Topic · Body Scan
Body scan meditation.
The most reliable practice for stress, sleep, and the tension you've been carrying in your jaw and shoulders without knowing it.
What body scan is and what it does
A body scan is a guided sweep of attention through the body. Usually starting at the feet and moving up to the head, or the reverse. At each region, you notice what’s there. Tension, warmth, tingling, ache, nothing. You don’t try to fix anything. You just notice.
The practice does two things at once. First, it builds the basic mindfulness skill of attention training. Second, it gives the body a chance to release tension you’d been holding without realizing it. Most people finish a body scan feeling physically heavier. Not tired, just settled.
How to do a body scan
- Get comfortable. Lie down or sit. Body scan tolerates lying down because the body is the focus.
- Start at one end. Most teachers start at the feet. Pick whichever you like.
- Move slowly. Spend 15 to 30 seconds at each region. Toes, soles, ankles, calves, knees, thighs, hips, lower back, belly, upper back, chest, shoulders, arms, hands, neck, jaw, face, scalp.
- Notice what’s there. Tension, warmth, pulse, nothing. Don’t try to relax it. Just notice.
- When you finish, sit with the whole body for a minute. Then open your eyes when you’re ready.
When to use body scan
- End of day. Best practice for unwinding. Lie down in bed before sleep.
- After exercise. Notice where the body did real work.
- High-stress days. The body holds stress before the mind notices. A body scan surfaces it.
- Chronic pain. With guidance from a clinician. Body scan can change the relationship to pain without trying to make it go away.
Body Scan practices in the app
Body scan at multiple lengths. The 10-minute version is the daily-practice default. Try one in the browser. The rest are in the app.
Plays in your browser. No account required.
A note about Custom Meditation
Custom Meditation builds a mindfulness session today, not a body scan. The practices in the library above are the right tool here. The architecture supports a body-scan theme; if it ships, this page will lead with it.
Learn more →
Common questions
How long should a body scan be?
Ten to thirty minutes. Shorter than ten doesn't give enough time to sweep the whole body. Longer than thirty starts to lose focus for most people.
Can I do a body scan in bed?
Yes. Lying-down body scans before sleep are the most common variant.
I keep falling asleep.
If you're doing it for sleep, that's fine. If you're trying to do a daytime practice, switch to sitting up. Most "I keep falling asleep" reports are sleep deprivation, not technique.
What if I don't feel anything in a body region?
That's a real notice. "Nothing" is data. Don't try to manufacture sensation. The scan is the noticing, not the finding.