Mindfulness Body Scan for Wisdom

This body scan meditation is best done seated,
so you can remain alert and attentive

Find a comfortable position in a quiet place
where you are relatively free from distraction

Close your eyes or gaze softly at the floor ahead of you
Turn your attention toward your breath
Breathe patiently and evenly in and out through your nose
Let the length of the breath out be at least as long as the length of each breath in

During this body scan, we’ll walk through a contemplative meditation
While the meditation is in part based on logic,
The goal is to feel versus think

At any time, when the mind has arrived at a felt
sense of open and relaxed spaciousness
Feel free to pause and simply rest there

We’ll begin by asking questions…

Am I one thing, or am I many things?
I have a body, and I have a mind, and those are two things
So if I am two things, I suppose my body could exist without my mind,
And my mind could exist without my body
But body and mind cannot exist separately,
So I must be one thing.
But if I was one thing, how is it that I recognize separateness
Between body and mind?

And is my body one thing, or many things?
If it was one thing, it couldn’t have parts. And yet I have all these body parts
But if it was many things, I suppose there would be many of me? Many bodies?
There would be the me that’s in my toe, and the me that’s my foot
And if my body was many things, these things could exist separately
And if they did, where would “I” be?