Whether you’ve been reading a book, following an app or using online sessions, you may have noticed that some meditation sessions are titled ‘body scan’, or ‘full-body scan’. You may have even tried the body scan yourself.
In most cases, the sessions will start at the top of your head or the bottom of your feet and move upwards. You’ll pay attention to all of your muscles and body parts, putting each one into a state of relaxation. However, are there any benefits to these scans or are they simply another form of meditation. Let’s find out!
Enhance Your Focus & Concentration
During a full body scan, you’ll find that you’re constantly aware of your body. Through regular practice, this helps you to improve your level of concentration. A full body scan will typically last anywhere between ten minutes and an hour. The whole time you’ll be improving your focus skills by really focusing on the parts of your body and how they feel.
Becoming More Self-Aware
This is a common benefit of meditation but even more so when it comes to full body scans. If you’ve got a tightness in your body, such as your back or your legs, you may not be aware of it. This is because our days are normally very busy and it’s easy for us to be used to how it feels.
However, through a scan, you can become aware of these pains and aches. During the scan, you’ll be told to breathe into these parts of the body so you can relieve the stress. But, the stress doesn’t go, you’ll be more aware of this ache, enabling you to do something about it, so it doesn’t cause any long-term damage.
You may also complete a scan and realise your body felt great, which a positive boost to your self-esteem!
Becoming Present
Another common benefit of meditation but again, more so in body scans. A body scan massively helps you to become more present. Too much of our lives are spent analysing the past and worrying about the future. However, the past is gone, and the future doesn’t exist, all that matters is right now.
Yes, that’s right this very second. Are you making the most of it? Because that second has now gone forever and the one we’re in now is going!
See, if this sentence makes you worry that time is going too quickly, it doesn’t have to be that way. Instead, see this as a positive moment where every second will count.
Full body scans can help you achieve this state of present awareness which can echo throughout every corner of your life.
