Steps:

1. Lie down or sit somewhere you won’t be disturbed.
Close your eyes or let your gaze rest softly.

2. Bring your attention to your breath.
Notice how you breathe in and out, without trying to change it.

3. Start at your feet.

• Bring your awareness to your toes. What do you feel? Warmth, cold, tingling?
• Perhaps you feel nothing at all — and that’s perfectly okay.
• Continue breathing as you notice these sensations without judgment.




4. Slowly move your attention upward:

• Feet → ankles → calves → knees → thighs
• Pelvis → abdomen → lower back → chest → upper back
• Shoulders → arms → hands
• Neck → jaw → face → crown of the head




5. For each body part:

• Observe what you feel, without needing to change anything.
• If your mind wanders (which is normal), gently return your focus to the body.




6. End with a moment of stillness:

• Notice how you feel now.
• Take a few deep breaths. Gently open your eyes.

There’s nothing to “achieve” — the goal is to observe, not to relax. That’s precisely what makes the practice effective.

Body Scan: Purpose and Application

• Theoretical purpose:
  To cultivate mindful, non-judgmental awareness of bodily sensations — without aiming to change them.
• Practical use:
• Participants are guided to bring attention to different body parts (e.g., jaw, cheeks, abdomen).
• Example: “Bring awareness to your jaw, to the joints on either side of your face, and the muscles around them.”
• The focus is not on relaxation, but on observation.
• Why it works:
• ↑ Activation of the anterior insula (aINS) and pregenual anterior cingulate cortex (pACC) — regions linked to interoceptive awareness and emotional regulation.
• ↑ Self-compassion, associated with ↓ stress and ↓ rumination.

Want to try the bodyscan after a stretch session?

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Bibliografie

Lampe, L. C., & Müller-Hilke, B. (2021). Mindfulness-based intervention helps preclinical medical students to contain stress, maintain mindfulness and improve academic success. BMC medical education, 21(1), 145. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02578-y

Marotta, M., Gorini, F., Parlanti, A., Berti, S., & Vassalle, C. (2022). Effect of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on the Well-Being, Burnout and Stress of Italian Healthcare Professionals during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Journal of clinical medicine, 11(11), 3136. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11113136

Sevinc, G., Hölzel, B. K., Hashmi, J., Greenberg, J., McCallister, A., Treadway, M., Schneider, M. L., Dusek, J. A., Carmody, J., & Lazar, S. W. (2018). Common and Dissociable Neural Activity After Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Relaxation Response Programs. Psychosomatic medicine, 80(5), 439–451. https://doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0000000000000590

Wimmer, L., Bellingrath, S., & von Stockhausen, L. (2016). Cognitive Effects of Mindfulness Training: Results of a Pilot Study Based on a Theory Driven Approach. Frontiers in psychology, 7, 1037. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01037