The body scan meditation is a vital part of The Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Programme by Jon Kabat-Zinn (which I adore and will tell you more about) and a vital mindfulness tool.
In this Evidence-Based, Simple and Effective Treatments series I want to share the things that help me the most in my journey, that are backed up by a lot of my research and are relatively simple or low cost to try. And you don’t need to do them “for fibromyalgia” you can simply do them “for wellbeing” – you as a human with a body.
The body scan is a somatic activity – connects body and mind and brings you into your experience, you increase the awareness of what is happening in your body. It’s also a mindfulness practice by the same terms. A tool for calming the nervous system and getting into the rest and digest response. It helps relieve tension in the body.
What happens in a body scan?
We systematically turn our attention to each part of our body, one at a time. In some practices, we encourage the body parts to release and relax. In others, we simply notice as an outside observer.
By curiously experiencing each part of our body in turn we learn that we are not our pain. We create a separation from the experience. In this way we can also explore the sensations, what are they really? Will they disperse or lessen if we encourage that body part to relax? If we purposely tense the muscle and then release it – we show our brain what the tense versus relaxed feels like. Some of us have muscles so tense our brain probably thinks that’s the natural state.
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The Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Programme
The body scan is the foundational practice of the The Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Programme by Jon Kabat-Zinn. You can access this programme by working through his book, Full Catastrophe Living. Which I highly recommend you get and work through slowly.
You can also find a self-guided version on Palouse Mindfulness. Or find a guided version near you.
If anyone is considering a mindfulness, or nervous system programme. This is the one I stand behind.
Why Do A Body Scan?
I meditate, and particularly the body scan meditation, because it releases tension in my body and helps me to relax. Vital outcomes for someone with chronically tense muscles.
For a long time, I only did it for the rest. Then over the longer term, I realised that the more I switched on my rest and digest mode, the easier it became and the calmer my nervous system was overall.
The nervous system is a key component of fibromyalgia, ME/CFS and related conditions. Not in the sense that doing some small exercise will magically make it all go away. But at a real, complex, deep, root is a nervous system that is not functioning well and helping it to relax is one small part of it.
The more I dig into the nervous system, the more I realise there is much more at work than simply relaxing. During body scan we are opening the pathway between our brain and our body. Rather than a “big ball of fibromyalgia” as I used to call it, we can start to see that there are many parts to our body and they don’t all hurt. We are showing our brain that this is what this part of our body feels like and helps it to orient to that.
It’s beyond my knowledge and the scope of this article to go into it but you may like to Google somatics, neuroplasticity and the nervous system. Three important parts of the complex puzzle.
How to get started with a body scan practice?
My Mindfulness for the Chronic Life is my version of this programme. It teaches similar practices but altered for people with fibromyalgia, ME/CFS, hypermobility etc. Because I know the benefits of meditation don’t need to be accessed only by using certain postures. You can gain the benefits of meditation while relaxed in bed, using yoga bolsters, or in your favourite chair. You should not miss out because it would be a form of torture to sit up straight for 15 minutes.
Even though I’ve created this programme, you do not need to spend money to get the benefits. If it suits you and makes it easier, it’s an option. But I have free meditations you can download and if you borrow Full Catastrophe Living from the library you don’t have to spend a dime. However I do think you will want to take your time reading the hulk of a book and refer back to it.
Grab your free Body Scan meditation here.
Summary: The Body Scan as Evidence-Based, Simple and Effective Treatments
The body scan has a lot to recommend it and little to lose. If you’re looking at the 600 ideas of things to try from the crazy to the obvious, then I’d start with either the body scan meditation or Yoga Nidra guided meditation. If you’ve followed me for any length of time or read any of my books, you will now I’m a massive fan of Yoga Nidra.
But either ADDS rest to your day. Helps reduce muscular tension. Teaches your body to slip into the rest and digest mode. And much more. I’d recommend starting here. So pick one and practice daily for at least a month and see how you feel.
