A Ten Minute Body Scan You Can Do Lying Down

This is one of the simplest and most forgiving practices there is. You can do it in bed, on the floor or reclined in a chair. Read it through once, then try it with your eyes closed, or record yourself reading it slowly.

Lie down and let your arms rest by your sides. Take three slow breaths, letting each exhale be a little longer than the inhale. Feel the weight of your body being held by whatever is beneath you. You do not need to hold yourself up right now.

Bring your attention to your feet. Just notice what is there. Warmth or coolness. The touch of a sock or a blanket. Maybe tingling, maybe nothing much at all. Nothing much is a perfectly good answer. You are not trying to relax them. You are just saying hello.

Slowly move up. Ankles. Calves. Knees. Thighs. Take your time. If you notice tension, see if it wants to soften on an exhale. If it does not, that is fine too. Let it be there.

Move through the hips and lower back, the belly rising and falling with each breath, the chest, the shoulders. So many of us carry the whole day in our shoulders. Let them be heavy for a moment.

Down the arms to the hands and fingertips. Then the neck, the jaw, which is very often clenched without our knowing, the cheeks, the eyes, the forehead and finally the crown of the head.

Now widen your attention to hold the whole body at once, breathing. A single living thing, here, right now.

Rest there for a few breaths before you move. Then wiggle your fingers and toes and come back slowly. You have just spent ten minutes being fully in your body. For most of us, that is a rare and generous gift.