Body Scan Meditation

Our bodies carry the difficulty of lived experiences—whether that's a temporary bug, chronic illness, or compounding systemic stressors. It's understandable to want to ignore feelings of discomfort or pain because of what it might mean.

Body scan meditations open the door to truly noticing those physical sensations with openness and curiosity. This act of noticing without pressure to change how we're feeling can reduce feelings of stress and anxiety, and has even been shown to bring about some relief from physical pain.

• Settle into a relaxed position: Choose a position that feels best, whether seated or lying down, eyes open or closed. This practice can be as short as 3 minutes and as long as 30-45 minutes, so make the space you have time for.

• Begin with breath: Take a few slow, deep breaths in and out while beginning to notice how your body expands and contracts.

• Bottom's up: You'll be moving your focus through various parts of your body one at a time. It may be helpful to start from the bottom-most part of your body and up through the top:

  • Feet: toes, heels, ankles

  • Legs: shins, calves, knees, thighs, hips, glutes

  • Trunk: stomach, chest, back, shoulders

  • Head: neck, jaw, cheeks, head

• Notice sensations: As you move through each area of your body, what sensations do you notice? These could be a temperature, weight, tingling, pressure from the floor, or the fabric of your clothing.

• Zoom out: After you've moved through individual parts, take a moment to breathe while noticing the entirety of your body.

Audio Resources

UCLA Health has short body scan meditations, including one for sleep, in multiple languages.

Insight Timer offers narrated body scan meditations in various lengths of time, and for specific areas like sleep, stress reduction, or for chronic pain.

Sources

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23129105/

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12671-013-0218-6