The Body Scan – A Quick Method for Assessing Yourself

The Body Scan is a quick method for assessing yourself. Do it first thing in the morning. Ideally, you should repeat it several times throughout the day, but at least once a day.

The Body Scan is a quick method for assessing yourself.

The Body Scan should take only a few minutes. Your goal is to pay attention to what state your body is in, and what it is saying to you, right now. You basically scan yourself with your internal eye. The exercise will provide you with an intuitive picture of how you’re feeling. Here’s how to do it:

• Sit down and close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths to get yourself centered.
• Turn your attention to the top of your head. Do you feel any tension? Any pain? Check your posture. What do you notice?
• Now continue to mentally scan your whole body, muscle by muscle, all the way down to your toes. As you go along, just notice what you notice.

This tool helps you take a snapshot of what’s happening, providing a tip-off to what you might want to pay more attention to as the day progresses.

Try It:

Perform a Body Scan right now.

• What do you notice?
• What does it tell you about your stress level?
• What behavioral changes does this exercise inspire you to make?
• Is there anything you need to make yourself more comfortable?
• Next, think about a point or points in your day when you could most easily incorporate a few minutes for a Body Scan.

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