- [Instructor] mindfulnessexercises.com, The body scan.
(bell chiming)
(water burbling)
As we prepare for the grounding and relaxing practice
of scanning or awareness through our body,
let's begin by finding a posture
that feels relaxed and alert.
(water burbling)
Feeling dignified as we stand, sit, or lie down.
Since this practice is often useful for falling asleep
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many of you will be lying in bed
out stretching with your arms and your legs outstretched,
feeling comfortable inviting a sense of ease
throughout the body.
Allowing your breath to find its natural rhythm
as you breathe in through the nose
and out through the mouth,
breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth.
(water burbling)
Grounding our awareness into the body
by feeling the weight of our bones
and flesh pressing downward,
sensing gravity pull us down onto the ground.
(water burbling)
As we soften into our experience
allowing any tension or tightness to come and go.
As we relax our muscles, soften the belly,
and maintain a natural ease in our breathing.
And we'll begin scanning our awareness through the toes,
feeling into the 10 toes.
(water burbling)
Playfully exploring perhaps wiggling the toes
to see what we can notice?
What physical sensations might occur?
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And scanning awareness up through the feet,
through the left foot and the right foot.
What can you notice?
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Can you feel the bone, muscle?
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And playfully exploring up through the ankles,
through the curvature, the nooks and crannies,
the density and the tenderness of the ankles.
Scanning upwards into the calves and the knees.
(water burbling)
What can you feel in your lower legs?
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Scanning your awareness up into your upper legs,
to your thighs,
your femur bones, your hamstrings,
all of the subtle sensations of your upper legs
waiting to be found with your awareness.
(water burbling)
And what about your pelvis, your sit bones,
your lower torso?
All of the organs, the liquids,
the fat, the bone,
releasing any tension as you explore this area
of your body with your awareness.
(water burbling)
Now moving up the spine,
up your body through the stomach,
noticing the rise and fall of your stomach as you breathe.
The relaxed belly, moving up into the chest and the lung.
Noticing any emotions in the heart
with the sense of kindness.
(water burbling)
Scanning your shoulders,
inviting a sense of ease into the shoulder
moving down through each arm towards the hands,
bearing gifts of kind attention
and non-judgment.
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Moving up through the neck now
and into the head and face,
just exploring the different sensations of your head
as if for the first time.
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Connecting the crown of your head
to the spirit of the universe.
Wishing yourself the same quality of awareness
throughout the rest of your day.
(water burbling)
(bell chiming)