Body scan.
You can begin this exercise by laying full stretch on a mat or a cushion.
Make yourself comfortable.
You can lie down on the floor or on your bed.
Probably do it in a place that is warm and where you will not be disturbed.
Quickly close your eyes.
Observe the movement of your breathing and become aware of the physical sensations in your body.
The first will probably be the contact point your body has with the mat or the cushion.
Take the time to adjust to this position and let yourself sink deeper in the mat or the bed with each breath.
Make yourself aware in a friendly way that this is a moment of falling awake.
Falling asleep is for another time.
The intention is to observe all sensations that occur from moment to moment in your body when you systematically explore the body from head to toe.
Sometimes you will feel nothing and that too is fine.
If you do not observe any sensations,
You do not need to imagine them.
Try to do this with an open and curious attitude.
Incidentally,
It can be that the exercise is so relaxing that you fall asleep.
If that happens,
Don't be critical of yourself.
If it happens frequently,
See whether you can support being awake by placing a small pillow under your head,
Occasionally opening your eyes or perhaps even do the exercise seated rather than laying down.
When you are ready,
Direct your attention at your belly and at the way it rises and falls as you breathe in and out.
Follow the movement of the stomach and all sensations associated with it for a while.
Then bring your attention to the big toe on your left foot and observe what physical sensations are present.
Simply observe them.
It is not about thinking about the sensations.
For example,
You could feel the contact of the toe with the sock,
A feeling of warmth or tingling,
Numbness or stiffness.
And if there is nothing to observe at the moment,
That's fine too.
You do not need to have a judgement about it.
That's how it is at that moment.
Then move to the little toe and notice what is there.
From the little toes to the other toes.
Still noticing what physical sensations are present and if there is none,
No problem.
Then let go of your toes and move your attention to the sole of the left foot.
Continue observing what physical sensations are there with a friendly curiosity.
And then on to the top of the foot,
The instep.
What sensations can you notice there?
Next,
To the heel and the ankle of the left foot.
Can you feel the pressure on the floor?
Touch prickles,
Cold or warmth,
Tingling?
And then take the whole foot in your attention.
Feeling it as a whole,
Breathing in and out.
And then bring your attention to the left shin.
Quickly notice the physical sensations that are present in that area,
The shin bone,
The muscles.
Take time to explore the left lower leg.
Move the attention to the left knee.
The upper part,
The inside and outside.
The backside of the left knee.
Just noticing what physical sensations are present in that area.
Maybe some stiffness,
Maybe some tingling,
And if there's nothing,
That's fine too.
Next to the left upper leg.
More big muscles and a large bone.
Explore them with curiosity and see what physical sensations are present there.
Some itching,
A feeling of temperature,
Or maybe just nothing.
And if that is the case,
You just notice that.
Then let your attention rest on the left leg as a whole.
Noticing physical sensations.
More thoughts that may come by.
Letting go of the left leg,
We move our attention to the big toe of the right foot.
Then explore it with open curiosity.
What physical sensations can you discern at the big toe of the right foot?
And at the little toe of the right foot?
And at the other toes?
And then exploring the sole of the right foot and the instep.
What sensations are there?
The right ankle,
The right heel.
Simply exploring the sensations in that area.
And moving your attention to the right shin.
Maybe a feeling of warmth.
The contact of your clothes with the skin,
Some tingling,
Prickling,
Or itching.
Just notice whatever is there.
And if there is nothing,
That's fine too.
Then on with the right knee.
Inside of the knee,
Outside of the knee,
The back of the knee,
And the upper part of the knee,
The kneecap.
Just exploring for physical sensations.
Simply to whatever is there.
From the right knee to the right thigh,
The muscles.
Maybe you can discern some stiffness or relaxation there.
Some tingling in that area.
Feeling the bone and the muscles.
Feeling whatever is there.
And then letting your attention rest on the right leg as a whole.
Just noticing physical sensations or thoughts that come by.
Curious to whatever happens.
In go of the right leg,
We bring our attention to the pelvis and explore this area with curiosity.
The left hip,
The right hip,
The buttocks,
The pubic area.
What can you notice there?
And then to the abdomen and the lower back.
The last one,
An area where we often hold a lot of stress and tensions.
Just explore how it is there now.
If you feel any tension,
You just might try to relax it a bit.
From the lower back to the belly.
Area that rises and falls as you are breathing in and out.
Just notice the physical sensations of rising and falling.
And the belly area.
What are you noticing now?
And then to the area of the diaphragm.
The big muscle between the belly and the lungs.
It helps your respiration.
Further to the rib cage,
The chest,
The breasts,
The breast muscles.
And inside the lungs and the heart.
Can you feel the physical sensations there?
The little movements of the lungs,
Breathing in and out.
And then to the upper back.
Feeling maybe the shoulder blades and the pressure of the upper body on the mat or the floor.
Noticing physical sensations.
The feeling of pressure or warmth or some stiffness or flexibility.
Senses in temperature.
Exploring with your attention what sensations are there.
And if there are none,
That's okay too.
Further then to the shoulders,
Left and right.
From the neck to the head of the shoulders.
So an area where sometimes we keep some tension.
Just notice how it is there at this point in time.
And bring your attention to the left arm and to the fingers of the left hand.
The thumb.
The fingers of the left hand.
The palm.
The wrist.
Explore the area for physical sensations.
Feeling of touch.
Feeling of moisture or dryness.
Some tingling.
Then to the lower left arm.
Bringing your attention up for physical sensations in that area.
Exploring the left lower arm.
The elbow.
From the upper left arm is the triceps.
What sensations can you notice there?
From the left arm we move our attention to the right arm.
The right hand and the fingers of the right hand.
The palm.
The thumb.
The right wrist and all the physical sensations in the area.
The lower right arm.
What can you notice there?
The right elbow.
The upper right arm and to the shoulder.
Let go of the right arm then and bring your attention to the neck.
Observing the physical sensations in the neck area.
The vertebrae.
The throat.
The back of the neck.
And then slowly move on to the lower jaw.
To the mouth.
The lips.
The upper jaw.
Then inside of course the tongue.
Explore it with curiosity.
For physical sensations.
Dryness.
Or whatever is there.
Now in this moment.
Moving the attention then to the nose.
The little bone.
The point of the nose.
The bone of the nose.
The tip of the nose.
And the wings.
And maybe you can feel the air flowing to the nose.
And pay attention to the physical sensations that brings it.
Then the cheeks.
The ears.
How do they feel?
What physical sensations can you discern?
Temperature.
The feeling of the air to the skin of the ears.
And if there is nothing that is fine too.
Then moving the attention to the eyes.
The eyeballs in their sockets.
The eyelids above it.
Just noticing the physical sensations in that area.
On then to the forehead.
The area where all little muscles express all kinds of emotions.
How it is there now?
What can you feel in the area of the forehead?
Are the muscles relaxed?
Still expressing something?
Just noticing.
From the forehead we go to the back of the head.
The little point where we can feel the pressure of the weight of the head on the mat or the floor.
And finally exploring the top of the head.
The hair.
Whatever there is.
And then bringing our attention back to the breathing process.
Breathing in and out.
The rising and falling of the belly.
Moment by moment by moment.
And then let's imagine there is a hole in the top of our head through which we breathe in.
And the out-breath goes through our legs and our feet again.
Breathing in and out.
In and out.
Take time by slowly breathing through the whole body.
And observe how your body is one whole.
And after the bells have ringed,
Stand up in a calm way and take the feeling of mindfulness with you in the activities of the day.
