Body Scan: What It Is And How This Relaxation Technique Is Performed
Among the most used Mindfulness techniques, in addition to breathing, we have the body scan a useful resource to become more aware of the sensations in our body without resorting to anything other than our own mind.
Let’s see what exactly it is and how it is done to relax and be in the here and now.
Body scanning, also called “body scan” and body sweep, is one of the stress reduction techniques based on Mindfulness, or MBSR (Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction), as well as one of the most important along with controlled breathing..
It consists of taking full attention to bodily sensations, going from part to part of the body and being aware of what they are feeling, intensify it and understand it. This practice has been incorporated into almost all stress reduction programs since, as a beneficial side effect, it induces relaxation.
With the kind of busy life we have, combined with the little time we have to get to know ourselves, there are many times that we only feel a pain, a tingle or our own body posture towards the end of the day, when we are already in bed. The fact that we suddenly become more aware of our sensations come nighttime is because, whether out of boredom or because we have trouble sleeping, we pay more attention to our body.
The main objective of this technique is to know the state of our body, knowing what sensations come from the different parts that make it up. The relaxation, emotions and thoughts that occur as a result of this process are secondary, but equally fundamental. Although it is not considered a pure relaxation technique, the way it is applied contributes to inducing generalized relaxation, both physical and mental.
How it is performed?
As we have mentioned, one of the moments in which, involuntarily, we become more aware of our sensations, it is when we are lying down This can be a good starting point for those new to this technique, starting when they are in bed. Not only will we not have many distractions, but also by inducing relaxation it will help us sleep. However, it should be said that it can be done at any time of the day and that it is not necessarily useful for sleeping.
As its name indicates, the technique consists of imagining yourself performing a kind of systematic scanning or sweeping of the body, like the machines used in airports with passengers. The difference with those machines is that it is not x-rays that we use to scan the body, but our mind, our consciousness, focusing attention on different parts of the body and becoming aware of what they are feeling and, therefore, what we ourselves should be feeling.
The scan It can start anywhere on the body, but it is best to always go in the same direction, whether it is from top to bottom or from bottom to top. It is said that going from top to bottom generates more relaxation and, as a consequence, can induce sleep. If what you want is to try to sleep, this would be a very good address. It may be the case that, in our particular case, going from head to toe, bottom-up, implies more relaxation. It’s all about trying and seeing which direction works best for us.
Example of a body scan exercise to relax
As an example, we are going to describe how this technique is performed following an order from bottom to top:
First, we close our eyes and begin to feel through the toes of the left foot, mentally moving throughout the foot, paying attention to the sole, heel and forefoot. Next, we will go up the left leg, feeling, in this order, the left ankle, shin and calf, followed by the knee and kneecap, the entire thigh, the groin and the hip. Then, we jump to the toes of the right foot, following the same process that we did with the right leg.
Once we have seen both legs, we will focus our attention on the pelvic part, including the hips, buttocks and our genitals. We move on to the lower back and abdomen, which will be our introduction to the rest of the torso, upper back, chest and ribs. It is possible that, if we are very concentrated, we notice the beating of our heart, especially if we are a little nervous. We will also become aware of the rhythm of breathing, feeling how the lungs inflate and deflate.
We will pay attention to the shoulder blades, collarbones and shoulders, the latter being the connecting links between the torso and the arms. When evaluating the arms, we have a certain freedom, since we can dare to analyze both simultaneously or, if we prefer to dedicate more time to the session, go one by one.
On the arms we can start in a similar way as we have done with the legs, going to the fingers and thumbs. We move successively through the fingers, palms, wrists, forearms, elbows, upper arms, armpits and shoulders again, which will serve as a bridge to go to the final part from the body scan, the head, through the neck and throat.
What requirements are needed?
Anyone, regardless of gender or physical condition, can practice body scanning However, it is necessary to take into account a series of aspects.
It is necessary to find a place where there are no distractions, like, for example, our room. This place is ideal since it allows us to lie down while we perform the technique, although it is true that we can do it lying down or even standing, but it is not the most recommended for novices. Also, the idea would be to have enough free time to be able to carry out a session, which can last between 20 and 45 minutes.
Sometimes, it is not necessary to carry out the scan in its entirety, that is, concentrate on all sensations in all parts of the body. The example given above is a full body scan, but it is not the only one and it is not necessary to carry it out so extensively if you only want to focus on one part, especially if you are quite new to this technique or do not have much time. For example, we can focus only on the sensations in our arm or the rhythm of our breathing.
Also, although it is not the most recommended, you can do the body sweep while in a place where we have nothing to do, such as in the doctor’s waiting room, on the bus or on a bench on the street. The ideal is to have silence and time but we can also test our capacity for mindfulness in the most diverse places.
What sensations can body sweeping involve?
As we were already saying, body scanning is a technique that makes us pay full attention to parts of our body. Being more concentrated, we have a lower sensitivity threshold compared to a normal day noticing things that, perhaps, in other situations, it would not even occur to us to think that we are capable of perceiving.
Below we will see these physical sensations, in addition to the emotions that they can awaken in us and, of course, more or less related thoughts.
1. Physical sensations
AS for physical sensations, we can feel all kinds. To name just a few: tingling, prickling, tension, softness, relaxation, numbness, heaviness, lightness, trembling, tightness, itching, burning, pain, throbbing, vibrations and sensations of hot and cold.
2. Emotional reactions
During the performance of the technique we can feel the entire emotional spectrum both negative and positive emotions.
We may feel joy, surprise, impatience or want to stop, either out of boredom or because we do not feel comfortable or, otherwise, we may feel pleasure. We can also feel sadness or fear, grief, anger, frustration, even disgust…
3. Thoughts
Of course, during the performance of the technique It is impossible to leave your mind completely blank
Perhaps there are people, with a lot of experience in the technique, who are able to leave their minds blank, concentrating solely and exclusively on corporeal sensations, but most of us mortals can hardly achieve this.
During the technique All kinds of thoughts can come to mind and, like the emotions mentioned above, these can be positive or negative.
Since it is a time when we have peace of mind and time for ourselves, we can look back, see what has happened in our past, and be aware of our successes and failures.
We can also look into the future, think about how to plan it, what we want, where we want to go… of course, all kinds of thoughts can come to our heads…
Some aspects to consider
You may experience discomfort during the body scan, as important as the person feeling panic. Since you are not being subjected to any type of traumatic procedure, there is no reason to think that the person is in danger. That is why the most advisable thing, in these situations, is to try to concentrate on breathing, on its rhythmic movement and, to the extent possible, reduce the inspiration-expiration rate, until the person feels better.
If despite this the panic symptoms do not reduce, it is best to open your eyes, look at the room or the place where we are and try to orient ourselves in space to become aware that we have not gone to any dangerous place nor are we in a situation where our lives are at risk.
We can try to look at something that relaxes us, such as a painting or a photo of a loved one. We can even try to talk to someone in case we are not alone at home or, if we are, call (no instant messaging) someone. With the sound of his voice and, above all, his tone, he will induce us to feel better. But beware! Let’s not call just anyone. It should be a person close to us and we know that it tends to be comforting to talk to him or her.
Also, if what we need is air, we can take a walk open the windows If the soft and delicious aroma of an infusion relaxes us (rather than a tea), we can prepare a chamomile, valerian or the herbal infusion that we most fancy, but preferably not resort to coffee or tea. We may like these types of drinks, but since they contain caffeine, a substance that can increase stress, it is not the most appropriate for the situation in which we find ourselves.
