Everyday Mindfulness

Hello there, I have been on the Headspace Take 10,15, 20 etc and finding it really helpful for the guided meditation. I originally started with FPIAFW but found myself struggling to commit to it, one thing in common with both courses is the 'body scan'.

What exactly is it and how do you go about yours? As I'm not entirely sure what I am supposed to be focusing on its quite a vague scan that I perform and often find myself drifting away to other thoughts. For some reason I start imagining myself on a document scanner with the white light going down from head to toe! Quite sure that's not correct but not sure how else to go about it and it breaks up my meditation

Usually I have tension in my shoulders & back, sometimes chest but legs feel ok, should I be focusing on the shoulders, actually seeing them in my thoughts perhaps under a spotlight or something?

I have seen advice in various places such as 'If you notice any uncomfortable sensations, focus on them. Breathe into them, and notice what happens.' Everyone is different but how do I breath into my shoulder tension?

Thanks

one of the aims of the body scan is , not surprisingly, to help you become aware of body sensations.
you're not thinking about the part of the body that your awareness is focussed on e.g. knee but aware of and exploring the sensations that are in that part e.g. knee.
that sensation may be hot ,cold, tingling, numb or no sensation at all.
then as you move your awareness around the body or breathe your awareness around you do the same at each part.
accepting what's there in that moment.
thats another part of the body scan - acceptance

another part of the body scan is becoming aware of how much the mind wanders because as you do the body scan your mind will wander off, planning , reliving the past, doing the shopping, making the tea etc.
any thoughts are just noticed and let go, without feeling bad or giving yourself a hard time about having them, then you guide your awareness back to the part of the body you're focussing on and carry on.

your awareness is only focussed on the shoulders when it comes to that part of the body.
if you do have pain in one part of the body that will try to draw your awareness, usually you try to just notice it and come back to the scan, if thats possible.

when you do get to focus on an area of pain then you try to do just that, 'breathing ' your awareness into that area is a good way of staying there.
letting go of any thoughts or emotions or stories attached to that pain and focussing on the sensation of the pain itself, noticing any ebb or flow any shape or shift.
the body scan isn't about trying to fix or change anything or achieve any special state of mind.
it's about learning to be present with whatever is there in that moment.
it helps you put the '7 pillars of mindfulness' into practice.

we sometimes use the 20 minute body scan (i think it's that length in fpiafw) as our session homework for the first two weeks for people who are in chronic pain and can't lie or sit for 40 minutes.
but some have found having awareness of both legs at once and both arms at once a bit confusing. others have tried splitting our body scan which does each arm and leg separately in to 2 x20 minute sessions.
it's horses for courses really.

if you want the techy stuff, the intentions of the body scan are:

experiencing of physical sensations
Learning to be intentional about how we pay attention
Relating skilfully to the mind wandering and to difficulties when it occurs (acknowledging and bringing back)
allowing things to be as they are - no goals to be achieved, no special state, no right way for the body to feel
learning to direct breath through/to different parts of the body + taking attention to experience of this
learning to notice and relate differently to our sensations and mental states,

When I did the bodyscan week I could very, very rarely sense any feelings in feet, ankles, knees and don't even get me started on the pelvis/hip area. Not a sausage, but I kept telling myself that there is no right way and in time feelings in those areas would show themselves if need be.

Self compassion... And trust me, this is extremely hard for my mindset. I am sooooo used to beating myself up for not getting things 100% right first time or at the very least, the first few times. So I'm learning to give myself virtual hugs. Awwwwwwww come here you big lug

Now I am on the Sounds & Thoughts week. And for someone with an over active mind you would have thought that thoughts themselves would have come thick and fast when it's time to move from sounds to thoughts. But I nearly always get nuffink. Nada. Zero. In 10 Sound & Thoughts meds I think I've had 4 or 5 thoughts that I've been aware of. But again, I'm not beating myself up about it. It is what is.

I think overall though its the Sounds med I am finding the hardest so far. Not labeling sounds and accepting them as raw sounds will, for me, take loads of practice. Doesn't help that it's deathly silent where I meditate apart from a pond. Again, it is what it is.

I'm not quite sure what the point of this post is.... Erm, errr there isn't one. Sorry.

course there's a point. You made a very good one. one that happens to everyone I've spoken to. The thoughts that run off when you try to observe them. You put it so well!
observing sounds where it's quiet is difficult because they're so subtle.
We had the opposite yesterday at a day retreat.
there was a very loud film club in the room above ours.
We were in an isolated spot in the country so you'd never have expected it.
7 hours of silent mediation with wars and trains and all sorts of stuff going on upstairs! It does make it interesting though.