Body Scans For Kids

Hello and welcome to the next session of mindfulness meditation and calm breathing for kids.

Take a seat,

Sit nice and comfortably with your hands on your lap and your back nice and straight and strong with your head reaching up to the sky and close your eyes and let's take a big slow breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.

In our last session we were looking at mindful movement and we practiced the slow race where we walked as slowly as possible from one side of the room to the other feeling our feet and our body swaying.

We also practiced mindful movements by raising our hands up up up to the sky and focusing on what our bodies could feel.

Let's give that a try now we're going to raise our hands super slowly to the sky and feel what our bodies feel.

Are you ready?

Let's give it a try very slowly raise your hands up up up up up super slowly all the way up until they're right above our heads and just feel what your arms feel and your hands and your back and your neck and now very super slowly bring your hands back down to rest.

Just check into yourself how are you feeling right now?

Mindful movement relates to what we're going to be looking at today.

Today we're going to be doing a body scan.

We're going to focus our attention onto every single part of our body and just notice it just check it out and see what it feels and this will teach us two things.

Number one it will show us exactly how we're feeling and number two it will teach us to become super relaxed.

So if you like you can do a body scan just before bed as you're laying down and it will help you to fall asleep.

So without further ado let's begin.

Now you can choose to do this body scan sitting down like you are or laying down.

Either option is fine and you do whichever one is comfortable for you and the same thing with your eyes you can choose to have them closed or opened or you can change in between it doesn't matter.

All we're going to do is we're going to lay down and I'm going to draw your attention to the different parts of your body starting at your feet and then moving all the way up to the top of your head and all the while you're going to be practicing calm breathing.

So let's give it a little bit of a practice and then we do it.

You're going to be practicing calm breathing big slow breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth.

Let's do three right now and then we'll begin.

So for the rest of the session I want you to keep doing that slow calm breathing and I invite you to lay down close your eyes and draw your attention to your feet.

Just notice how they're feeling,

Maybe you can feel some pressure or some tension or some hot or some cold whatever it is it's okay just focus on your feet for a little while.

Okay so now draw your attention to your legs.

What do your legs feel like?

Can you feel your clothes on your legs?

Is there any pressure or tension?

Maybe they feel a bit hot or cold.

How are your legs feeling right now?

Now focus your attention on your belly.

What does your belly feel like right now?

Can you feel it moving up and down with your breath?

Can you feel the clothes on your belly?

Does it feel hot or cold?

How is your belly feeling right now?

Now draw your attention to your chest.

Can you feel your chest moving with your breath?

Does your chest feel hot or cold?

Can you feel the clothes on your chest?

Does your chest feel hot or cold?

How is your belly feeling right now?

Can you feel the clothes on your chest?

What does your chest feel like right now?

And now draw your attention to your back.

What does your back feel like right now?

Do you feel any pressure or tension?

Can you notice your back moving as you're breathing?

Can you feel the clothes on your back?

Does your back feel hot or cold?

How does your back feel right now?

You're doing so good and remember to keep doing that slow,

Calm breath in through the nose and out through the mouth.

Now draw your attention to your arms.

How are your arms feeling right now?

Are they feeling light or heavy?

Can you feel your clothes on your arms?

Do you feel any pressure or tension?

Are they moving as you're breathing?

What do your arms feel like right now?

Now draw your attention to your hands.

What do your hands feel like right now?

Do they feel hot?

Do they feel cold?

Do they feel heavy or light?

What do your hands feel like right now?

Okay,

Now draw your attention to your hands.

What do your hands feel like right now?

Okay,

Now draw your attention to your head.

What does your head feel like right now?

Does it feel light or heavy?

Can you feel it moving when you breathe?

Do you notice any tension or pressure in your head?

How does your head feel right now?

Great work,

You're doing so well.

Now for the final part of the body scan.

I want you to draw your attention.

I want you to focus on your whole body all at once.

Keep doing slow,

Calm breaths and just focus on your entire body.

What does your body feel like right now?

Do you feel any heaviness or lightness?

Does your whole body feel hot or cold or is it just fine?

Do you notice anywhere that you want to scratch or itch?

Any pressure or tension?

Can you feel your body moving when you breathe?

How does your body feel right now?

Great work.

Okay,

So if you haven't done so already,

And at whatever time you like,

You can open your eyes,

Gently wiggle your body,

And when you're ready,

Sit up.

What we just did then was called a body scan.

Now,

I want you to sit up.

I want you to sit up.

I want you to sit up.

I want you to sit up.

What we just did then was called a body scan,

And you can do that at any time you like.

There are two good times to do a body scan.

The best one is when you're trying to fall asleep,

And you're struggling.

You can lay down in bed,

Start with some slow,

Calm breathing,

And just,

While you're breathing,

Just gently focus on each of the different body parts,

And just feel how they're feeling.

Start with your feet,

And then your legs,

And then your belly,

And your chest,

And your back,

And your arms,

And your hands,

And your head,

All the while slowly breathing,

And then you just gently focus on your whole body,

How you're feeling.

You don't worry about falling asleep.

All you're trying to do is just observe your body,

And whatever you discover is okay,

And I bet you,

More often than not,

You'll fall asleep during that process.

So,

If you're struggling to fall asleep,

Why don't you give it a try next time?

And the other time to use a body scan is if you're feeling a little bit overwhelmed,

Or stressed,

Or upset,

Or angry.

You can take yourself off into your room,

Or somewhere where you feel nice and warm,

And calm,

And safe,

And just do a quick body scan.

You don't even have to lie down.

You can do it standing,

Or sitting,

Or however you like.

And just slowly,

Calmly,

Take some big,

Slow breaths in through the nose,

And out through the mouth,

As you focus on all the different body parts.

So let's do one more big,

Slow breath,

Right now.

Great work.

And if you have any questions about body scans,

How to do them,

Or when to do them,

Just ask the person with you to ask a question in the classroom,

And I'll answer it for you.

Have a great day,

And I'll see you next time.

Hey there.

I just wanted to let you know that this track was from my course,

Mindfulness Meditation and Calm Breathing for Kids.

It's out now,

And you can check it out at my profile.

Enjoy.