The Body Scan is a mindfulness meditation done while lying on our backs. We begin by bringing our awareness to our breath. Then we use our breath to carry our attention throughout our bodies, starting with the feet and moving all the way up through the top of the head. While doing the body scan, as we're moving through the various regions of our bodies, we're paying attention to any physical sensations (or the lack of physical sensations) that we notice.
The protocol for MBCT and MBSR programs uses a 40-minute version of the Body Scan. We'll try a 40-minute version next session, but starting off with such a long meditation is daunting, so I prefer to begin with a 30-minute version. Thirty minutes can still seem long, but because in the Body Scan we're constantly shifting our attention to different regions of our body, it's not as difficult to maintain our concentration as it is with a meditation focused primarily on a single object like the breath. So even if 30-minutes seems like a long time, please give it a try and you may find it's more manageable than you think.
Because this meditation is done lying down, it's not uncommon to nod off or even fall deeply asleep while doing it. In order to prevent this, if you do tend to fall asleep relatively quickly and easily, you can try the meditation with your eyes open, or even set a timer on your phone to ding or beep every 5-10 minutes as the sound of my voice may not be enough to rouse you if you start to drift off.
While doing this, or any of the mindfulness practices we'll learn during this program:
In order to do the body scan, you'll need:
When you are ready, start the “Body Scan meditation” audio file below:
Once you've finished the body scan, complete the Body Scan Worksheet on the next page.