5.2 – Guided Body Scan Meditation

So, breathing in deeply together.
And, breathing out slowly.

Doing one more deep breath, breathing in, and breathing out. And then just allowing the breath to return to its natural rhythm.

In mindfulness, there's no need to control the breath in any way.
So, just letting the body breathe itself.

And today, we'll be expanding our awareness beyond the breath, and we'll be practicing the body scan meditation. And to do this, we’ll just bring our attention to different parts of the body.

Just, opening up and practicing an awareness, seeing if you can notice any physical sensations. Any warmth or coolness, tingling vibration, pain, whatever you notice.

And so, we'll start at the very top of the head.
Just, bringing your awareness to the crown of your head.

Bring your awareness there, and see if you notice any physical sensations on the scalp. Maybe, some tingling, some heat, a coolness.

And then, slowly moving your awareness down the forehead.
Just, feeling any sensations in the forehead.

And then, slowly moving down into the eyes, and feeling the muscles around the eyes. You can invite these muscles to soften and relax, or just notice how they feel.

Practicing a non-judgmental awareness.
And moving your awareness down the nose and into the cheeks.

Just feeling the cheeks for a moment. Noticing any sensations.

Moving your awareness down the jaw and into the mouth, and just feeling the tongue for a moment.

Becoming aware of the tongue and how it feels.
And letting the attention drift down the neck.

And spreading out into both shoulders, feeling both the right shoulder, and then the left shoulder.

Then we'll move the attention down the right side of the body. So, letting your awareness drift down the right arm.

Into the right elbow. The right forearm.

Noticing any sensations in the right wrist, and then allowing your attention to rest in the palm of your right hand.

Just noticing any warmth, or coolness, any tingling or vibration.

And then, allow that awareness to extend all the way to the tips of the fingers in your right hand.

Moving your attention back up the right arm and over to the left shoulder.
Just, bringing your mind into your body, and feeling the area of the left shoulder.

Slowly moving your attention down the left arm, through the left elbow, the left forearm, into the left wrist.

And then resting your attention in the palm of your left hand.
Again, just asking yourself, “What do you feel?”

“What physical sensations do you notice in the palm of your left hand?”
And then again, letting your awareness extend all the way out to the fingertips.

And so, bringing your attention now to the center of the chest, right around the area of your sternum.

What sensations do you notice in the center of your chest?
Can you feel the fabric of your shirt?

And moving down into the belly and the abdomen.
Feeling the gentle rise, and fall, of the belly.

In mindfulness, we just want to connect with these raw, physical sensations.
Just, to notice the physical sensations.

Moving your awareness down through the pelvis, and first moving down through the right leg, feeling the right thigh.

Moving your awareness down into the right knee and the right calf. Bring it down into the right ankle, and resting your awareness in the sole of the right foot.

And, moving your attention back up to the top of the left leg.
Moving down to the left thigh.
Feeling any sensations in the left knee.

Moving down through the lower left leg, through the ankle, and then resting your attention again in the sole of the left foot.

And then, just bring your attention back to the entire body, feeling your whole body sitting where you are.

Bringing your awareness back to the feeling of your breath in the belly or the chest.
And just feeling this, body awareness, feeling your body in space.

And to end this meditation, we can take a deep breath together.

So, breathing in deeply, and breathing out. And, very gently, in your own time, allow your eyes to open.

Coming back into the room.

Maybe, looking around the room, and just seeing what you notice, maybe checking in with how you feel once again.

So, great work.

That was our first body scan meditation.
I hope it made you feel a little more relaxed.

Tomorrow we'll be learning a new technique called Mindful Listening, which is actually one of my favorite techniques.

I'll see you tomorrow.