How to Do a Body Scan Meditation: A Step-by-Step Guide

Sit or lie comfortably, take a few deep breaths, and move attention through the body in a deliberate order — head, neck, shoulders, arms, chest, back, belly, hips, legs, feet. Feel what is there: warmth, tension, the weight of the body. Nothing to change; the feeling is the practice.

A practice of bringing attention into the body, part by part, listening to what is really happening. The scan is the doorway into the body — simply being in it, and feeling it.

Five minutes or forty — the depth is in the attention. A short scan done daily can build more contact than a long one done occasionally.

That absence is information, and it is the beginning of contact. Numb or empty areas are usually attention that has never been sent there. With daily practice, the numb areas can begin to speak.

Because we are very rarely truly in the body. We can physically feel the body, but to truly feel and live inside it is a different matter — and that is the practice: to descend into the body and stay there.

It is a different doorway. Sitting with the breath suits some states, body scan suits those who live in the head and the sleepless. The skill is the same returning of attention; the doorway differs.

The practice can help separate the sensation from the story around it. For chronic pain, professional care remains the foundation, with the body scan as a support.

The same listening carries into motion: Mandala Dance and Wave Yoga become a scan in movement. The sensitivity cultivated in the scan deepens every other practice.

Yes — lying down is common, and many practice it at bedtime. Sitting works too; the position matters less than the attention. Choose the position that lets the body stay still and the attention move freely.

Return to the body. The wandering is part of the practice; each return is a step of attention. The body is always present, and the return is where the attention lands.

When attention rests in the body without demand, the breathing can deepen on its own and the body can settle. The contact itself is the beginning of the settling.

Many people find it restful when falling asleep, and many practice it lying down at bedtime. For chronic insomnia, underlying causes need attention too, and the practice is a support.

Relaxation is a byproduct; the practice is attention. You move through the body deliberately and feel it, whether it is tense or at ease — calm can arrive naturally, as a result of the feeling.

Some people notice a change in the first sessions; deeper contact with numb or tense areas usually builds over weeks of regular practice.

Sit comfortably, take three deep breaths, and move attention from the head down to the feet — three minutes is enough for the first step. Maya's open guided sessions and free meditations on the channel are a natural start, and the Basics of Life program brings the body work into a structured path.