Sunday Evening Body Scan
Hello All
This week I’m sharing a new recording of the body scan meditation that I made recently while working with a group from Chronic Pain Ireland.
I run a monthly drop-in session for CPI members focusing on mindfulness as a way of helping to manage chronic pain and long-term illness - you can see a library of talks provided by CPI, including a talk I gave on mindfulness and chronic pain, for free here.
All the guidance is in the recording below but just a quick word before beginning.
Meditation is a way to develop the skill of attention and learn how to focus. But it is not just about focus. The nature of the awareness we bring to our experience is also crucial. We encourage a kind, curious, non-judgemental form of awareness. We often use the “spotlight of awareness” metaphor - we are not shining a harsh, unforgiving light on ourselves, more like a warm, gentle lamplight.
If you’re coming to this on a day when there’s a lot of pain or discomfort in the body or there are some particularly strong, difficult thoughts or emotions about then maybe it’s worth just listening to the practice for now to get an idea of what it is about and coming back to actually follow along at a time when there is a bit less going on for you.