Jon Kabat Zinn Body Scan Meditation GUIDED MEDITATION

this is side one of the first tape of the stress reduction and relaxation program that you have joined at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center by playing this tape regularly and by doing what it says to do you are assuming an active and powerful role in improving your health during this process it is best if you can manage to stay awake throughout the duration of the tape this side is a guided body scan meditation designed to help you to enter and to dwell in a state of very deep physical and mental relaxation it is best

to arrange to do it in a warm and protected place in which you feel comfortable and secure and at a time when you will not be interrupted by anyone or by the telephone arranged address in loose and comfortable clothing and particularly clothing that does not constrict your waist and your breathing it's helpful to see this time as a time that is totally set aside for you as an opportunity to be by yourself and to be with yourself fully see if you can allow it to be a nourishing time a time you deserve to give yourself

some positive energy and attention a time in which to open to the sources of strength and healing within yourself in doing work of this kind it's important to remember not to try too hard to relax this will just create tension what we will be doing is becoming aware in each passing moment and just accepting what is happening in yourself looking at it clearly and seeing it as it is because it's already here it's part of your experience in the moment for better or for worse let go of the tendency which we all have to want

things to be different from how they are right now and allow things to be exactly as you find them allow yourself to be exactly as you are use the instructions for guidance as best you can watching your body and the activity of your mind as we go along letting go of judgmental and critical thoughts in particular and just doing what it says to do as best you can and being aware of how you feel of what is happening remember that there is no right way to feel while you are doing this the way you are

feeling is the way you are feeling right now just accepting it and giving yourself permission to feel what you're feeling and seeing that it's okay do this in whatever posture or position is comfortable if lying on your back is not comfortable it's really your sensitivity and level of attention and not the way you are lying which is important so now let's arrange to lie down on our backs if possible on a mat or a thick rug or or on your bed and allowing your eyes to close gently if if you feel comfortable with it letting

the arms lie alongside your body palms open towards the ceiling if that feels comfortable and allowing the feet to fall away from each other and slowly bringing your attention to the fact that you are breathing not manipulating your breath in any way but simply experiencing it as the air moves in and out of your body and directing your attention in particular to your belly to your abdomen and feeling the sensations in that region as the breath comes into your body and the abdomen expands gently and as the breath moves out of your body and the

belly deflates and just following with your mind's eye the rhythmic movements of your belly with each breath the rising of your belly on the in-breath and the falling on the out-breath and on each out breath just letting go letting your body become heavy as it sinks a little bit deeper into the floor or into your mat just full attention in each moment to your breathing the in-breath and the out-breath following rhythmically the one on the other as the body sinks with every out breath into the floor into your mat as you let go now when

you feel ready to let's shift the focus of our attention to the toes of the left foot just taking your mind and moving it away from your belly and down the left leg all the way to the foot and all the way out to your toes and just becoming aware of whatever the feelings are in this region of your body there may be sensations of tingling moisture of itching of warmth whatever they are it's not important but just feeling your toes as they are and if you find that you are registering a blank when you

tune to this region then just experiencing not feeling experiencing what's there and just breathing with these sensations experiencing the big toe and if you can the little toe not moving them but just feeling them individually and perhaps the toes in between and as you breathe in just imagining that the breath is moving right down through the lungs and through the belly and down the left leg all the way to your toes and as you breathe out that the breath is just moving back up from your toes and ultimately out your nose so that you're breathing

in down to your toes and breathing out from your toes and when you're ready just on the out-breath letting go of your toes completely allowing this region of your body to just dissolve in your mind's eye and move your attention and bring it to focus on the bottom of your left foot and whatever feelings there are in this particular region breathing with it feeling the bottom of your foot and when you're ready bring down the leg to the bottom of your foot and on the out-breath breathing out from the bottom of your foot and just

letting it go and coming to focus now on the heel the place where your heel is making contact with the floor or the mat or whatever and just feeling the sense of touch and pressure and when you're ready breathing into the heel and on the out-breath just letting go of your heel becoming aware of the top of your foot and whatever feelings or lack of feelings there are from that particular region not so much thinking about your foot as just being here with it feeling it letting it predominate the field of your awareness at the

moment breathing with your foot and letting that awareness spread to the ankle as well and feeling your own left ankle breathing within and when you're ready breathing directing the breath down to the ankle and on the out-breath just letting go of 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 left lower leg the shin in front and the calf muscle in back and any sensations feelings in your lower left leg not just on the surface but deep as well right

down to the bones in the lower leg experiencing this region as it is not trying to make it be any different just accepting the feelings that you feel breathing with them or when you're ready just letting go of this part of your body as well as you relax and sink even deeper into into the mat into the floor as you let call letting the focus now move up to your knee peeling your knee the kneecap and sides and back of the knee and deep into a joint just experiencing your left knee breathing with it and

on an out breath just letting it dissolve as well and moving now into the region of the thigh above the knee on the surface and deep end all the way up to the groin on the inside and the the hip and on the outside and just experiencing your left thigh letting it be as soft and and relaxed as possible if there is any tension in the thigh or anywhere else when you come to it just allowing it to exit on each out breath allowing the thigh to be soft and relaxed breathing with your thigh and

when you're ready taking a deeper breath in down into the thigh and as you breathe out just letting it dissolve and relax and soften as you let go then let's move over to the right leg and become aware of the feelings in the right toes the toes of the right foot and without wiggling them if you if you can just feeling the sensations of the big toe and the little toe and the others breathing directing the in-breath down into the foot and right to the toes and on the out-breath just letting the breath come up

from the toes and right out through your nose just registering the sensations that are in this region not judging them or worrying about what your toes should feel like but just allowing them to be exactly as you're experiencing them now and when you're ready taking a deeper breath in down into the toes and on the out-breath just letting your toes dissolve in the field of your awareness and letting the attention shift onto the bottom of of your right foot and this time including the heel in the place where the foot makes contact with the floor

with the mat just tuning to any and all sensations breathing with them and when you're ready just on an out breath letting go of the bottom of your foot as you relax as you let go of this region and let the attention gently move to the top of the foot and to the ankle breathing in and breathing out experiencing this region of your body for when you're ready just letting it go letting it relax and soften and dissolve and in your mind's eye as you become aware of the lower leg the region of the body

like most others that we don't pay much attention to and take for granted now just feeling this extremely important part of your body as it is appreciating it perhaps when you're ready breathing into it and as you breathe out just letting go of it as well and become aware of your right knee I'm breathing down into the knee and on the out-breath letting go of the knee as well and now the right thigh the entire region of the upper leg between the hip and pelvis and growing all the way to the knee feeling your right

thigh any sensations at all being as precise as you can about seeing and feeling these sensations whether they be sensations of warmth or tingling or heaviness or lightness blood flow whatever and just sensing feeling your thigh as it is and when you're ready breathing into the thigh and as you breathe out just letting go of this region tail and becoming aware now of the pelvis the entire region of your pelvis from one hip to the other aware of the buttocks in contact with the mat or the floor and the sensations of contact and of weight

and perhaps a heaviness or whatever you're feeling becoming aware of the region of the genitals and whatever sensations or lack of sensations you are experiencing in this region becoming aware of the hips themselves and just breathing with the entirety of your pelvis and when you're ready directing the breath on the in-breath down into your pelvis and as you breathe out just letting the pelvis soften and release in any tension in it go with the breath as you sink even deeper into a state of relaxed awareness and stillness totally present in each moment content to just

be and to just be right here as you are right now and let's direct our attention now to the lower back to that region that connects up with the pelvis that comes out of the pelvis I'm just experiencing whatever sensations are here this is of course a region that for many of us sometimes gives us problems there may be sensations of some intensity and just for the moment experiencing your back as it is letting the breath penetrate really move into every region of your lower back on the in-breath and on the out-breath just letting any

tension and tightness any holding on or any intensity just be there and flow out with the out-breath to the extent that it will and as you breathe out just letting go of the lower back and moving up into the region of your upper back and just feeling the sensations in this region breathing with them you may even feel your ribcage aging back as well as in front expand on the in-breath the ribs being in back as well as in front coming all the way around to the spine and any tension or tightness or the reservoirs

of of fatigue or discomfort in the upper back region or central back region just letting them dissolve and move out with the out-breath as you let go and sink even deeper into stillness and relaxation and allowing your attention to shift to the belly again and experiencing the rising and falling of your belly as you breathe and just allowing the awareness to expand from the belly in the front of your body to the chest as well feeling the movements of your diaphragm that umbrella-like muscle that separates your belly from your chest from your heart in your

lungs and just for a moment experiencing the chest as it expands on the in-breath and and track somewhat on the out-breath and if you can tuning to the rhythmic beating of your heart within your chest feeling it if you can as well as the lungs expanding on either side of your heart nourishing every region every organ every tissue of your body with oxygenated blood each time the heart pumps blood throughout the body and as the Blood returns to the heart giving off of waste products of metabolism and purifying the body in a rhythmic cycle of

renewed energy and continuous detoxification purification only out-breath just experienced senior your chest your belly ends you lie here and the muscles on the chest wall breasts the entirety of your the front of your body and when you're ready not an out breath just letting this region dissolve into relaxation as well and allowing your attention to move to your fingertips and we'll do both hands together just becoming aware of the sensations now in the tips of your fingers and thumbs you may feel some pulsations from the blood flow may feel a dampness or a warmth or

whatever just feeling your fingers the insides of them and the backs of your fingers right out to the tips and letting the field of your awareness expand to include the palms of your hands and the backs of your hands and the wrists and here again perhaps picking up the pulsations of the arteries in the wrists as the blood flows to and from your hands becoming aware as well of the forearms and the elbows any and all sensations regardless of discomfort or problems with one region or another just experiencing your body as it is and in

particular now your arms allowing the field of your awareness to include now the upper arms right up to the armpits and shoulders and shoulders are a reservoir of tension for many of us accumulated tension and often la causa some pain and perhaps neck problems during the day stresses often wind up creating this tension in our shoulders neck and at the moment just experiencing your shoulders if there is any tension just on the in-breath breathing into your shoulders and into your arms and in the out-breath just letting that tension dissolve as you breathe out letting go

of the tension and letting go of your arms all the way from the fingertips up through the shoulders themselves as you sink even deeper into a state of relaxed observation and awareness chose being present in each moment letting go of whatever thoughts come up or whatever impulses to move or to do something else and just experiencing yourself in this Monde and now let's let the focus of our attention move on to the neck to the back of the neck and the spine in the neck region and to the throat and feeling the entirety of this

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 the neck region breathing in down into the neck intentionally and on the out-breath just letting go of the neck as well letting it relax and dissolve in your mind's eye and becoming aware of your face another region that often stores accumulated tension over the course of a day and let's focus first on the jaw and the chin just experiencing it as it is any sensations right up in the

hinge region of the jaw breathing with this region in on the out-breath when you're ready just letting it dissolve becoming aware of your lips and your your mouth the teeth and the gums your tongue hmm the roof of your mouth and the back of the mouth and throat and just breathing with this region and the sensations the feelings of your mouth and lips and cheeks and on and out breath just letting this region dissolve as well and becoming aware of your nose and now feeling the breath as it moves in and out let the nostrils

through us being aware of yourself as the breathing goes on and be aware of you your eyes and the eyebrows and the space between the eyebrows on the entire region around your eyes the eyelids and often there's tension in this region as well just if there is any tension on the out-breath just letting it leave as the breath leaves allowing your your temples to relax and bus' all as you experience the sensations on the side of your head and breathing to your ears and breathing out from your ears and letting them go as well well

now the far head drills breathing with your forehead letting it soften to see if stored emotions often tension and anger frustration and if you sense any emotions associated with the tension or feelings and the muscles of your face just being aware of that and breathing in nourishing your face asking you to relax and dissolve into the relaxation and stillness now just coming up on the entirety of your face including the forehead breathing with the entirety of your face as if you were coming up from underneath from 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 letting it be as it is not working over time just letting it be letting it be still and neutral your own face relaxed and ended peace and now becoming aware of the back of the head and the top of the head the entire region of the cranium and upper regions of the skull then breathing in now to this whole region breathing out from this region and focusing on a spot now at the very top of your

head about the size of a 1/4 perhaps I'm just letting the breath move from your nose right up in your mind's eye tube to the spot at the top of your head the very crown of your head and breathing out from this region right down through your nose again and then just imagining that that spot opens up can open up like the blowhole of a whale and that you can breathe right through the top of your head so breathing in and out right through the top of your head letting the air and the energy move

right out of your head and right back down into it so that you're imagining that you're breathing now from the top of the head right through the body and out the bottoms of the feet I'm breathing now in through the bottoms of the feet and right out the top of your head and just watching and allowing your breath to move in this way over the entire length of your body all of your muscles in a deep state of relaxation and the mind simply aware of this flow of energy this flow of breath experiencing your entire

body breathing and when you're ready just feeling your body as a whole from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet lying here in a state of stillness and deep relaxation and sinking deeper and deeper into a state of well-being as we come in touch with feeling complete feeling whole as we are in touch with our essential completeness a realm in which our limitations are not confining a realm of oneness a realm of silence of stillness of peace open to things just as they are in each moment and seeing that this attitude

and the stillness itself is healing and allowing 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 just seeing ourselves as complete right now as we are looking and experiencing deeply the fullness of of our life and the limitless qualities of life experiencing the fullness of our ability to love and to care and experiencing being totally awake right now you and as the tape ends bringing your awareness back to your body again and feeling it as a whole now

you might want to wiggle your toes and fingers and allowing this calmness and the centeredness to remain with you as you move now and as you resume the activities of your life you may wish to congratulate yourself on having taken the time and the energy to nourish yourself in this way and to remember that this state of relaxation and clarity is accessible to you by simply attending to the in-breath and to the out-breath in any moment no matter what's happening at any time of of the day and letting it be a source of constant strength

and energy for you and for others with whom you share your world and letting it provide a deep personal reservoir of balance and well-being from which you may make conscious decisions and choices about how to live a more integrated and healthy and satisfying life