Body Scan: Managing Pain, Illness, & Stress with Guided Mindfulness Meditation [Audiobook] [Audio CD]

Sona (Author), Vidyamala (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2005

The Body Scan is a meditation practice that helps us to develop habits of greater ease and awareness of the body. Adopting a comfortable posture (lying down or sitting) we 'scan' through the whole body with our awareness, using the breath to 'let go' of areas of pain and/or tension.

This CD contains two body-scan meditations of different lengths. Body-scan meditation is a mindfulness practice that anyone can do while lying in bed or any other flat surface. The meditation directs attention to various parts of the body, bringing awareness and openness to the sensations that are experienced. By bringing awareness to these different areas, you'll begin to experience a relaxing of the muscles and joints, allowing you to be more fully present and at ease in your body.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A friend who is bed-bound with severe back pain told me that these CDs were "the best." -- Marlene Eltschig, Germany

The Body Scan has become part of my daily (and nightly) routine. It grounds and 'recharges' me. -- Collette Walsh, a writer and journalist who has lived with rheumatoid arthritis for 16 years.

About the Author

Vidyamala was born and raised in New Zealand and first became interested in meditation in 1985, when receiving hospital treatment for a spinal injury. She then moved to the UK in 1990 to live at a Retreat Centre in Shropshire, training further in meditation and preparing for ordination into the Western Buddhist Order. In 1996 she moved to Manchester and in 2001 she started teaching mindfulness-based approaches to others living with physical pain and illness. In 2004 she founded Breathworks with Sona. Her spinal condition deteriorated further in the late nineties and she now uses crutches or a wheelchair for mobility, but she says that her overall quality of life has continued to improve as she has become more and more adept at managing the responses to her physical condition and enriching her life in other ways.

The CD's are co-lead by Vidyamala's partner Sona. Sona started meditating in London in 1972 and was ordained into the Western Buddhist Order in 1974. He has led retreats in the UK, Germany, Holland, Sweden, North America, Australia and New Zealand. At present he runs courses in Buddhist studies, meditation and pain management.

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Breathworks (December 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0955012007
• ISBN-13: 978-0955012006
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,438,443 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An act of kindness, January 10, 2006

By 

Ms. F. Yule "Fee" (Pune, India) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Body Scan: Managing Pain, Illness, & Stress with Guided Mindfulness Meditation (Audio CD)

I love this CD!!!
Its amazing to have at my fingertips a tool that I can use to prompt me to take "time out" from the day (and activities), in confidence that I will return to it with more awareness of and connection with my mind and body after doing the practice.
I sometimes use it as a "stop-gap" between doing one thing then the next, and can choose whether to do it for 20 or 40 minutes. Sometimes, I just feel tired and lie down thinking its for 20 minutes but once I'm there, realise that its one of the kindest things I could do for myself - and keep lying on after its finished playing! I don't remember giving myself the permission to do that prior to using the CD (probably cos it was very rare for me to go just lie on my bed!).
Now it's a real treat - one to which I can give myself fully, and after doing so, I'm more wholly present to the rest of my experience(/my life?!).
I don't have loads of money, but I can safely say that this has been my best value-for-money CD ever, based on the amount of times I've played it, the quality of my "listening experience", and its endurance factor - cos I'll still be using it years from now.
Hope this helps anyone unsure about trying this CD.

But don't just take my word for it - decide for yourself!!

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This series, December 19, 2005

By 

Leslie K. Swift "Kev" (Bury) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Body Scan: Managing Pain, Illness, & Stress with Guided Mindfulness Meditation (Audio CD)

The CDs in this series were an integral part of the Breathworks Pain Management course at the Manchester Buddhist Centre but they need not be associated with pain, fatigue, long term illness. They will help anyone at all seeking peace, centredness and mindfulness. They are the ideal antidote to the feeling that we are being pulled this way and that, victims of our emotions. They reflect the love and clarity of the course leaders. In that timeless moment when they are leading the meditations they become guides to a world where all manner of things become possible, all manner of things shall be well. I cannot foresee a time in my life when these CDs will lose their power to restore, release and encourage.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic, December 16, 2005

By 

Cherylee (Uk) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Body Scan: Managing Pain, Illness, & Stress with Guided Mindfulness Meditation (Audio CD)

One of my biggest fears regarding my pain has always been that of my acknowledgement of it's continual presence. I have spent many years perfecting my technique of separating my brain and body to enable me to function to my greatest potential. However, this cd, threw a rather large spanner into my method, which has led to many discoveries. By actually taking time to reconnect to my body and to discover what is occuring, I've found a great deal of physical tension surrounding most of my muscles - which has been my body's natural method of protection for the pain, to hold it. Which in turn increases it. By doing the body scan this tension becomes released, and days which mentally I have wiped out as a day for pain have surprised me to become changeable. I would strongly recommend this cd as I feel it has given me tools for pain management and a useful connection between my brain and body.
Ehlers Danlos Type III, Fibromyalgia, Scoliosis