Body Scan

Hi, welcome back. I'm here today with Chelsea, my friend and assistant, and we're going to walk you through a body scan. And this body scan is something that I'd like to do before and after most of my asana practices. So I invite you to join along and when we're done you can take your favorite asana class here on yoga anytime and then join us again and take the body scan at the end and notice if there are any differences. So let's get started. I'm gonna have Chelsea lie on her back and if you're at home go ahead and just find a comfortable position. If you need to bolster under your knees or anything you're welcome to do that. If you want to bolster under your upper back or something you can do that as well. Just a position where you can lie comfortably. If you're a little bit chilly you're welcome to put a blanket over you as well. And then just gently close your eyes. And the intention of the body scan is for you to observe and do a lot or resist the urge I should say to fix. Resist the urge to make changes and just watch with your eyes closed. So to begin just feel what is touching the floor and what is not touching the floor. And when you do that just notice where your attention goes. Do you immediately go to what's not touching? Where the gaps are? Or do you immediately go to what is touching? And then we'll just start at the feet. So just feel your legs and your feet. Does one heel have a stronger connection to the floor than the other? Does it feel heavier? Are your feet pointing in the same direction? And again I'll remind you just notice the urge to try to make your feet even just by drawing attention to them. They don't need to be. It's just an opportunity to go in and explore. And then feel maybe one leg feels longer than the other. And then notice your knees. Are your knees pointing in the same direction? And then notice your pelvis. Which side of your pelvis feels heavier? Maybe one side of your pelvis feels higher, closer to the shoulder than the other. And then notice your lower back. How much space is there between your lower back and the floor? And then notice your rib cage. Does one side of your rib cage feel heavier than another? And your shoulder blades as well. And we can take that down to the arms. How are your lying? Are your palms up or palms down? It's not right or wrong. Just notice. And are your hands equally spaced from the body? Or is one closer or farther to your body? And let's go back up to the shoulders. Does one shoulder feel closer to your ear than the other?

And then notice your head. Is your head maybe tilted to one side? Or is it turned to one side? And if you were lying on a balance beam, to which side would you fall? And don't try and stop it. Don't try and not fall. You're safe. You're on the floor. But if you were lying on a balance beam, where would your weight be? And is it the same for the upper and lower body? Is it the same side that's heavier? And if you were lying in the beach in the sand, what imprint would your body make? For those of you on the East Coast, if you were lying in the snow, what imprint would your body make? Where are the valleys? Where are the crests? Just take a few deep breaths. Just scanning the whole body. Just observing. You'll find if you do return to this practice after your asana class, that the things may be different. Things may be the same. But either way, the ability to observe will continue to improve. And you'll have an enhanced understanding of how you inhabit your own body. And really, to me, that's what the practice is all about. So I'm just going to slowly have you come out of this very gently. So just make some small familiar movements. You can move the fingers, the toes. You can turn the head a little bit side to side. And then just bend your knees up one at a time, please. And then go ahead and just roll over onto your side very gently like you're kind of just falling over. And then as you start to press yourself up, it's the same thing. You're continuing to roll forward like your head is the last thing to come up. And then I'll come over and join you, Chelsea. Just have a seat. Rest your hands on your thighs. And just close your eyes gently. And just bring your hands together at your chest. Gently bow your head down. And then just gently lift your chin. And ever so slightly, open your eyes. Namaste. Namaste, Chelsea.