Dear Friends,
At the SIMC practice yesterday evening, Bob led us through a body scan practice. Like mindful breathing, body scan has formal practices you can do – I’ve linked in some resources below – and it can be done informally, discreetly, anywhere or any time.
One of my favorite places to do a quick body scan is in the car. I notice how my hands are holding the steering wheel and invite them to relax – this is particularly true if I’m caught in traffic and feeling rushed. I’ll check for tension in my shoulders and arms. I’ll notice my bum in the seat, feet by the pedals, and check in on my posture. When the traffic starts moving again, I feel refreshed and in tune with what’s going on around me. Oh – and just a note: if you’re doing this in the car and you’re the driver… keep your eyes open, okay? 🙂
I’ll also use the body scan at my desk at work. Someone calls or emails that they need something done ASAP. I’ll often use a few mindful breaths to help me settle my mind, and then as I’m working, I check in on my shoulders and posture and adjust. I notice how I’m feeling (nervous, anxious, stressed), and how that manifests in the body, and I notice how inviting the body to relax can affect how I’m feeling.
For a formal practice, you can do this sitting or lying down*, depending on your preference and energy levels and likelihood of falling asleep. The first few minutes are spent settling into the body by noticing the breath, and then after a while, intentionally bringing attention through the body. Head to toes, or toes to head – your preference. (I used to prefer head to toes, but I’ve since come to appreciate starting with my feet grounded and working my way up. Experiment to see what works best for you, and be willing to mix it up now and then!)
Here’s an article from Mindful that describes the body scan and has a 30-minute head-to-toe recording:
https://www.mindful.org/beginners-body-scan-meditation/
And for me, I can related to the author’s description about her initial reluctance to do body scan – I felt the same way for quite some time! But like the author, I’ve since come to enjoy the practice.
Jeanne’s Guided Meditation page has a 20-minute toe-to-head body scan, if you want to try the other direction:
http://www.jeannecorrigal.com/guided-meditations.html
And if you search the web or the Insight Timer app, you’ll find many other guided meditations, of varying lengths.
So check into your body today, formally, or informally, or both!
With best wishes,
Andrea
*Pro tip: If you’re doing the body scan lying down, I learned a trick from Susie Harrington this spring that’s increased my chances of staying awake by about 80-90%! If I bend one (or both) arms at the elbow such that my elbow rests on the floor and the forearm is held perpendicular to the floor, then I’ll notice my arm starting to sag before I start to sleep – so I have much better odds of putting in a little bit of extra energy to stay awake.
This is particularly interesting for me, Andrea, because I feel that I’m very good at relaxing and scanning the environment (feeling the air, the sounds, smells, etc.) and relax, but I find turning that towards mindfulness of my own body is particularly difficult.
Hi Navarra, Thanks for your comment!
For me, body scan is something I did implicitly when training – particularly on the bike – how am I holding myself? What wants to relax? I wonder if you might have a similar experience with the training you do.
I’ve even listened to Jeanne’s body scan recording when I’ve been on the bike trainer – makes for an interesting way to bring attention to the body as part of a warm up or cool down.
With gentle wishes,
Andrea
Thanks for this post Andrea. I enjoy and appreciate the body scan. When we do them, like last night or at our various retreats, I always go ‘oh wow, love that’ and leave the exercise intending to incorporate it more into my daily practice… yet somehow I don’t. I have tended to use the body scan more as a relaxation practice when I’m laying in bed at night and for whatever reason, I can’t sleep. So I start a body scan but barely get past my hips when off I slip into sweet slumber. Which is great, in that sense. But I am taking your post as an invitation to incorporate the body scan as a way of tuning more mindfully into my body at various points in my day. And yes, eyes wide open while at the wheel! Good one!
Thanks Carol. For the body scan in particular, I find that listening to guided meditations is helpful. Mindfulness of breathing and other practices I can do on my own, but the gentle direction from a recorded body scan really helps me keep my focus.
Hi Andrea, I always enjoy your personal reflections. The body scan is my constant companion – – – maybe not so much a scan, but a dropping in to touch-points of usual trouble. So for me that’s the jaw, neck and shoulders. But recently, I found that my hands were gripping . . . onto nothing. Wow. What discoveries we can make when we just scan for them! For me the natural result of the scan is always a letting go of the tension.
Lovely! Thanks for sharing!
I’m sorry I missed Bob’s body scan on Wednesday (at a funeral in Winnipeg). But I too enjoy the body scan and do the head-to-toe. I usually do a scan at the start of a sit. And then meditate with the metta mantra. Feeling good! Thanks again Andrea.