Contentment: 10-minute body scan meditation, at night

About this practice

For the times at night when contentment takes up more room than you would like — 10 minutes, body scan. A guided session of about 10 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: contentment

Contentment is the absence of the next want, not the presence of everything. It lasts only as long as the wanting pauses.

It tends to show up as:

• Arriving without enjoying the arrival
• Immediately wanting the next thing
• Rest feeling unearned

Not wanting more for a few minutes is a trainable state, and it is available without acquiring anything.

Doing this at night

• Skip the clock — knowing the time rarely helps at night
• Keep the room dark, and use headphones rather than a speaker
• Expect to be awake for a while without treating that as a problem

Any practice at night works better with the display off. Looking at a screen resets the whole thing.

How body scan works

A body scan moves attention systematically through the body, region by region. It does not try to change what it finds — it builds a map of what is actually there, which is often different from what you assumed.

• Move slowly, head to feet or feet to head, and do not skip the uncomfortable areas
• Meet each region with plain curiosity rather than a verdict
• Numbness and absence of sensation are findings too

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Let the floor take your weight through your feet, and stop holding yourself up for a second.
2. 0:15Visit each area with plain curiosity, not with a verdict. Sensation is information, not a problem.
3. 0:30Nothing here needs to be pleasant. Neutral is fine. Dull is fine.
4. 0:43Bring your attention to the parts of you that are already still.
5. 0:56Let the exhale empty you a little more than usual, but not to the point of strain.
6. 1:11Let the exhale fall out rather than pushing it.
7. 1:22Notice your eyebrows. They're probably doing something small right now.
8. 1:34Notice your elbows. Odd things to have, but there they are.
9. 1:46Feel the soles of your feet. All the weight of you goes through them.
10. 2:00Let the whole of your left foot be heavy.
11. 2:11Say to yourself: this is uncomfortable, and I can stay with it for one more breath. Then take that breath.
12. 2:28You do not have to win against the settled feeling after striving. You only have to breathe until the next moment arrives.
13. 2:46Your mind will leave about a hundred times. Come back about a hundred times.
14. 3:00Start at the crown of the head and move down slowly. Do not skip to the parts that hurt.
15. 3:16Let's rest here in silence. It's short.
16. 3:26If your mind is quiet, don't grab at it. Quiet comes and goes too.
17. 3:40We will travel down through the body, one region at a time, and leave each one softer than we found it.
18. 3:57A gap. Don't rush to fill it with thinking.
19. 4:08Notice the tone of your own inner voice. Is it kind?
20. 4:20Move at the speed of your attention, not the speed of a checklist. There is no schedule to keep.
21. 4:36I'll stop for a moment. Take the pause at your own speed.
22. 4:49Let your belly rise first, then your chest, then the tops of your lungs.
23. 5:03Nothing changes for a moment.
24. 5:12Notice your ears, which mostly just receive things.
25. 5:23Notice that you don't have to start a breath. It arrives by itself.
26. 5:36Stay a moment longer than is comfortable.
27. 5:46Feel your calves, front and back.
28. 5:56Count four breaths silently. Then stop counting and just follow.
29. 6:08Let your body keep settling.
30. 6:17Feel your palms. Warm or cool, either is fine.
31. 6:28Breathe in through your nose and out through your nose, if that's comfortable.
32. 6:41Quiet for a moment. No need to fill it.
33. 6:52When the enough-ness of right now arrives, name it once, quietly, and go back to the breath. Naming is not fixing, and that is fine.
34. 7:11When the calm of not wanting more this minute presses in, put a hand on your chest or your belly. Warmth and pressure are anchors your body already trusts.
35. 7:32Feel your breath move down your back, all the way to your lower ribs.
36. 7:46Let the exhale carry a little of the settled feeling after striving with it. Not all of it. Just a little, one breath at a time.
37. 8:05Notice if you're being hard on yourself about any of this.
38. 8:17If you're bored, stay with the boredom for a moment. It's usually thinner than it looks.
39. 8:32Nothing to follow for a moment except your own breathing.
40. 8:44Your only job is to notice what is there, region by region, without fixing anything.
41. 8:58Let the quiet do its work.
42. 9:08Let your jaw, shoulders and hands be loose as you finish.
43. 9:20Let your breathing be completely ordinary again.
44. 9:30Let it be this simple.

Questions people ask

Meditation is a practice, not a treatment. If you are dealing with ongoing distress, please also reach out to a professional.