Be In Your Body For a Moment
When we practice this mindful body scan,
we can learn more about how we feel, what we need, where we hold our stress, and what parts of our body want attention.
we can learn more about how we feel, what we need, where we hold our stress, and what parts of our body want attention.
Our body knows what it needs to be happy and healthy, and will tell us if we take a moment to observe. We can become so busy or detached from our body that we don't acknowledge the amount of tension we're holding, the emotional pain causing us physical stress, or the level to which we're physically depleted. We can balance the stress, busyness, and pressure we put our body through when we consciously release our physical stress, notice what emotional needs require care, recognize how hard we push our body, and take a few moments to appreciate our amazing body. Even just relaxing for 15 minutes with this exercise will restore our energy and empower us to be more mindful of our body moving forward. Emotional stress is depleting and can cause us to disconnect from ourselves, so this exercise is excellent for bringing our full awareness back to body to allow us to again connect to and deeply feel our physical self.
Anytime we find pain, stress, or discomfort within our body, we breathe in refreshing stillness to balance the busyness that originally put the stress there. We smile to our body, then we let go of the built up tension, emotional stress, and all other suffering on our exhale, simply enjoying breathing and being present with body.
Anytime we find pain, stress, or discomfort within our body, we breathe in refreshing stillness to balance the busyness that originally put the stress there. We smile to our body, then we let go of the built up tension, emotional stress, and all other suffering on our exhale, simply enjoying breathing and being present with body.
Mindful Body Scan
In this exercise, we practice being mindful of the physical sensations in our body. Just like with any mindful practice, if our focus wanders or drifts in a new direction, we do not criticize ourselves - we smile, and gently return our attention to the exercise.
We usually close our eyes for the duration of this exercise, so I recommend reading the entire exercise before beginning.
When you are ready to begin, find a comfortable place to sit where you won’t be disturbed for about ten minutes. Turn your phone on airplane mode and silence any distractions. Connect with your breath, inhale slowly 1-2-3-4 then exhale slowly 1-2-3-4-5. Allow your breathing to be a little deeper than usual. Breathe for as long as you need to feel comfortable and calm. Once relaxed, close your eyes.
Envision a thin band of beautiful white light circling above your head like a halo. Use your imagination to try and see this band of light as clearly as possible. This light is bright and pure, glowing with undiluted love. It is a nonjudgmental light, only here to provide insight and understanding. As this exercise progresses, this band will move slowly down your body. To help with the visualization, keep your eyes closed, breathe slowly and deeply, and concentrate on imagining that warm, white, band of light as you slowly move it down your body. Become aware of the sensations within your physical body wherever the energetic band of light is touching.
Begin at the very top of your head with the light encircling your skull like a crown. Notice if you feel any physical sensations where the band of light is scanning. How does your hair feel? Does your scalp tingle? Do your muscles feel tense? Is your head hot? Does your mind feel clear? Neutrally observe your sensations without judgement, holding the glowing light on any area you're investigating. There are no right or wrong answers in this exercise, we are simply developing insight about our body.
As the light moves down your head, feel its warmth melt away any tension in your forehead. Bring the light slowly down over your face, relaxing each muscle it touches. Relax your temples, the muscles around your eyes, the muscles in your cheeks, and any tension in your jaw, while becoming more and more aware of all sensations in the face, even very subtle ones. What can you feel? Do the tips of your ears feel different than the lobes? Remember to breathe deeply as you move the band downward little by little, going as slowly as you like as you check in with each part of your head. As the light touches your mouth, what do you observe? Can you feel your lips? Can you feel your saliva? Can you relax your mouth even more? Deeply investigate your body, feeling the teeth, tongue, inner cheeks, throat, and jaw. If you’re having trouble feeling any sensations, imagine your band of light glowing brighter, shining in a more concentrated, narrow beam.
Wrap the beam of light around the base of your head, and notice any feelings in the throat, back of your head, and in your neck. As this imaginary light continues to move down your neck, what sensations can you feel in your lower throat and where your neck connects to your shoulders? Is there tightness? Is there tension? Do you feel discomfort? Remember to scan nonjudgmentally, simply looking for insight. Release any tension by blowing it out on the exhale. Inhaling, noticing. Exhaling, releasing. Inhaling, present with your body. Exhaling, releasing your tension.
Envision a thin band of beautiful white light circling above your head like a halo. Use your imagination to try and see this band of light as clearly as possible. This light is bright and pure, glowing with undiluted love. It is a nonjudgmental light, only here to provide insight and understanding. As this exercise progresses, this band will move slowly down your body. To help with the visualization, keep your eyes closed, breathe slowly and deeply, and concentrate on imagining that warm, white, band of light as you slowly move it down your body. Become aware of the sensations within your physical body wherever the energetic band of light is touching.
Begin at the very top of your head with the light encircling your skull like a crown. Notice if you feel any physical sensations where the band of light is scanning. How does your hair feel? Does your scalp tingle? Do your muscles feel tense? Is your head hot? Does your mind feel clear? Neutrally observe your sensations without judgement, holding the glowing light on any area you're investigating. There are no right or wrong answers in this exercise, we are simply developing insight about our body.
As the light moves down your head, feel its warmth melt away any tension in your forehead. Bring the light slowly down over your face, relaxing each muscle it touches. Relax your temples, the muscles around your eyes, the muscles in your cheeks, and any tension in your jaw, while becoming more and more aware of all sensations in the face, even very subtle ones. What can you feel? Do the tips of your ears feel different than the lobes? Remember to breathe deeply as you move the band downward little by little, going as slowly as you like as you check in with each part of your head. As the light touches your mouth, what do you observe? Can you feel your lips? Can you feel your saliva? Can you relax your mouth even more? Deeply investigate your body, feeling the teeth, tongue, inner cheeks, throat, and jaw. If you’re having trouble feeling any sensations, imagine your band of light glowing brighter, shining in a more concentrated, narrow beam.
Wrap the beam of light around the base of your head, and notice any feelings in the throat, back of your head, and in your neck. As this imaginary light continues to move down your neck, what sensations can you feel in your lower throat and where your neck connects to your shoulders? Is there tightness? Is there tension? Do you feel discomfort? Remember to scan nonjudgmentally, simply looking for insight. Release any tension by blowing it out on the exhale. Inhaling, noticing. Exhaling, releasing. Inhaling, present with your body. Exhaling, releasing your tension.
As the band of light reaches your shoulders, imagine it broadening to enclose the width of your torso and chest. Breathe, and notice any muscle tightness or other sensations you may be feeling in your shoulders, collarbones, upper back, upper chest area, and upper arms. Focus on the beam traveling down your arms, one at a time, paying attention to any sensations in your biceps, elbows, forearms, wrists, and hands. What does each area feel like? What interesting sensations can you observe? Can you feel any tingling? Is your skin, dry, smooth, or sweaty? Do your muscles have any soreness? Do your hands feel warm or cold? How do your fingers feel? Can you relax your hands even more? Bring the light down each finger individually, traveling down and up each one, looking for subtle differences, subtle sensations, subtle observations.
After exploring both arms, hands, and all your fingers, bring the beam back up to your chest and hold your awareness on your heart area within your torso. Breathe. Hold the warm, loving light on your heart. How does your heart feel? Is it beating fast? Is it beating slow? Do you feel relaxed? Allow yourself to relax more. Take a slow breath in, and then extend your exhale for longer than your inhale to slow your heart rate down even more, relaxing the heart. Feel your heart open with each inhale. Feel your heart soften with each exhale.
Allow the light to encircle your lungs. How is your breathing? Is it deep? Is it slow? Maybe it's tense, short, or shallow? There's no right answer here, only insight about our body. Take a few slower breaths, inviting the beautiful warm light into the lungs to heal and clarify your breath. Breathe in, refreshing light. Breathe out, blowing out stale, dull energy. Breathe in, warm light. Breathe out, unwanted energy.
Move the band of light down slowly again, moving down your chest, down your back, over the sides of your torso, and check in with your other organs. Slowly bring the warm, bright, healing white light over your stomach, liver, kidneys, and intestines. What do you feel? Is your stomach settled? Are you hungry? Can you feel the gentle rising and falling of your abdomen with each breath, or does your belly feel tense? Slowly bring your attention down over all your inner organs, nonjudgmentally noticing any sensations, no matter how small or subtle they may be. Breathe into each organ and thank them for all the ways they support your health each day.
As you bring the beam of light down your body further, become aware of the feelings in your lower body, including your pelvic region, your hips, your bum, your bits, and your upper thighs. Breathe slowly, looking for subtle feelings in each part of your body. How can you describe what they feel like? Can you feel the weight of your body resting on your chair, the floor, or the bed? Bring the band of light around your legs, what are your legs touching? How do they feel? Are they heavy? Are they sore? Can you relax your legs more? Keeping your eyes closed, bring the light down your legs and continue to observe all sensations around your lower legs, looking into the knees, calves, shins, and feet. Can you feel the warmth of the light touching each part of your legs? Can you make the body scan light brighter, warmer, and more loving? Bring the light down over your feet, one at a time, scanning for sensations. Is there tension? Can you relax your feet more? Do your arches feel differently than your toes? Breathe, sending refreshing oxygen all the way down to the feet as you neutrally observe any tension, pain, temperature, tingling, or other sensations.
Once you've brought the light band down over your whole body, completing your full-body scan, it disappears. Keep your eyes closed and visualize the light dissolving away, taking your tension and pain with it, leaving you more full of awareness, calmness, and love. Continue to breathe slow, long breaths, enjoying making them a little longer and slower than usual. When you feel ready, open your eyes and gently return your focus to the room.
After exploring both arms, hands, and all your fingers, bring the beam back up to your chest and hold your awareness on your heart area within your torso. Breathe. Hold the warm, loving light on your heart. How does your heart feel? Is it beating fast? Is it beating slow? Do you feel relaxed? Allow yourself to relax more. Take a slow breath in, and then extend your exhale for longer than your inhale to slow your heart rate down even more, relaxing the heart. Feel your heart open with each inhale. Feel your heart soften with each exhale.
Allow the light to encircle your lungs. How is your breathing? Is it deep? Is it slow? Maybe it's tense, short, or shallow? There's no right answer here, only insight about our body. Take a few slower breaths, inviting the beautiful warm light into the lungs to heal and clarify your breath. Breathe in, refreshing light. Breathe out, blowing out stale, dull energy. Breathe in, warm light. Breathe out, unwanted energy.
Move the band of light down slowly again, moving down your chest, down your back, over the sides of your torso, and check in with your other organs. Slowly bring the warm, bright, healing white light over your stomach, liver, kidneys, and intestines. What do you feel? Is your stomach settled? Are you hungry? Can you feel the gentle rising and falling of your abdomen with each breath, or does your belly feel tense? Slowly bring your attention down over all your inner organs, nonjudgmentally noticing any sensations, no matter how small or subtle they may be. Breathe into each organ and thank them for all the ways they support your health each day.
As you bring the beam of light down your body further, become aware of the feelings in your lower body, including your pelvic region, your hips, your bum, your bits, and your upper thighs. Breathe slowly, looking for subtle feelings in each part of your body. How can you describe what they feel like? Can you feel the weight of your body resting on your chair, the floor, or the bed? Bring the band of light around your legs, what are your legs touching? How do they feel? Are they heavy? Are they sore? Can you relax your legs more? Keeping your eyes closed, bring the light down your legs and continue to observe all sensations around your lower legs, looking into the knees, calves, shins, and feet. Can you feel the warmth of the light touching each part of your legs? Can you make the body scan light brighter, warmer, and more loving? Bring the light down over your feet, one at a time, scanning for sensations. Is there tension? Can you relax your feet more? Do your arches feel differently than your toes? Breathe, sending refreshing oxygen all the way down to the feet as you neutrally observe any tension, pain, temperature, tingling, or other sensations.
Once you've brought the light band down over your whole body, completing your full-body scan, it disappears. Keep your eyes closed and visualize the light dissolving away, taking your tension and pain with it, leaving you more full of awareness, calmness, and love. Continue to breathe slow, long breaths, enjoying making them a little longer and slower than usual. When you feel ready, open your eyes and gently return your focus to the room.
Were you surprised by any of your observations? Was this exercise difficult or easy for you to do, and why?
If you discovered pain or tension in the body, you now have more awareness to what areas need more attention with stretching, nurturing, and care.
I find I have wildly different results each time I practice this, so be sure to try it a few times. I favor this exercise if I’m feeling especially nervous or erratic, because it highlights where I’m holding my tension and enlightens me with the awareness to release it.
If you discovered pain or tension in the body, you now have more awareness to what areas need more attention with stretching, nurturing, and care.
I find I have wildly different results each time I practice this, so be sure to try it a few times. I favor this exercise if I’m feeling especially nervous or erratic, because it highlights where I’m holding my tension and enlightens me with the awareness to release it.
 Body Scan Video Demonstration |
 Appreciative Body Scan Practice |
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