Stress can impact your body in many ways. It’s important to take time to practice things that alleviate stress levels in your body.

Not only does stress impact your mental health, but it can also take a toll on your physical health. Some people may have problems with being tense and unrelaxed due to stress. It may be hard to realize that you are putting your body under too much pressure.

However, despite this common problem, there are ways to deal with stress. And one of those ways is through body scanning. In today’s article, we’ll share the additional benefits of body scan meditation, how you can relieve muscle tension, and more.

What Is a Body Scan?

The technique of a body scan meditation focuses on paying attention to parts of the body in chronological order from head to toe, or from toe to head — eventually covering the whole body.

By doing body scanning, you bring attention to each part of your body allowing you to feel bodily sensations more intentionally and it can help you notice any chronic pain, discomfort, and stress you may have built up in certain areas.

The goal is to release and relieve the stress or pain completely. There are different techniques used. Some body scans involve tensing the muscles, then releasing them. While others may just have you focus on parts of your body and allow them to relax. Overall, a body scan meditation is a powerful way to improve your quality of life.

Benefits of a Body Scan

A body scan meditation is commonly known to help with stress, but there are many other benefits of body scan meditation. Some of these include an improvement in:

• Self-awareness. Studies have found that those who’ve practiced body scans have had an increase in introspective self-awareness, increased psychological well-being, and mindfulness.
• Sleep. A review found that practicing mindfulness meditation can improve sleep quality and the ability for someone to stay asleep.
• Focus. With a better ability to be self-aware, a body scan meditation may also help improve focus in your day-to-day life.
• Pain. In one study, researchers found that a brief body scan meditation had an immediate impact on those who were experiencing chronic pain.
• Relaxing effects. Practicing meditation in general can help you to relax, but when you also practice a body scan meditation it can have an even greater impact on your ability to relax and destress.

A body scan is clearly both an effective and potent way to reduce stress and get better sleep. On top of that, it may also have the ability to improve your focus, self-awareness, and overall relaxation.

With such a variety of benefits, it’s really one of those habits that’s a no-brainer to take up. It’s easy to do, good for you, and can improve your quality of life.

How to Do a Body Scan

Relaxation techniques should be practiced every day to help your body maintain low-stress levels and low blood pressure. A body scan is a popular technique that can help.

As we said prior, when you practice body scan meditation, it requires you to gradually pay attention to your body and its sensation from head to toe. When you understand what’s wrong with your body, you can tackle the root of the problem.

To perform a body scan, follow these steps:

• Get into a comfortable position. Ideally, you should be laying down, as it gives you more of an ability to relax and destress.
• Start taking deep intentional breaths. Slow down your breathing, and breathe from your belly rather than your chest. You can follow a pattern that’s comfortable, but it may be best to inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth. Let your stomach expand and contract with each breath. Continuously take a few deep breaths.
• Become aware of your feet. Now, notice the physical sensations you feel. Any tenseness that’s there. If there’s chronic pain or acute pain, acknowledge it, and calmly breathe through it.
• Release the tension. If you notice any tension in your foot breathe into it and visualize the tension leaving your body through your breath. Move on when you feel ready.

Follow these steps for each individual body part. In this case, the next steps of your body scan could be your calves, thighs, abdomen, chest, and so on and so forth.

The idea is to work your way through your entire body and work through any tension and stress that’s been built up in each individual body part.

There are also other ways to do this. One body scan meditation may suggest tensing certain areas of your body when you inhale, then releasing when you exhale. It’s important to find a style that you like and can continue to do to help you relieve stress.

How to Relieve Muscle Tension

Muscle tension is when your muscles stay contracted for a long period. Muscle tension can lead to chronic pain, stiffness, and aches.

When you’re under high levels of psychological stress, your muscles will automatically tense up. This is your body’s way of getting ready for injury or pain. It’s a natural reflex.

There are some things you can do to relieve muscle tension and avoid the extreme effects that may come with it:

Do passive stretching.

This type of stretching consists of you being in a relaxed state while an outside force is stretching the muscle. The outside force can be a towel, a resistance band, or another person.

Passive stretching is great for relieving tension because you aren’t creating more tension by moving your body. Sometimes performing stretches on your own does feel like a workout.

Move More.

Try to move for at least one minute every hour so that your body doesn’t remain in the same position for too long. This is important for people who work desk jobs. Moving your body can relieve tension when done regularly.

Find time to exercise.

Exercise can significantly decrease muscle tension and pain. When exercising, make sure that you focus on healing your body and know when it’s time to rest. You can start to moderately strengthen your muscles and increase over time.

Try Massage Therapy.

Massages help relieve the body of tension by loosening the muscles and lengthening them. There are different types of massages, so be aware of your choices and go for a massage that fits your body’s needs.

Use Heat.

Heat loosens the muscle fibers and helps them relax. This is why many athletes use heat before any activity. Hot baths are a great way to relieve muscle tension. They also soothe the nervous system.

When soaking in a hot bath, you can add things like Epsom salt to help reduce the build-up of lactic acid in your muscles.

The BetterSleep app has different methods for relieving stress and tension in your body, includingmeditation and relaxation practices. Visit the app for more.

Mindful Qualities Trained During a Body Scan

As we mentioned, there are many benefits to body scan meditation. And there are a variety of ways that you can relieve muscle tension for yourself. But, we also wanted to speak on the mindfulness qualities that a body scan meditation can help develop.

For starters, a body scan can develop your attention and awareness. Both of these mindful qualities can help you to stay focused, live a more intentional life, and worry less.

A body scan can also help you to live more in the present moment. Many of us have the tendency to live in our heads. Thinking about our next task, or worrying about something we may have forgotten to do.

When we learn embodiment and to live more presently we can rid ourselves of those thoughts and focus on simply embracing our bodies' sensations and living in the moment.

This type of mindfulness meditation is also excellent for letting things be and letting go. Normally, you may tend to build things up and create tension within muscles based on stressors outside of your control.

When you can take a few moments to do a body scan, you not only give your body the chance to release tension, but you also allow yourself to let go of any unnecessary stressors you may have been holding on to.

Conclusion

Body scans can help us develop and improve our lives in many ways, whether you want to get more in touch with your body and live more presently, or simply let go of stress and tension that’s been built up over time.

There's a variety of options to choose from. You can do quick mini-body scans, or even a guided body scan meditation. Both offer a great way to get involved with the body scan practice.

This mindfulness technique is convenient and can be done in most locations. Plus, the many benefits that people claim about this powerful mindfulness meditation have been scientifically proven to be true in many studies.

Whether you’re new to the idea of a body scan and mindfulness, or you have some experience, having some form of guidance can be a great way to keep you on track and focused. BetterSleep offers meditations, breathing techniques, and more to help you to practice mindfulness and even a body scan meditation if you’re up to it. Try BetterSleep for free today!