21 May Mindful Body Scan
Mindful Body Scan
What’s a Body Scan?
A body scan is an effortless but potent practice to increase awareness throughout your entire body. Unless you are an enlightened master, a newborn baby, or a tree, you are not fully aware of your whole body. Like the greatest of life’s gems, the purpose is quite simple: to reconnect to your body. To return to a state of presence and awareness from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet.
Body scans offer immense benefits, from healthier blood circulation to enhanced pleasure from your tongue to your toes. Essentially, body scanning is a very primal practice that provides an experience to align your intention with your attention. Useful for anyone with a body, it is an advanced master practice that only babies master. It is helpful for anyone on their path of listening inward, from a humble beginner to someone with lifelong meditation experience.
The reason we are not feeling the entirety of our body is because there is simply so much sensation happening all at once, from every organ, finger, hair follicle and millimeter of the intestinal tract, that our minds naturally only send us messages for specific things when needed.
Moreso, when life events happen that are overwhelming, from our months of being babies through our whole lives, parts of our bodies can shut down the communication of sensation. To protect us from a traumatic experience, big or small, our bodies can block out sensory information. This can last for years or our whole lives, blocking our ability to feel ourselves fully, access the potential of our pleasure, sensation, intuition and creativity. Giving yourself the gift of regular body scans can help you to better hear the subtle messages from your body and release stress and tension that you may be unconsciously holding. It can be a powerful tool for healing your life, bringing in more sensation and vibrant health into your whole body.
If you begin a daily body scanning practice, you can expect all these benefits of greater health, decrease of pain and inflammation, over time greater balance and inner-calm. It may be uncomfortable at first, or even boring. Ask yourself, why would I be bored with myself? What am I wanting a distraction from? What lies below the surface can be scary. Facing yourself, feeling yourself and welcoming the present moment to be witnessed through being with your body and her sensations can be immensely uncomfortable. With the aid of your breathing, with loving thoughts to hold you along the way, and with the compassionate intentions to give yourself the gift of greater presence and wellbeing, you will find yourself on the other side feeling refreshed and more alive. Your body will trust you more and more, as you hold this exquisite healing space of listening to it. It truly is one of the biggest gifts anyone can ever give to you. To be with yourself with your full presence and compassion.
Pre-Body Scan: Check In
Before beginning, make sure that you are warm and hydrated. Do an initial check-in to see if your more obvious needs are asking to be met. You may be surprised by what your body is asking from you. Take a moment to listen and respond by meeting those needs.
Next, find yourself in a comfortable position, either lying down, seated in a chair or seated with an aligned spine. The important part is that you are comfortable and relaxed, and your arms, legs and fingers are uncrossed. This allows the energy to flow more freely. If you would like, I recommend speaking this into a voice recorder and playing it back to yourself, so you guide yourself into deeper states with your loving voice.
Mindful Body Scan: Guided Meditation
Begin to observe your breath. Without judgment, or trying to change it, just listen.
Like a mother curious of her baby’s breath, close your eyes and listen to each inhale, the space in between, and the exhale.
Allow yourself to sink into your breath, welcome it in, let it out. As you become more present, I invite you to bring your awareness to the top of your head. The crown point of your beautiful being. Notice this point, the sensations. The temperature. The subtle feelings of hair or wind or sweat. Simply feel. Feel this point expand, encompassing more of your head. Forehead. Back of your skull. Notice your eyes. Any sensation around your eyes, tense or relaxed, simply observe. Move to your nose, and feel your breath moving into and out of your nostrils. Be with your breath through your nose. How much can you feel from each breath? The little hairs moving. Dryness or warmth. Follow this sensation down to the bow of your lips, expanding across both cheeks. Down to your chin. Your jaw. Feel into your tongue. Notice any tension in the muscles of your face and simply be with them.
Notice how they change as you listen inwards. Slowly sweeping down your neck, the back of your neck. Expanding across your shoulders. The small and big sensations in this important part of your body. Simply observe.
All the way down your arms, forearms, your life-giving hands. Feel each finger on your left hand. One at a time. Move to your right palm with your awareness. Feel each finger on your right hand. From thumb to pinky, one by one. Expand back out and allow your awareness to move to your chest. To your breasts. Nipples. These places, so full of nerve endings, the stories they tell, the feelings they hold.
As you breathe again, notice your back, the space behind your ribs. Lower back. Carry your presence down across your front ribs, diaphragm, to your belly. The soft place that holds your major organs. Your womb. This place of life and power, how much can you sense of this space? Feel into it. Where are you in your cycle? Your connection to this space, feel it, any colors or sensations, welcome them. Bring your awareness down to your pubic bone, the subtle potent energy of your vulva, the rose-like yoni-verse of lips and hair and warmth and juiciness. See how much you can perceive just by bringing your attention to this sacred space.
Expand to your hips, the feminine space of holding, strength, carrying. Allow yourself to feel, welcome anything that comes up in this space. Love yourself here. Let go and sink more, surrender to the earth’s gravity, She’s got you. Outer thighs, feel their warmth, their strength. Inner thighs, the unique sensitivity of this space. Knees, calves. Slowly, move down. Feel. Observe. Welcome sensation.
Surrender to what comes up. Ankles. Left foot. Feel your heel, the arch of your left foot. Your toes, one by one. Right foot, heel, arch, toes. Then together, all of your toes. Become aware of both feet. Encompass your presence in your legs, feel them together. Include your bum, perineum, your whole pelvic bowl, belly, back, chest, shoulders, arms, hands, the warmth and sensation of your whole lower body, filling up to the top of your head. Feel yourself full of awareness. The Oneness of your being. Feel each breath connected to all of you. All of you connected to each breath.
With love and gratitude for the living, breathing being that you are, thank you, for taking care of yourself. For connecting to yourself. It is a gift you give to the sacred life that is you. Your presence is a gift.
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