Body Scan Meditation - Instructions, Free Script, and Meditations

Written By Matthew Sockolov

Body scans are a popular meditation technique used in various traditions. It’s believed to have originated with early Buddhist texts, most notably the Satipatthana Sutta. The technique then became popular in the United States when Jon Kabat-Zinn adapted the practice to the modern body scans we know today for his MBSR program.

Today, it’s used by mindfulness-based programs like MBSR, Buddhist meditation centers, yoga students, and more. It’s an accessible practice with a clear structure that makes it one of the best forms of meditation for beginners (in my opinion).

What is a Body Scan?

As the name suggests, a body scan is a practice in which we move through the body slowly with our attention. Generally we start from the head and move our way down to the feet, paying attention to each part of the body individually for a few moments. As we scan through the body, we generally aim to simply tune into the experience in that moment. 

Although more traditional Buddhist practices center on simple awareness of the sensations in the body, there are other ways to do body scans. You might try to relax each part of the body as you move through, extend kindness or gratitude, or have compassion for any pain. The body scan is a great standalone practice, but you also can build off of it.

body scan meditation

Benefits of Body Scanning

Research in recent decades has found many benefits of meditation in general. A study by Genes Sevinc and his team looked at brain activity during a body scan by using an fMRI and two types of body scans: awareness-centered scans and relaxation-centered scans. They found that participants were engaging and strengthening different neural networks with two different types of body scans. 

In awareness-centered body scans, participants strengthened their sensory awareness and perception. In the relaxation-centered scans, participants strengthened regions associated with deliberate control (such as the inferior frontal gyrus and supplementary motor areas). Sevinc compared it to aerobic exercise and strength training; they are different, but both are beneficial. 

In addition, research has shown that mindfulness practices such as a body scan may:

Tips and Techniques

When doing a body scan, you might come up against some difficulties such as sleepiness, restlessness, a wandering mind, and/or pain. In my years as both a student and meditation teacher, I’ve found a few things to help support people in their practice.

Pick Your Time Wisely

First, the time of day you choose to meditate matters. If you find yourself prone to sleepiness during periods of meditation, you might choose the morning. If you want to use the body scan to improve your quality of sleep, you might choose the evening. If you want continuity, research suggests morning is the best time to build new habits. This study was specifically done with a meditation app, so it’s super relevant!

Find the Right Place

Just as choosing the right time is important, we can benefit from finding the right place. Generally, you will want to find a space that is as quiet as possible and where you won’t be disturbed by others. If you are working to improve sleep, you might do it in your bedroom. Otherwise, it is helpful to meditate in a place away from the bed to discourage sleepiness. For what it’s worth, my favorite place for any meditation is outside.

Use Guidance to Start

As with any practice that is new, it is often best to try a body scan for the first time with some guidance. There are plenty of guided body scan meditations out there, and I’ve included a handful of different guided practices below for free. The guidance helps you understand the practice and structure. When you’re ready, you might veer off onto your own as it will allow you to go at your own pace.

Find the Right Posture

First, let’s just say you don’t need to sit in any specific way to practice. In fact, you don’t even need to sit. You can do this practice while sitting, standing, lying down, or even walking. In general, I recommend sitting in a comfortable position. If you want to relax, lying down may be the best option!

Let Go of Expectations

When working with students who are new to mindfulness and/or meditation, I often find plenty of expectations. Remember that mindfulness-based meditation practices are techniques for cultivating a calm awareness. Be aware of any expectations of a “quick fix,”  and give yourself some time to grow into the practice. 

Don’t Clear the Mind

Many new meditators think they have to clear the mind to meditate. It’s one of the most common myths about meditation. If you could already clear the mind on command, meditation wouldn’t be useful. If you do a body scan and the mind is active, be patient with yourself and the mind. Notice that there are thoughts arising, and just come back to the body. Going with the previous tip, let go of the expectation that the mind will be silent during this practice.

Keep Notes

I’m a big fan of journaling in general. My second book, A Mindfulness for Beginners Journal, is a testament to this. You don’t need my book, or even to keep a journal necessarily. My recommendation is to block out a few minutes after your body scan to reflect in some way. By doing this, you can understand more clearly the experience you had. You also can take any analytical thoughts that arise during meditation and tell yourself, “I’ll address this in my period of reflection after.”

Guided Body Scan Meditations

As mentioned, there are many ways to practice a body scan. I’ve included a few different practices here. I put them in order of simplicity, so the ones at the top are the most basic and introductory.

Body Scan Meditation for Beginners

This is my body scan meditation that I recorded for those new to meditation! Although it’s meant for those practicing body scans for the first time, it is very similar to my personal body scan practice and can be returned to repeatedly.

Relaxing Body Scan

Here, instead of just bringing awareness to the experience in the body, we actually work to relax. By actively encouraging relaxation, we can find some calm in the body. This is a great practice for those experiencing stress or having trouble sleeping.

Self-Kindness Body Scan

Building off the basic body scan, this is a practice in which we work to extend loving-kindness to the body. I covered the research on the benefits of loving-kindness in another post. This is a practice from over ten years ago I recorded that can help us respond with more kindness and gentleness to our bodies.

Feeling Tone Body Scan

This is a practice that is firmly rooted in the Buddhist tradition. Coming from my free 30 day meditation challenge, it’s a practice in recognizing the sensations in the body with a bit more insight. As we move through the body, we note whether the experience in that part of the body is pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral. By doing this, we can understand our experience more deeply and learn to respond rather than react. 

Body Scan and Awareness

When I do body scans in my own practice, this is how I most often practice. The guidance starts with a few minutes of breath awareness. Then, we “open” our awareness to tune into the body as a whole, noticing what sensations are arising and where.

Breathing with the Body

This is a bit of a different practice, but quite related. I learned this technique during my time at Wat Metta monastery with Thanissaro Bhikkhu, a Buddhist monk in the Thai Forest tradition of meditation. In the practice, we move through the body feeling the sensation of the breath throughout.

Body Scan Instructions

For a printable PDF with body scan scripts and many more, head to this page. These meditations were written by Elizabeth Sockolov, LMFT. As a practicing therapist and credentialed meditation teacher, she wrote a booklet of 50 guided meditation scripts that is available for free download. 

Matthew Sockolov
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