Body Scan
A guided meditation that moves through your body from head to toe, noticing sensations without judgment. Press play, lie back, and follow along.
About this practice
This body scan meditation is provided by Palouse Mindfulness, which offers a complete Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course entirely free of charge.
MBSR is an eight-week programme developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn at the University of Massachusetts Medical Centre in 1979. It combines mindfulness meditation, body awareness, and gentle movement to help people manage stress, chronic pain, anxiety, and depression. It is one of the most extensively researched mindfulness programmes in the world, with hundreds of clinical studies supporting its effectiveness.
The body scan is a core practice within MBSR. It trains you to bring non-judgmental attention to physical sensations throughout your body, which helps interrupt the stress cycle and build a deeper awareness of the connection between your mind and body.
Visit palousemindfulness.com to explore the full programme — all materials, guided meditations, and reading are provided free.
Why it works
The Science of Body Scan Meditation
The body scan works by systematically directing attention through your body, which activates the insula — the brain region responsible for interoceptive awareness (sensing your internal state).
This practice interrupts the stress cycle by shifting attention from anxious thoughts to physical sensations. Progressive muscle awareness also helps identify and release tension you may not have been conscious of.
Research from the University of Massachusetts found that body scan meditation significantly reduces chronic pain perception, insomnia, and anxiety by changing how the brain processes physical sensations.
Research: Kabat-Zinn (1990), Full Catastrophe Living; Dreeben et al. (2013), Annals of Behavioral Medicine