Body scan meditation: a step-by-step guide

Where it comes from

The body scan became widely known through Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), an eight-week course created by Jon Kabat-Zinn at UMass Memorial Medical Center in the United States in 1979. It is taught in the first two weeks of the course and usually done lying down. The idea is not to change anything, but to be aware of what you feel right now.

How to do it

1. Lie on your back on a mat or a bed, or sit in a chair. If you tend to fall asleep and want to stay awake, sit up.
2. Close your eyes and let your breathing slow down on its own. Take a few breaths.
3. Bring your attention to your feet. Notice what is there: warmth or cold, pressure where they touch the floor or bed, tingling, tension, or nothing at all.
4. Move slowly upwards: legs, belly and chest, shoulders and arms, neck and head. Stay with each part for a few breaths.
5. When your mind drifts, notice where it went and come back to the part of the body you were on.
6. At the end, notice your body as a whole for a few breaths before you open your eyes.

You do not have to relax each part. Cleveland Clinic advises noticing sensations without judging them or trying to change them.

How long and when

Harvard Health says a body scan takes 10 to 15 minutes. Mindfulness courses at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS trust use 20 and 40 minute recordings and suggest a 20-minute scan in the morning. The full MBSR course asks for 45 to 60 minutes of home practice a day, but you do not need to start there. Ten minutes is plenty to begin.

Harvard Health notes that a body scan works especially well in bed before sleep, as part of winding down. More about that in breathing to fall asleep.

What research says

The body scan has been studied less on its own than as part of full mindfulness courses.

• On its own. A 2022 review of 14 randomised trials found only one clear effect: a small increase in mindfulness compared with doing nothing. Study quality was low, and the authors concluded that a body scan alone is not enough to produce strong effects.
• Cravings. In a study of 30 people who had stopped smoking, a single 10-minute body scan lowered the desire to smoke right afterwards. In a later study the effect lasted up to 30 minutes in the lab, but only about 5 minutes in daily life.
• Pain. In a trial with 55 people with chronic pain, one 10-minute body scan reduced how distressing the pain felt when done in the clinic, but not at home.

So the body scan is a pleasant, gentle practice and a good building block for meditation, rather than a treatment on its own.

Is it safe?

For most people, yes. Stop if anything becomes painful or too uncomfortable. Cleveland Clinic advises extra care if you have severe anxiety or a history of significant trauma. Across meditation studies, about 8 in 100 people have an unpleasant experience, and the NHS notes that mindfulness is not right for everyone.