Body scan – guided meditation
Your attention travels slowly from your feet to your head, one part at a time. Change nothing, just notice. After hours at the desk, this brings you back from your head into your body.
How it works
- 1Lie down or sit comfortably, close your eyes if that feels good.
- 2Start – a voice guides you, a bell marks beginning and end.
- 3With each body part, feel what is there: warmth, pressure, tingling – or nothing.
- 4Drifted off? Return kindly to the part being named.
- 5At the end, tap the mood field once – over time you see what helps you.
Where it comes from
The body scan is a core practice of Jon Kabat-Zinn’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR). Programmes that include it reduce stress and rumination in studies; the body scan alone is less researched than the full programme.
Who it suits
Anyone who finds sitting still with the breath hard: the body offers more anchors than the breath alone. For something shorter, start with the breath anchor in meditation or the physiological sigh.
Sources: Kabat-Zinn, MBSR
Frequently asked questions
I fall asleep doing it – is that bad?
No, it happens a lot. To stay awake, practise sitting up. As a sleep aid the body scan is explicitly allowed.
I feel nothing in some body parts.
That is an observation, not a mistake. “I feel nothing here right now” already is the practice.
Can I practise without the voice?
Yes, the voice can be switched off; text and bell guide you instead.
Exercises are no substitute for help if you've been feeling bad for a while. Talk to your university's counselling service. In a crisis: call your local emergency number or a crisis line in your country.