Meditation Mondays: The Body Scan

Check out IG Live Meditation Mondays series led by my colleague Erica Rodas and myself, where we dive into the building blocks that will help create a foundation for your meditation practice. This week on February 22nd at 6 PM we will be exploring The Body Scan.

Next up is the body scan. I know it may sound daunting, but this is actually my favorite part of meditating. 

Similar to noting, the body scan is where we observe sensations in the body without judgment or trying to change what comes up. 

You may be thinking “Why do we care what’s going on with our body when we are trying to relax our mind?”. But, one of the biggest misconceptions is that our brains and bodies are not literally but figuratively separate. 

In actuality, our emotions not only live and impact our minds, but our bodies as well.  

During the body scan you may notice areas of the body that you feel detached from, resistance around or overall emotional about.

Regardless of what comes up, simply observing is what we are attempting to do here. 

Many emotional experiences are held in our bodies, positive and/or negative. Experiences with sex, intimacy, shame and trauma are things that may be held in our bodies.

If you have had an illness, surgery, broken a bone or have identified a “problem area”, this is a part in the body you may feel sensitivity or resistance around. Maybe you feel numb or dissociated when you do your scan and cannot access your sensations or emotions related to the body. Alternatively, if you have a good feeling about a particular part of your body, you may feel comfort when tuning into this area. 

We may not realize it, but many physical symptoms are unprocessed emotions that live in our bodies. 

These days it’s really common to hear about young women presenting with stomach issues for instance. Of course this can be related to many medical factors, but stress, anxiety and emotional experiences can also heavily impact our bodies and can manifest in ways we never expected. 

The more we listen to our bodies, the more we can understand ourselves and what we need to heal, grow and thrive. 

If you are wondering how this looks when put into practice check out the Meditation Mondays series @jennifermanntherapy on Instagram.