical embodiment.

As we visualize this body following an analysis of its bony structures,

Perhaps we notice awareness abiding more readily in the seat of witness consciousness.

A mind more capable of looking at these bones which replace themselves every seven years,

Not as mine or me,

But as a conglomeration of conditioned structures that have arisen together for the time being to create this body in which we currently reside.

In closing,

May we take a moment to pause and give thanks in our own way for these bones and this body for providing us this home and the medium through which we experience this precious human life.