Jon Kabat Zinn Body Scan Meditation GUIDED MEDITATION

This is the first side of the first tape of the relaxation and stress reduction program that has been added to the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. By playing this tape regularly and doing what it says, you are taking an active and powerful role in improving your health. health during this process, it is best if you can stay awake throughout the tape. This Side is a

guided

body

scan

meditation

designed to help you enter and stay in a state of very deep physical and mental relaxation. It is best to arrange to do it in a warm and protected place where you feel comfortable and safe and at a time when you will not be interrupted by anyone or the telephone address arranged with loose and comfortable clothing and especially clothing that does not constrict your waist and your breathing it is helpful to see this time as a time totally reserved for you as an opportunity to be alone and be with yourself completely, see if you can allow it to be a nourishing time, a time that you deserve to give to yourself. some positive energy and attention a moment to open to the sources of strength and healing within oneself when doing work of this type it is important to remember that we should not try too hard to relax this will only create tension what we will do is become aware of each moment passing and simply accept what is happening in yourself, looking at it clearly and seeing it as it is because it is already here, it is part of your experience in the moment, for better or worse, let go of the tendency that we all have to desire.

Let things be different from how they are now and allow things to be exactly as you find them, allow yourself to be exactly as you are, use the instructions as a guide as best you can, observe your

body

and the activity of your mind as we go. Let go of critical and judgmental thoughts in particular and simply do what you say do the best you can and be aware of how you feel about what is happening, remember that there is no right way to feel while doing this. the way he does it. Feeling is the way you feel right now, just accepting it and giving yourself permission to feel what you are feeling and seeing that it is okay, do this in any posture or position that is comfortable for you.

If lying on your back is not comfortable for you, it is actually your sensitivity and level of attention and not the way you are lying, which is important, so now let's arrange for us to lie on our back, if possible, on a mat or a thick rug or on your bed and allow your eyes to gently close if you feel comfortable with it. Let your arms rest alongside your body, palms open toward the ceiling if you feel comfortable, and allow your feet to spread apart. from each other and slowly bring your attention to the fact that you are breathing, without manipulating your breathing in any way, but simply experiencing it. as the air enters and leaves your body and direct your attention particularly to your belly towards your abdomen and feel the sensations in that region as the breath enters your body and the abdomen gently expands and as the air It leaves your body and the belly deflates and simply follow with your mind's eye the rhythmic movements of your belly with each breath, the rise of your belly as you inhale and the descent as you exhale and with each exhale, simply let go, let go.

As your body becomes heavy as you sink a little deeper into the floor or mat, simply pay full attention each moment to your breathing, the inhalation and exhalation rhythmically following each other as the body settles. sink with each exhale into the floor on your mat as you let go now when you feel ready to shift the focus of our attention to the toes of the left foot, simply taking your mind away from your abdomen and down the left leg until you reach the foot. and all the way down to your toes and just becoming aware of whatever the sensations are in this region of your body, there may be sensations of tingling, wetness, itching or heat, whatever they are, it's not important, just feeling the toes as they are and if you find that you are registering a blank space when you tune into this region and then you just experience don't feel, you experience what is there and you just breathe with these sensations, you experience the big toe and if you can , the little finger, you don't move them, you just feel them individually and maybe the toes in the middle and as you inhale, just imagine the breath moving down through the lungs and through the abdomen and down down the left leg to the toes and when you exhale, the breath simply returns up from the toes. toes and finally exhale through your nose so that you inhale to your toes and exhale from your toes and when you are ready, simply exhale and release your toes completely, allowing this region of your body dissolves. in your mind and move your attention and bring it to focus on the sole of your left foot and whatever feelings there are in this particular region, breathe with it feeling the sole of your foot and when you are ready, lower your leg towards the sole of your foot. your foot and as you exhale, exhale from the bottom of your foot and just let it go and focus now on the heel, the place where your heel makes contact with the floor or the mat or whatever and just feel the sense of touch and the pressure and when you are ready breathing into the heel and on the exhale simply releasing the heel becoming aware of the top of your foot and any feeling or lack of feeling there is in that particular region, not so much thinking about your foot as just being here with it, feel it, let the field of your awareness predominate in this moment, breathe with your foot and let that awareness extend to the ankle as well and feel your own left ankle breathing into it and when you are ready to breathe directing the breath towards the ankle and as you exhale simply release the ankle and the entirety of your left foot as you relax into a deeper state of stillness and awareness and become aware of the lower part of the left leg. the shin in front and the calf muscle in the back and any sensation in the lower part of the left leg, not only on the surface but also deep to the bones of the lower leg, experience this region since you are not trying to make it different. simply accept the feelings you feel by breathing with them or when you are ready, simply let go of this part of your body and you relax and sink even deeper into the mat on the floor as you let the focus move now. up to the knee, peeling the knee, the kneecap, the sides and back of the knee and deep into a joint, simply experiencing the left knee breathing with it and exhaling, letting it dissolve as well and now moving towards the thigh region above. the knee on the surface and the deep end to the groin on the inside and the hip and on the outside and just experiencing the left thigh leaving it as soft and relaxed as possible if there is any tension in the thigh. or anywhere else when you get to it, just allow it to come out with each exhale, allow the thigh to be soft and relaxed, breathe into the thigh and when you're ready, breathe deeper into the thigh and as you exhale, just letting Let it dissolve, relax and soften as you release it, then move to the right leg and be aware of the sensations in the toes of the right foot and without moving them, if you can, just feeling the sensations in the big toe and the little finger and the others breathing directing the inhalation towards the foot and directly to the toes and on the exhalation simply letting the breath rise from the toes and out through the nose simply recording the sensations that are in this region, they do not judge them or worry about how their toes should feel, but simply allow them to be exactly as they are experiencing them now and whenever they are ready, breathing more deeply into and out of their toes.

Breathe simply by letting your toes dissolve into the field of your awareness and letting your attention move to the sole of your right foot and this time including the heel where the foot makes contact with the floor with the mat by simply tuning into any and all sensations by breathing with them and when you are ready, simply exhale, release the sole of the foot as you relax, release this region and let the attention gently move to the top of the foot and ankle. Breathing in and out experiencing this region of your body so when you are ready, just let it go, let it relax, soften and dissolve and into your mind as you become aware of the lower leg, the region of the body like most. the others.

We don't pay much attention to it and take it for granted now, just feeling this extremely important part of your body as you are appreciating it, maybe when you are ready to inhale it and as you exhale just let it go as well and become aware of your knee right, I'm breathing into the knee and as I exhale releasing the knee as well and now the right thigh, the entire region of the upper leg between the hip and the pelvis and growing all the way to the end. knee, feel your right thigh, any sensations, be as precise as possible in seeing and feeling these sensations, whether they are sensations of warmth, tingling, heaviness or lightness, blood flow, whatever, and just feel your thigh as it is and when you are.

Ready breathing into the thigh and as you exhale simply releasing this region of the tail and now becoming aware of the pelvis, the entire region of the pelvis from one hip to the other, aware of the buttocks in contact with the mat or the floor and the sensations of touch and weight and perhaps heaviness or whatever you are feeling, becoming aware of the region of the genitals and any sensations or lack of sensations that you are experiencing in this region, becoming aware of the hips themselves and simply breathing with the entirety of your pelvis and when you are ready, direct the breath during the inhalation towards your pelvis and, as you exhale, let the pelvis soften and release, any tension in it goes with the breath as you sink still deeper into a state of relaxed awareness and stillness fully present in each moment, content to simply be and be here as you are now and let's direct our attention now to the lower back, to that region that connects with the pelvis that comes out. of the pelvis.

I'm just experiencing whatever sensation is here. This is, of course, a region that sometimes gives many of us problems. There may be sensations of a certain intensity and just for the moment, experiencing your back as you let the breath penetrate, really moving in each region. of your lower back as you inhale and as you exhale, simply letting any tension and tension, any holding or any intensity, simply be there and flow with the exhale as much as possible and, as you exhale, simply releasing the lower back. back and going up to the upper back region and just feeling the sensations in this region breathing with them, you can even feel your ribcage aging back and forward expands as you inhale, the ribs are in back and forward, encircling the entire spine and any tension or tightness or reserves of fatigue or discomfort in the upper back region or the central back region, simply allow them to dissolve and come out with the exhale as you release and sink even deeper into stillness and relaxation and allow your attention to move back to the belly and experience the rise and fall of your belly as you breathe and simply allow awareness to expand from the belly at the front of your body to the bottom. chest also feel the movements of your diaphragm, that umbrella-shaped muscle that separates your belly from your chest from your heart in your lungs and just for a moment experience the chest as it expands as you inhale and continues a little as you exhale. -breathe and if you can tune into the rhythmic beat of your heart inside your chest feeling it if you can as well as the lungs expanding on both sides of your heart nourishing each region each organ each tissue of your body with oxygenated blood every time the heart pumps blood throughout the body and as the Blood returns to the heart releasing waste products of the metabolism and purifying the body in a rhythmic cycle of renewed energy and continuous detoxification purification only exhalation just experienced greater your chest your belly ends you lie here and the muscles of The chest wall covers the entire front of your body and when you are ready, do not exhale, simply let this region dissolve into relaxation as well and allow your attention to move to the tips of your fingers and we bring both hands together simply by becoming aware. of the sensations now in the tips of your fingers and thumbs you can feel some pulsationsof blood flow you can feel wetness or heat or whatever by simply feeling your fingers, the inside of them and the back of your fingers to the tips and letting the field of your awareness expand to include the palms of your hands and the back of your hands. of your hands and wrists and here again perhaps picking up on the pulsations of the arteries in your wrists as blood flows to and from your hands becoming aware of your forearms and elbows as well, each and every sensation, regardless of discomfort or problems with one region or another, simply experiencing your body as it is and in particular now your arms allowing the field of your awareness to now include the upper arms to the armpits and shoulders and shoulders They are a reservoir of tension for many of us, built up tension and often causing some pain and perhaps neck problems during the day.

Stress often ends up creating this tension in our shoulders, neck and in the moment simply experiencing your shoulders if there is some tension simply by inhaling breathing into your shoulders and into your arms and on the exhale by simply letting that tension dissolves as you exhale releasing the tension and releasing your arms from your fingertips to your shoulders as you sink further into a state of observation relaxed and conscious you choose to be present in each moment letting go of any thought that arises or any impulse to move or do something else and simply experience yourself in this world and now let the focus of our attention move towards the neck, towards the back of the neck and the spine in the region of the neck and to the throat and feel the entire region of your body experiencing what it feels like perhaps when you swallow and when you breathe as the air goes from the head to the chest through through the neck region by breathing down into the neck intentionally and on the exhale simply releasing the neck and letting it relax and dissolve in your mind's eye and becoming aware of your face, another region that often stores tension built up over the course of of the day and focus first on the jaw and chin. experience it as any sensation right in the hinge region of the jaw breathe with this region inward as you exhale when you are ready simply let it dissolve become aware of your lips and your mouth your teeth and gums your tongue hmm, the palate and the back of the mouth and the throat and just breathing with this region and the sensations of the mouth, the lips and the cheeks and the inhalation and exhalation, just letting this region dissolve as well and becoming aware of your nose and now feeling the breath as it goes in and out, let the nostrils pass through us being aware of yourself as the breath continues and be aware of yourself, your eyes and your eyebrows and the space between the eyebrows in the entire region around your eyes . eyelids and often there is tension in this region as well, just if there is tension on the exhale, just let it out as the breath leaves, allow your temples to relax and exercise everything while experiencing the sensations on the side of your head. and breathing into the ears and exhaling through the ears and releasing them as well.

Now the far head practices breathing with the forehead, letting it soften to see if the stored emotions often generate tension and anger, frustration and if you feel any emotions associated with the tension. or feelings and the muscles of your face simply by being aware of it and breathing nourishing your face asking you to relax and dissolve into the relaxation and stillness that now appears on your entire face, including your forehead, breathing with your entire face. like you're coming up from below from the inside and just letting the entirety of your face including the forehead dissolve into neutral most of the time, it's busy projecting one view or another for now just leaving it like that as it doesn't work with time, simply letting it be letting it be still and neutral, your own face relaxed and ended peace and now you become aware of the back of the head and the top of the head, the entire region of the skull and the regions tops of the skull, then inhale now throughout this region exhale from this region and you concentrate on a point now at the top of your head, about the size of 1/4, maybe I'm just letting the breath move from your nose to the ocular tube of your mind to the point at the top of your head, the crown of your head and exhale from this region to the nose again and then simply imagine that point opening, it can open like the blowhole of a whale and that you can breathe directly through the top. from your head, so inhale and exhale directly through the top of your head, letting the air and energy leave your head and return to your head, so imagine that you are now breathing from the top of your head. head. head through the body and emerging through the soles of the feet.

Now I'm breathing through the bottom of my feet and out the top of my head and I'm just observing and allowing the breath to move this way along the entire length of my head. body, all your muscles in a deep state of relaxation and the mind simply aware of this flow of energy, this flow of breathing, experiencing the breathing of your whole body and when you are ready, simply feel your body as a whole from the top from your head to the soles of your feet resting here in a state of stillness and deep relaxation and sinking deeper and deeper into a state of well-being as we come into contact with the feeling of fullness, feeling complete as we come into contact with our essential wholeness, a realm in which our limitations are not to confine ourselves to a realm of unity, a realm of silence, stillness, peace, open to things as they are in each moment and seeing that this attitude and stillness itself are healing. and allow the world to be as it is, beyond personal fears. and concerns beyond the tendencies of the mind to want everything to be a certain way and simply seeing ourselves as complete right now as we are looking and deeply experiencing the fullness of our life and the limitless qualities of life experiencing the fullness of our ability to love and care and experience being fully awake in this moment and when the tape ends bringing your awareness back to your body again and feeling it as a whole now you may want to move your fingers and toes and allow this calm and centrality remain.

With you as you move now and resume the activities of your life, you may want to congratulate yourself for taking the time and energy to nourish yourself in this way and remember that this state of relaxation and clarity is accessible to you simply by attending to your inhale. and to exhale at any time no matter what is happening at any time of the day and allowing it to be a constant source of strength and energy for you and for others with whom you share your world and allowing it to provide a deep personal reserve of balance and well-being from which you can make conscious decisions and choices about how to live a more integrated, healthy and satisfying life.