After going through mindfulness meditation in my older blog post, I decided to write a step-by-step method, explaining the ‘body scan meditation‘. I touched very briefly on scanning the body in the first step of mindfulness meditation post.
If you want to go deep into body-scanning, before you move into the concentration of breath or mantra, you can follow this step-by-step method of Body-Scan meditation:
- Sit or stand or lay down in a comfortable place. For Body-Scan meditation, you can lay down or even stand while doing it. Just make sure, that you are in a comfortable posture while doing it.
- Take 5 deep breaths and start feeling your right feet. Start with your big toe and slowly transition to the other toes. Feel the tingling sensation on your foot when you become aware of your feet. Let it relax and feel the sensation of the relaxed feet. If it hurts for some reason, be aware of the pain it feels. Just be there. Don’t analyze the pain, just notice it without any judgement or analysis.
- Gradually, move your awareness to the right calf, and feel it from the knees to the ankles. Feel any kind of sensation, or discomfort or pain in that portion of your body. Become aware of this feeling. If you feel any pain, do not fight it. Just awareness of the pain, is enough.
- Now, notice your right thigh. Observe that you are noticing your right thigh. Relax it and continue to feel it with an aware state of mind.
- Slowly, move your awareness to the left feet and its toes. Just let loose your feet and notice how it feels to have a relaxed feet. Notice the tingling or any kind of sensation in your feet or toes.
- Now, feel your left calf from the knees to ankles. Feel all the sensations on your left calf. Slowly relax your calf, and be aware of the feeling of a relaxed calf.
- Shift your focus to your left thigh and relax it. Feel the calmness in your thigh when you focus on it with aware state of mind.
- Now, move your attention to your pelvic area. Feel the aware sensation in that area and relax it.
- Slowly, move your attention to your stomach. Feel it and let go of any stress felt there.
- Gradually, focus on your back and spine. Feel the sensation when it gets relaxed. Become aware of any pain or stress in that part of the body. Don’t fight the pain or stress, just be aware of it.
- Now, move your attention to your heart. Be grateful for your heart. It’s been beating even before you were born. Feel it and relax it and let go of any pain or stress you feel in your heart.
- Now, take your attention to your ribs and chest. Take a few deep breaths and notice the chest movement while you inhale or exhale. Relax your chest and feel the stress going away, as soon as you relax it.
- Focus on your neck and slowly shift your focus to your jaws. Drop your jaws, feel the muscles when they relax and let go of any strain holding onto your jaws.
- Now, move your attention to your face and head. Relax it and feel the stress going away from your head and skull.
Now, your body is fully relaxed. Feel the calm which flows through your body now.
Body scan meditation can be done just by itself or can be combined with any other meditation like mindfulness or guided or visualization mediation or any other kind.
For me, the body scan meditation works best, before I am going to sleep at night. I do it, while laying on my bed. Sometimes, I am not even finished scanning my body and I doze off to sleep.
Try the body-scan meditation, and let me know your experience with it, in the comments section.
Stay aware. Stay calm.
Moving from doing......to being. 