Body-Scan

This transcription provides guidance on a body scan meditation practice from the book "The Mindfulness Solution" by Dr. Ronald Siegel. The meditation involves focusing on different body parts, starting from the toes and moving upward, observing sensations without trying to change them. The practice encourages bringing attention to breath, body contact, and sensations with acceptance. The process is detailed, moving from the toes up the legs, to the torso, arms, and hands, promoting mindfulness and awareness. Information about when and how to use the following meditation, along with a written transcript of the practice, can be found in the book, The Mindfulness Solution, Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems, by Dr. Ronald Siegel. Please feel free to tell others how to access this recording at www.mindfulness-solution.com, but please do not independently reproduce or distribute this copyrighted recording without permission. Thank you. This meditation, the body scan, will take about 45 minutes to complete, listening to this recording. After doing it with the recording, you can try it on your own and adjust the pace to do it more quickly or more slowly. We're going to start with a few minutes of breath awareness practice. So whether you're sitting in a chair, on a cushion, or a meditation bench, or perhaps lying down, notice either the rising and falling in the belly with each breath, or the sensations at the tip of the nose with each in-breath and out-breath. If you'd found it helpful when we did the breath sampler to either count the breaths or note rising and falling, or in and out, it's fine to do that also. Just have most of your attention on the breath and try to settle into being aware of whatever is happening right now with acceptance. Should you notice your mind beginning to wander, gently bring it back to the sensations of Now, begin to allow the breath to be more in the background and bring your attention to the sensations of contact with the chair, or cushion, or bench, and the floor if you're sitting, or with the floor, couch, or bed if you're lying down. Notice all of the complex sensations associated with your body being supported while gravity gently pulls you downward. See how these sensations aren't solid, but change minutely from moment to moment. Now that you have a sense of your body in space and your breath coming and going, begin to bring your attention to the toes of your left foot. Notice all of the different sensations coming from those toes. Observe whether they're warm or cold, relaxed or tense. Don't try to adjust them or fix them in any way, but just bring your full attention to the sensations of the toes of your left foot and see if you can notice how the sensations there are not actually solid, but rather they're made up of a series of momentary micro sensations strung together over time. Notice them subtly changing from moment to moment. As when attending to the breath, should your mind wander off into a chain of narrative thoughts, just gently bring them back, bring it back to the sensations of the toes. Just bring your attention to the sensations coming from the top of the left foot. Feel everything that's happening there. Notice whether the sensations there are pleasant or unpleasant. Check in whether the top of the foot feels warm or cold, relaxed or tense. See how these sensations too are made up of many, many micro sensations strung together. We're not trying to get the foot to relax or do anything special. We're just using the sensations in the foot as an object of our awareness, a way to practice being aware of present experience with acceptance. Next bring your attention to the bottom of the left foot. See what sensations are happening there. See if you can bring some interest and curiosity to the experience of those sensations. And now let's move up to the ankle of the left foot. Notice whatever's happening there. If some parts of the body don't have particularly strong sensations coming from them, that's fine. But notice the subtle sensations or even the sense of no sensation coming from that area. Now bring your attention to the calf of your left leg. Notice whether that's warm or cold, tense or relaxed. Notice any sensations you can perceive in your left calf. Again, if the mind wanders or begins a commentary about the experience of doing this, just notice where the mind has gone and gently bring your attention back to the sensations of your left calf. And now move on to the shin of your left leg, the area in front opposite your calf. Notice whatever sensations are happening there. Allow yourself to continue to breathe, but allow the breath to be in the background as you focus your attention on the sensations coming from your shin. Now bring your attention to the left knee, the front, the back, the whole knee. See whatever sensations are occurring there. Sometimes knees can be a little bit painful. If there are pain sensations coming from the knee, allow yourself to open to those pain sensations. Feel them fully. Just bring your attention to your left thigh. Again, see what sensations are happening there, warm, cold, relaxed, tense. And now attend to the back of the left thigh where your hamstrings are. See what sensations are happening there. And finally, for the left leg, bring your attention to the groin and the hip, the area where the leg connects to your torso, and just see what sensations are coming from your groin and your hip. And now that you've thoroughly explored the left leg, bring your attention to the right leg, beginning, as we did with the left, with the toes. Warm or cold, relaxed or tense, whatever sensations are arising from the toes, give them your full attention. Now move your attention to the top of the right foot. See what's happening there. Continuing to breathe, bring your attention to the bottom of the right foot. Notice all the little sensations coming from that area. Now bring your attention to the ankle of the right foot. See the sensations coming from your right ankle. And next, observe what's happening in the calf of the right leg. Is it tense or relaxed, warm or cold? Perhaps there are very few sensations emanating from there. Just bring your full attention to whatever's happening. Examine it with interest and curiosity. And move on to the right shin. See what's happening there. Continue to allow your breath to be in the background. And if the mind wanders off into some kind of chain of thought, just bring it back to the sensations of your shin. And now move on to your right knee. Notice if it's tense or relaxed, warm or cold, painful or without pain. And now examine the sensations of your right thigh. Feel what's happening in the front where the quadriceps are. And then notice the back where your hamstrings are. And then bring your attention to your right hip and your right groin. Feel how the leg attaches to your torso. And notice any sensations that are arising there. And now that you've examined both legs, begin to shift your attention to your belly. Notice how it rises and falls with each breath. See if there are any other sensations coming from the belly. And move your attention a little higher to the chest area. Notice how it, too, moves a bit with each breath. Examine any other sensations coming there. Feel the sense of your heart in your chest. Perhaps you can feel it beating. And then bring your attention to your neck. See if it's relaxed or tense. A lot of us carry tension in our necks. Just notice all of the sensations that are there. Not trying to change anything, just to be observant. Now we're going to bring our attention back to the base of the torso and feel your buttocks. Whether sitting on the floor or a bench or a cushion, or lying against a couch, a bed, or the floor. Notice all the sensations of contact between your buttocks and whatever is supporting them. And next, move on to the lower back, another area where many of us carry tension. Just see whatever sensations arise there. See if there's any pain or discomfort in the lower back. Just breathe and allow yourself to notice all of the sensations. Now bring your attention to the mid-back. See how that feels similar or different from the lower back. Notice what's happening there. You may sense it expanding and contracting a bit with your breath. And finally, notice the upper back, the area below your neck and between your shoulders. Another place we carry a lot of tension. Notice the sensations there. And next we're going to go out to the arms. So let's start with your left arm and begin as we did with the leg at the end. So start with your fingers and notice any sensations happening in the fingers of your left hand. Whether they're tense or relaxed, warm or cold. Just feel all the sensations happening there. Then notice the sensations of your left palm. See how that feels different or similar to what you feel in the fingers. And now move on to the back of the left hand and see whatever sensations are happening there. Now move your attention to your left wrist. This is another place that some people carry tension. See whether it feels relaxed or tense, warm or cold. And let yourself continue to breathe. And then notice the left forearm. See whatever sensations are coming from there. Feel the front of your forearm and the back of your forearm. Next bring your attention to the left upper arm. Notice whatever feelings are happening there. And finally bring your attention to your left shoulder. See whether it's relaxed or tense, warm or cold, comfortable or perhaps a little painful. So having explored the left arm and hand, let's bring our attention to the right arm and hand. Begin with the fingers of your right hand and notice what sensations are happening there. Notice whether they're warm or cold, tense or relaxed. And then notice the palm of your right hand, whatever sensations are happening there. And move on to bring your attention to the back of the right hand. Again, if at any point your mind wanders off into a chain of thought, just gently bring it back to the sensations in your hand. Now bring your attention to your right wrist. See if it's tense or relaxed. Feel all the sensations happening there. Now feel your right forearm. The front of it, the back of it. Notice whatever sensations are occurring there. And now notice the sensations in your right upper arm. Again, the front side and the back side of it. See if there's tension. Just notice whatever is happening there. And now continuing to breathe, bring your attention to your right shoulder. See if it's tense or relaxed, comfortable or painful. Just notice all the micro sensations coming from your right shoulder. And now coming back to the center of your body, notice again the sensations in your neck, whether it's relaxed or tense, comfortable or uncomfortable. Feel the front and the back of the neck. Now bring your attention forward to your chin. Notice any sensations you can feel coming from your chin. And breathe. Next, notice the sensations in and around your mouth. Again, whether there's tension or not, comfort or discomfort. The mouth has so many nerve endings. See if you can sense all of the different sensations coming from the mouth. Next, notice your cheeks. Feel what sensations come from them. And then move on to your nose. Notice the sensations of the air coming in and out of your nostrils with each breath. See if there are also any other sensations coming from the nose. And now notice the sensations around your eyes. Are they relaxed or tense, warm or cold? And now bring your attention to your forehead, another area many of us carry tension in. Notice whatever sensations are happening there. And then feel your ears. Notice both the experience of hearing that's associated with your ears, as well as the sensations of the ears themselves. The outer ear. And continuing to move toward the back of the head, feel the sensations that happen there. Notice whatever you can feel at the back of your head. And then finally bring your attention up to the top of your head. See if you can detect any sensations there. Now for the last few moments of this exercise, let your attention come back to your breath, either in the belly or at the tip of the nose. And feel your whole body in the background, from the tips of your toes and the ends of your fingers, all the way in to your torso and up to your face and head. Just take in the whole breathing being. And listen as I ring a bell to the sound of the bell from the beginning of the ring until it trails off into space and can no longer be heard. The bell is invited.