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How to Meditate
Meditation is something everyone can do. Practicing can help improve your health and wellbeing.
Explore MeditationBody Scan Meditation
A body scan helps us become mindful of our bodies and sensations. It can release built-up tension and enhance our mind-body connection, helping us tune into our physical experience. If you’re frequently tense or stressed, a guided body scan meditation may be just the solution.
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What is body scan meditation?
Body scan meditation is a form of mindfulness meditation that involves observing sensations in different parts of our bodies, usually from head to toe. The practice is often used to promote relaxation and present-moment awareness, helping improve mental health and overall well-being.
Body scanning originates from Buddhism and is deeply rooted in the practice of Vipassana, which means “to see things as they really are.” This ancient meditation technique involves observing bodily sensations without attachment, helping us experience the impermanence of physical feelings.
Yet, body scan meditation today isn’t quite the same as it was thousands of years ago. Its modern adaptation was popularized by Jon Kabat-Zinn in the late 20th century as part of his mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program.
This program was designed to help people cope with:
- stress
- anxiety
- depression
- pain
The body scan is a key practice in MBSR, allowing individuals to cultivate mindfulness by attentively moving through different parts of the body and noting sensations without judgment.
Discover more with Insight Timer’s body scan meditation app. With top global meditation teachers and 80+ new tracks added daily, Insight Timer has high-quality meditation resources for any practitioner. Try one of the free guided meditation body scans below.
Best guided body scan meditations
If it’s your first time performing a body scan, these guided meditations are the perfect way to start. From beginners to advanced meditators, Insight Timer features over 200,000 free tracks to support you on your meditation journey. Explore some of the best body scan meditations on our app below.
Short body scan meditation
A short body scan meditation is a condensed version of the traditional body scan practice. It typically lasts only five to 10 minutes (sometimes even shorter). This brief practice is ideal for individuals with busy schedules or those new to mindfulness practices.
Extended body scan meditation
An extended body scan meditation usually lasts 30 minutes to an hour. During this time, participants slowly observe each part of the body and any thoughts or feelings that arise. Try one of these longer meditations for deeper relaxation and a more profound connection with your body.
Body scan for sleep
Sleep meditation can be a wonderful way to ease into a restful night. If you struggle to fall asleep, performing a body scan before bed might just do the trick. Try one of the tracks below to find that much-needed rest.
Body scan for pain relief
Dealing with chronic pain can be exhausting and distract us from being fully present. For natural pain relief, try one of these body scan meditations to help identify and soothe painful areas of the body.
Body scan for stress reduction
Stress can feel too consuming at times. Listen to a body scan meditation to help reduce worry and relax more easily. In addition to easing mental symptoms, guided body scans can also lessen tension in your entire body, helping you achieve an even more tranquil state.
Body scan techniques
Progressive muscle relaxation
Progressive muscle relaxation involves tensing and then relaxing different muscle groups in the body. For instance, you might start by tensing your shoulders. Then, release tension from them. From there, you may move on to each arm, then the upper back and torso, and finally the legs.
Focused attention
This technique involves directing and maintaining attention on various parts of the body to notice sensations without trying to change them. Like other body scans, you start at the toes or top of the head and then gradually move through the whole body. Research indicates that focused attention and introspection can enhance mindfulness, helping us anchor ourselves in the present moment.
Breath awareness
Body scan meditations can also include breathing exercises. For instance, your teacher may instruct you to pay close attention to the sensation of air entering and leaving the nostrils or the rise and fall of the chest or abdomen. They may also encourage you to take full and deep breaths to further your relaxation.
Guided visualization
Visualization is another popular body scan technique. For instance, you might be guided to imagine detailed scenarios or places that evoke feelings of calm and serenity. Examples include a quiet beach, a tranquil and lush forest, or an isolated mountaintop.
Body awareness
Body awareness is one of the most basic forms of a body scan. Focusing purely on physical sensations, body awareness scans provide a simple way to check in and connect with your body without judging the things you feel.
Benefits of body scan meditation
Body scan meditations can improve overall physical and mental well-being. Explore the many benefits in detail below.
Improve body awareness
Used widely as a mindfulness exercise, body scans enhance awareness of one’s body by systematically focusing attention on different parts — become more attuned to the subtle physical sensations, pains, and feelings that may otherwise be hard to catch in your daily life.
Reduce stress
Body scan meditation forces us to focus on the present and observe our sensations freely. This can interrupt the cycle of chronic stress by decreasing the body's fight or flight response.
A 2019 study noted a decrease in the stress hormone cortisol after an eight-week body scan meditation program, indicating the effectiveness of mindfulness-based interventions.
Enhance relaxation
Because body scan meditations help reduce stress, they can also promote relaxation. Many individuals report feeling more tranquil and at ease after a body scan session. By focusing on each body part, you can identify and release areas of tension created by stress, furthering the calming effects of body scanning.
Sleep better and longer
Research shows that body scans are effective at helping those with chronic insomnia fall asleep faster. This is because mindfulness body scans dampen the fight or flight response, lower stress, and promote calm. You can perform a mindfulness body scan meditation right before bedtime to help improve sleep.
Manage pain
Mindful body scans, studies confirm, encourage awareness of bodily sensations without attachment to discomfort. Through this practice, we learn to observe our pain with neutrality, which can alter pain perception and diminish its psychological impact. This MBSR study even suggests that brief body scans can have immediate positive effects for those with chronic pain (although more research is needed).
Resources and tools for body scan meditation
Insight Timer’s free meditation app
Looking to enhance your mindfulness routine with body scan meditations? Insight Timer’s free meditation app offers hundreds of thousands of tracks from renowned teachers globally. Listen to body scan meditations for better sleep, pain relief, stress reduction, and more — Insight Timer has sessions for your unique goals!
Online resources and communities
Discovering online communities and other resources can help you take your body scans to the next level, helping you further gain the benefits of this style of meditation. With Insight Timer, you can find like-minded individuals and connect with them in associated body scan groups.
Premium body scan meditation tracks
If you want more from your body scan sessions, opt for premium tracks to level up your practice. Here are some to get you started:
FAQs about body scan meditation
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References
Ball, E. F., Nur Shafina Muhammad Sharizan, E., Franklin, G., & Rogozińska, E. (2017). Does mindfulness meditation improve chronic pain? A systematic review. Current opinion in obstetrics & gynecology, 29(6), 359–366. https://doi.org/10.1097/GCO.0000000000000417
Gibson J. (2019). Mindfulness, Interoception, and the Body: A Contemporary Perspective. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 2012. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02012
Schultchen, D., Messner, M., Karabatsiakis, A., Schillings, C., & Pollatos, O. (2019). Effects of an 8-Week body scan intervention on individually perceived psychological stress and related steroid hormones in hair. Mindfulness, 10(12), 2532–2543. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12671-019-01222-7
Ussher, M., Spatz, A., Copland, C., Nicolaou, A., Cargill, A., Amini-Tabrizi, N., & McCracken, L. M. (2014). Immediate effects of a brief mindfulness-based body scan on patients with chronic pain. Journal of behavioral medicine, 37(1), 127–134. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-012-9466-5
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