Welcome to the body scan.
Please lie down on the floor or mat or on your bed.
Gently close your eyes and place your hands to both sides of your body.
Have your palms facing upwards towards the ceiling or the sky.
Your feet are falling away from each other.
Let's check in with ourselves.
How does our body feel?
How does our mind feel?
Take a moment lying here to notice any moods,
Emotions or thoughts.
Notice the contact points between your body and the floor,
Between your ankles and the floor,
The buttocks and the floor,
The back and the floor,
The shoulders and the floor,
The back of the head and the floor.
Begin to acknowledge whatever is present in the body.
Here you are right now.
Allow yourself to just be.
If any emotions or thoughts come up,
That's okay.
Allow them to run through your body.
No need to identify with them.
Just identify them.
Greet your body with a kind hello.
Let's bring our attention to our breath.
As we breathe in,
We become aware that we are breathing in.
And as we breathe out,
We become aware that we are breathing out.
Notice as you breathe in,
The belly expands like a puffed up balloon.
And notice as you breathe out,
The belly hollows out like all the air leaving the balloon.
We will start the body scan shortly.
Please follow the instructions.
Open your heart,
Open your mind and just trust the process.
Now we will begin.
Please bring your awareness to your feet.
Bring your attention to both of your feet.
Now place your attention to your toes.
Do you notice any tingling?
Notice any sensations in the soles of the feet?
The arches of the feet?
The ball of the feet?
And the tops of the feet?
If any thoughts or emotions come up,
That's okay.
Don't bring in any judgment.
Just notice what is happening and come back to placing your awareness on your feet.
Now let go of the feet.
Dissolve your awareness of the feet.
And now we move up to the ankles.
Do you notice any sensations in this body part?
If at any point the mind drifts off,
That's completely okay.
Just gently bring your awareness back to your lower legs.
Now shift your awareness to your knees and your thighs.
Notice any points of contact.
Notice any tensions.
Notice how your clothes feel on your body.
Notice if there is any tightness around the knees or clenching of the thighs.
No worry.
Just notice anything that is present right now.
Now moving on to the hips,
The pelvis and the buttocks.
Notice the point of contact where your body meets the chair or the cushion or your mattress or the floor.
And take a moment to experience these sensations.
Thoughts and emotions might arise and that's completely normal.
Just bring your awareness back to the meeting point between your body and the floor.
As you move your awareness up into the abdomen and the stomach,
You may notice the sensations of the body breathing.
Rest your awareness with the body and just become aware of any sensations that arise.
No judgment.
Just let it go.
Now moving up to the chest and rest here for a moment,
Tuning in to the body breathing.
You may notice the rising and falling,
The expansion and contraction,
The natural movement of the body breathing.
Inhaling and exhaling.
Becoming aware of the breath that flows in and out of your lungs,
In and out of the chest.
Noticing the inhalation and the exhalation.
Now moving on to the hands.
Bring your attention to the palms,
The fingers and the back of the hand.
Notice any points of contact where the hands may be touching.
You may notice that the temperature of the air feels different on the back of the hand than it does on the palm.
Continue on to your forearms and your wrists and bring your attention to any points of contact.
Maybe your arms are resting.
Feel if there is any heaviness in the arms.
Notice any sensations that arise.
Notice if there is any tensing or tightening in the arm muscles.
Just notice how that feels.
Continue moving up into the upper arms and your elbows.
Again,
Just tune into whatever is directly present in your experience.
Now bring your attention to the tops of the shoulders and into your shoulder blades.
Perhaps noticing any movement with the breath or any sensations of your clothes on the body.
Bring your attention to the neck and the throat.
Noticing any tension or any movement of the body with the breath.
Remember there is nothing you should be experiencing.
There is no right or wrong.
Just tune into the direct physical experience.
Let go of any judgments or any thoughts and just return to the actual physical body.
Just notice your body right now.
Moving on to the mouth,
The lips,
The jaw and the tongue.
You may notice the moisture or how the tongue is resting or any tension or looseness in the jaw.
Just notice whatever is present.
Continue up to the tip of your nose and your upper lip.
Here you can feel the body breathing gently and naturally.
Notice the coolness of the air flowing into the nose and notice the warm air flowing out of the nose while breathing out.
Become aware of your cheekbones and then the eyes.
Even with the eyes closed,
Notice any sensations around the eyes.
Now coming up into the forehead and the brow.
Again tuning into whatever is present.
You may notice the temperature of the air,
Some slight scrunching of the brow or some relaxation.
Whatever is present,
Simply notice it.
Now bring your awareness to the top of the head,
Tuning into whatever is present for you.
Can you feel the temperature of the air on the skin?
There's no right or wrong answer.
Just tune into whatever is physically present.
Take a moment here to tune into the whole body together from the bottoms of the feet all the way up to the top of the head.
You may be able to feel the breath energy as it moves through the body.
You can get a sense of the entire outline or posture of your body as it rests here.
Keeping the eyes closed,
Slowly begin to become aware and visualize the room that you are currently in.
Maybe this is the first time that you are experiencing this body scan and maybe you have practiced before.
Ultimately,
Thank you so much for showing up.
Begin to bring some movement back into the body.
Gently wiggle the toes,
Wiggle the fingers and gently open the eyes.
The body scan has now come to an end.
