Begin by bringing your attention into your body.
You can close your eyes if that’s comfortable for you.
Notice your body (whether lying down) or seated, feeling the weight of your body on the chair, on the floor.
Take a few deep breaths.
As you take a deep breath, bring in more oxygen enlivening the body. And as you exhale, have a sense of relaxing more deeply.
Notice your feet on the floor, notice the sensations of your feet touching the floor. The weight and pressure, vibration, heat.
Notice your legs against the chair, pressure, pulsing, heaviness, lightness.
Notice your back against the chair.
Bring your attention into your stomach area. If your stomach is tense or tight, let it soften. Take a breath.
Notice your hands. Are your hands tense or tight? See if you can allow them to soften.
Notice your arms. Feel any sensation in your arms? Let your shoulders be soft.
Notice your neck and throat. Let them be soft. Relax.
Soften your jaw. Let your face and facial muscles go soft.
Then notice your whole body present. Take one more breath.
Be aware of your whole body as best you can. Take a breath.
Sensations might include buzzing, or tingling, pressure, tightness or temperature, or anything else you notice. What if you don’t notice any strong sensations or things feel neutral? You can simply notice that, too. There are no right answers. Just tune in to what’s present, as best you can, without judgement. You’ll notice judgement puts a different spin on things.
You will notice thoughts trying to cloud your mind. Let the thought form and then visually put it in a box and let it float away. I think of it as a stream in front of me, and I physically watch the box float away. Don’t think about why you thought about it; don’t try to analyze the thought. Think back to your body.
The main point is being curious and open to what you are noticing, investigating the sensations as fully as possible, and then intentionally releasing the focus of attention before shifting to the next area to explore.
Start from the beginning of the body scan again. Work from your feet up. Think about the pain as you move up. Don’t analyze why you have the pain. Visualize the pain like a ball of barbed wire, think of it softening and slowly start spreading it out until the wire becomes a rope and then a string and gets thin and flat; imagine the wind could blow it away. Physically you may still have the pain, but once that visual has happened, moved to the next part of your body. Every time you feel pain, visualize the ball. This may be quick, it also can be time consuming. Don’t let time be your guide.
And then when you’re ready, you can open your eyes.
Do this everyday. I do it at the beginning or end of my day, sometimes both and when I am having a rough day, I take a break to do it at any time.