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The body scan meditation is often classified as a healing mindfulness meditation because it helps you change your relationship with your body. The practice can benefit your mental and physical health by bringing you into the moment with compassion and awareness.
Body scans were first introduced in the 1970s by Jon Kabat-Zinn, who is a mindfulness teacher and the founder of the mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program that has supported tens of thousands of people and hundreds of businesses develop their attentiveness and meet experiences with greater understanding and resilience. Body scans are a part of the MBSR training process because they build mind-body awareness, which helps in myriad ways including easing anxiety and depression and bringing you into a state of restorative relaxation.
Kabat-Zinn explains below how they can support the healing process through mindfulness.
"If you make use of any of [body scans], it is highly likely that you will find that they will bring new life to you, and bring you to a new appreciation for your body and how much it can serve as a vehicle for embodying here and now what is deepest and best in yourself, including your dignity, your beauty, your vitality, and your mind when it is open and undisturbed." -Jon Kabat-Zinn
So let’s dive in and go over the basics of the practice. Body scans can be simple and broken down as follows:
- Begin by finding a place you get a few minutes of silence. Sit or find a reclined position that is comfortable. If you are at the end of your day, body scan meditations are an excellent practice to unwind before sleep.
- Take a few mindful breaths to center your focus. While breathing, close your eyes, and slowly bring all focus to your left toes. As you focus on your toes with all awareness, notice feelings and sensations, tensions or ease, and acknowledge what you feel with compassion. Move your focus to the top of the foot, Then move your focus on the top and bottom of the foot, then the ankle and leg, and so on until, it is time to begin again at the right toes. Once you have traced awareness across both legs, you can focus on your pelvic area, your stomach and lower back, your chest and upper back, and down each arm. Notice the sensations in each body part as you bring awareness to your shoulders, your neck, and jaw. Notice the muscles in your face and any tightness or tension. Finally, trace your awareness to the very crown of the head. As you move from the toes to the top of your head, you may notice areas of discomfort or tension. If this is the case, allow what is and continue to gently focus on the breath and the body.
- Once your awareness has traced the full length of your body, complete the practice by tuning into your entire body at once. Breathe mindfully again, and begin to take deeper breaths as you bring your attention gently back to the room. You may notice an emotional or energetic shift in your mind and body. You can always sit for a while longer and meditate on how you feel, or begin the process of body scanning again.
The body scan meditation traces awareness throughout the body with conscious attention and no judgment. The reason it's considered a healing meditation is because if you are in pain, for instance, see if you can label the pain. Is it dull or throbbing, is it sharp? Is it scattered or focused? Moving from one part of the body to the next, you can begin to cultivate a different relationship with the body's sensations with such mindfulness.
When the you get to the end of your session, you may notice unexpected sensations in the body. This is natural because we are raising body awareness. If this is the case, continue to focus on body with compassion and gentle awareness, take a few breaths to come back to the present moment, or repeat the exercise to explore further what you feel; there is often an ease of anxiety or tension, but if you feel any discomfort, sit with it for a moment and simply focus on the breath.
If you practice for the first time and find that you rushed through, you can begin again with more mindful awareness, knowing that each time you practice will get easier and more beneficial the more you practice. While such a meditation can be difficult for some at first because it requires a little time and patience, keep in mind that even a more fast-paced body scan can reorient body awareness and bring you to the present moment quickly. You can even practice quickly in your office or the bathroom before a meeting or in a moment of stress once you have practiced a few times.
How Body Scan Meditation Relieves Stress and Increases Wellness
Body scan meditations help a person feel the sensations of the body with awareness and mindful attention. Below, we'll look at a few of the many benefits of the practice and how it can support you to release tension and gain perspective.
- Trains your body to relax and find ease: Have you ever noticed the physical sensations you have before a big presentation or when you are under extreme stress? For some people, the body heats up and the breath goes shallow, whereas for some, there is tension in the chest or stomach. By practicing a body scan meditation, even a short one, we can identify areas of the body that are tensing without your conscious awareness. This will help us to train the body to find a more relaxed state, even in times of stress. Simply by meeting the tension with compassion and awareness, we can shift it.
- Reduce the discomfort of stress, worry, depression, and anxiety: Mindfulness meditation through body scanning is an incredibly powerful way to address stress or unsavory thoughts. You allow a break from busy thoughts by getting embodied and directing all attention to sensation. There has even been a research study showing how even 15 minutes of meditation practice can support us in creating positive affect more than an entire day of vacation.
- Helps people who suffer from chonic pain: Pain and bodily tension can also be alleviated with mindful awareness. According to the Mayo Clinic, a regular mindfulness practice can support those with chronic pain by helping them release negative thoughts that exacerbate the pain and the Cleveland Clinic in an article on body scan meditations states that the mindful awareness of this practice can help people with chronic pain better cope.
- Focuses the mind and creates a more harmonious and resilient mindset: Cultivating more focus is a positive side effect of mindfulness meditations and body scan meditations because it helps ease scattered thoughts by focusing more on sensation and breath with compassionate awareness and raises emotional intelligence.
- Invites your nervous system to relax: Mindfulness body scan meditation helps your body to relax, triggering the parasympathetic nervous system, which is our rest and digest mode. This helps to calm down in the moment and release stress. Body scan meditations help because they train you to recognize how your body automatically reacts to stress, which can help you avoid going down a stressful or anxious course of thought.
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Techniques of Body Scan Meditation
Guided Body Scan Meditation Resources
An online guide or mentor can be very beneficial when practicing body scan meditation at home, or you can find a meditation and mindfulness teacher in the area where you live.
There are also written scripts for a body scan meditation; after reading, you can practice independently.
If you join an online community of fellow mindfulness practitioners and meditators, you can share experiences and discuss the benefits and obstacles of guided body scan meditation.
Finally, I recommend a mindful journaling practice in which you can explore your experiences day-to-day. This helps with accountability and can show you progress that is being made in everything from your ability to practice to stress levels and physical health.
Body scan meditations can be practiced daily for maximum impact and can be complemented by other practices such as progressive muscle relaxation, yoga, or mindful breathing and mindful journaling exercises.
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