How To Do a Mindfulness Body Scan
It sounds almost paradoxical, but maintaining a mindful state is heavily linked to the body as a whole. With this being said, many mindfulness practitioners say that the best place to start is with a mindfulness body scan, which I will walk you through it at the end of this article, but you don’t want to skip ahead because there’s some pinnacle information we’re about to cover. We’ve already discussed the direct association between the brain and mind fairly extensively in previous blogs, so there’s no need to cover that topic too deeply.
Let’s just note that many psychological disorders are correlated with alterations in at least one of several physical brain processes. But the impact of the rest of the body is too often understated when studying the mind, despite its fairly obvious supporting role. We’ll explore some of the ways that we may benefit by gaining a better understanding of this relationship.
Distractions
Though it is far from an exclusively negative influence on the practice of mindfulness, the body does introduce several factors that tend to complicate the process. To begin with, mental health is fundamentally tied to physical well-being. Simple things like aches or minor nutrient deficiencies can make it difficult to concentrate, while more serious conditions can totally impair your perspective (various induced forms of psychosis, blood infections, types of drug impairment, etc.).
The experience of being physically unwell may also lead to a decline in mental health related to depression, anxiety and anger, especially if a disability is involved.
Be it due to diseases that directly impact the brain or as a side-effect of an unrelated condition, the mind is almost always influenced by the decline of physical health. This change is usually stressful to the experiencer because it is unfamiliar and often uncomfortable, presenting new challenges when trying to utilize mindfulness strategies that work in a “normal” state of mind.
Even in conditions of perfect health, the simple act of physically sensing the world can easily distract us from being in the vmoment, mainly because it can so easily trigger memories of similar sensations.
Facilitating Mindful Meditation
Our experience of various sensations through the physical body can easily take our attention away from the moment if we lack focus, but the senses can actually be extremely valuable tools in the practice of mindful meditation. Breathing, for example, is a common focal point that acts as a beacon to keep attention on the present.
Heartbeats work just as well, as do vocal expressions with specific cadences and rhythmic repetitions. Yoga implements this strategy through the sense of touch (includes internal physical sensations, like muscle movements).
When you separate the memory factor, which is necessary to experience the moment anyway, we can recognize the senses as being co-observers. The moment is commonly described as a non-physical experience when discussing mindfulness. This is necessary partially because of the time gap between our conscious experiences of the external world and the initial measurements taken by the senses.
But if considered separate from our conscious perception, the senses may be thought of as having a unique and direct connection to the moment that would otherwise be unavailable. Put simply, we can use the acquisition of a sensation as a meditative focal point just as effectively as the experience, which is the cornerstone for understanding how to do a mindfulness body scan.
Mindfulness Action
There is more to being mindful than simply understanding the concepts, and living in the moment takes more than achieving a static state of mind. It is also a means to continuously enact positive changes in your day to day life. Many of these alterations will be psychological in nature, but the physical body is a necessary and effective tool for interacting with the external world, and it too can be guided by mindfulness.
A key skill of most professional athletes is the ability to maintain an extraordinary focus on the present. Being in the present moment may be a new idea to some, especially when it comes to how to be present. That is why I made a video about 7 ways to be more present and mindful for beginners. Whether they realize it or not, the technical perfections that give athletes faster reaction times, increased force generation and above-average situational intellect, would not be possible without a strong connection to the moment of each action. Practice of all sorts is essentially a way to sharpen the clarity of that moment.
An extreme example of the body-moment relationship can be found in experts that perform amazing physical feats. My favorite example is a practitioner of samurai swordsmanship whose precision and reaction time is so incredibly fast that it cannot possibly be a result of visual processing. He must either track objects through another sense, or has somehow trained his brain to skip much of the analysis in the visual system. Both possibilities would require a mastery of establishing a bodily connection to the moment.
Mind and Body without Paradox
Despite never-ending arguments about material composition (thanks again Descartes), there are many aspects of the mind and body that display considerable harmony. A good example is the functionality of each as a means to live within the moment.
The body and mind have individual functions that help us both access and utilize our potential in the present, but also work together in ways that compliment, rather than contradict, each other. Both require consistent practice and a disciplined approach, like contemplative meditation for the mind and regular exercise for the body, and the two can be easily combined in most situations, as is the case in many forms of yoga.
Mindfulness is a concept that may be a bit misleading in name. Yes, the fundamental goal can be framed as the achievement of a state of mind that is embedded in the present, but the body is practically indivisible from mindfulness because it directly impacts our perspective in an immeasurable number of ways.
We should not aim to discount the influence of the body. Instead, we need to become as intricately familiar with these physical processes as is possible, so that they can be useful in a number of capacities, such as in the identification of biases, as a focal point for meditative practices and as the primary tool through which we act upon the external world.
How To Do a Mindfulness Body Scan
In today’s world, it is crucial to be familiar with mindfulness, and how to perform it not only on yourself, but also to guide loved ones through it, such as your parents, or your children, or spouse. Whether they are dealing with mental health issues or a chronicle physical condition, mindfulness is one tool you can always have to help understand what is going on, and bring awareness to your body and mind.
With the mindfulness body scan, first you’ll want to be sure that you are sitting in a quiet room with no distractions. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths in, breathing in through the nose and breathing out through the mouth. Repeat this three times to feel centered and grounded. Next, imagine your body filling up with a light green cloud that is filled with knowledge and wisdom. With this light green cloud start at the top of your head as it enters your body to see if you can locate any tension, or resistance in the body.
As you go down through your body, from your head to your neck, and around to your shoulders, notice what is there. If something stands out, keep that in mind, as we will come back to it later. Then keep going down through your arms and down to your hands, fingers, and fingertips. What have you noticed so far, if anything?
Begin to imagine the light green cloud flowing through your lungs and down to your stomach and down to your waist, as you breathe in and breathe out. Continue down from your hips down to your thighs and your knees. Then moving further down to your ankles, to your heels, to your feet and your toes.
Take a deep breath and and open your eyes. What did you notice with this mindfulness body scan?
Now what I want you to do, is go back into your body the way you did before, and focus on those parts of you that stood out, that were filled with tension or pressure, or stress. Imagine yourself sending these body parts love by giving them attention and healing energy. You can bring your hand to this part of your body, if possible, to give it more love.
If you’d like free audios check out UCLA Health. Another great resource is Headspace which includes guided meditations.
Mindfulness Support FAQ
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headline-1=”h4″ question-1=”Why is Mindfulness good in schools?” answer-1=”Mindfulness can increase awareness so that both teachers and students can retain the information with better focus in the present moment. It has also been shown to decrease stress and anxiety when tensions arise to ensure a better learning environment.”
headline-2=”h4″ question-2=”Why does Mindfulness work?” answer-2=”Mindfulness has been shown to help both mental health and the physical body. It helps to reduce blood pressure, decrease stress, relieve anxiety, improve sleep, and help the mind and body get in the present moment.”
headline-3=”h4″ question-3=”How does Mindfulness help anxiety?” answer-3=”Mindfulness helps us to focus on the present moment, allowing us to get out of the state of fear which only exists in the future. It also frees us from stress about the past. If you engage in mindfulness by focusing on either what is going on inside your body (i.e. your breathing patterns). It allows you to bring awareness back into the present moment, where peace exists.”
headline-4=”h4″ question-4=”How can Mindfulness empower us?” answer-4=”Mindfulness through practicing meditation has been shown to empower people for thousands of years to increase awareness, reduce stress, as well as lower pressure. It allows us to observe our thoughts and emotions so we can consciously choose how to respond when they arise.”
headline-5=”h4″ question-5=”Why is Mindfulness important?” answer-5=”It is crucial to understand mindfulness in order to get into the present moment, where both peace and calm exist. It helps to decrease stress and anxiety by being the observer and separating yourself from your thoughts, and truly understanding that you are not your thoughts and feelings.”
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