Mindfulness Body Scan for Body Awareness

Find a comfortable and quiet place to sit or lie down
Closing your eyes can help turn your attention inward
Breathe slowly and patiently in and out through your nose
Notice the breath, and let a focused attention on breath
Gradually transform to a focused attention on the body itself

Notice your posture
And the felt sense of your body as a whole
For 3 to 5 cycles of breath, just be here now,
Present with body and breath

Now bring your awareness to the crown of your head
Notice what sensation is present here
Notice if this sensation has a color, size, temperature or shape?
What are the boundaries of this sensation at the crown of the head?
What are the boundaries of the crown of the head?
Can you find the center of this sensation?
Is it moving, changing? Or still?

And at any time, if you feel no sensation
Notice that too.
Just remain present and aware of that particular area of your body
Perhaps sensation will arise, perhaps not

As you notice sensation, in the crown of your head,
Notice too, how your mind labels that sensation.
How the mind describes it, and if the mind labels it as good or bad, pleasant or unpleasant
Or neutral

And notice too, your reaction to this label
Is there a reaction in the body itself? Or in your mind?

Be present with all of it
Everything is allowed here
Everything is given room

Our intention, is to simply notice

And now do the same as you shift awareness down to the space behind your eyes
Is there a temperature here? A color, a shape?

As you notice the movement of breath, in and out through your nose
Is there sensation?
And how is that sensation labeled?
Is there a reaction?

Notice the mouth, lips, teeth, insides of the mouth, the tongue.
Is there a taste here?

Notice the ears, left and right.
Aware of sound, the functioning of the ears, and the sensation within and around them

And then shift awareness to the throat and neck
What’s present here?
Is it soft, or tight?

Spend as much time as you need to
Hit pause when you need to
And explore each part f the body in detail

Shift awareness to the soldiers, upper chest, and upper back
Ask what’s present?
What’s it like?
Can you silently describe to yourself what you’ve noticed?
And is it changing, is it moving?
Or do you feel anything as static and still?

Do the same with your upper arms, your elbows, your lower arms
What do you feel?
Remembering there’s no right or wrong
You are both witness and judge

Notice your wrists, the front and back sides of your hands
And each one of your fingers
At what level of detail does awareness begin, and end?
What can you notice
About each of your fingers?

Return now to awareness of your chest, front and back
Perhaps awareness of what’s within

The movement of your heartbeat
The steady rhythm of your breath

Present with everything
Open, curious, and aware
What’s with you here and now,
In your chest?

Shift awareness down into your belly and low back
Notice your waist and the sides of your torso
And whatever sensation is here with you
Just let it be

Notice the layers of how the body senses itself
How the mind adds a description, words
And how both body and mind react

Notice the movement of mind
As you drop awareness down into your hips, buttocks, pelvis
Continually asking, what about now?
What do I feel now?
What am I thinking now?
Aware of the relationship between body and mind

Sometimes the body has something to tell us
That the mind has not yet noticed

What’s present here?

Notice your thighs, front and back
Or sensation along the sides of your upper legs

Notice the knee, and the space behind each knee

Notice the lower legs, front, back and sides

How would you describe what you notice?
Where is this sensation?
Is it in fact in the body itself, or in the mind?
Both? Neither?

Notice your ankles, heels and the tops of your feet
Notice the souls of your feet, the arches

Notice each one of your toes
Is it possible to feel sensation, separately, in each one of your toes?

Be present with what is
Let the body itself teach you what’s here
And let the body show you
How the mind works too

The more time we spend just like this
Connecting to the wisdom of the body itself
The more this connection will be available to us
Outside of this meditation

What does it feel like right now?
To be completely body aware?

Rest in this total body awareness
Present with your form, your humanity
For as long as you’d like to be still