You’ve already learned a lot about the benefits of meditation by now. However, with so many different forms of meditation to choose from, getting started can be difficult.
The body scan is a meditative activity that includes scanning your whole body for discomfort, stress or something out of the ordinary.
Increasing your knowledge of bodily sensations will make you feel more responsive to your physical self and better understand the causes of unpleasant feelings.
This understanding will make it easier to fix what’s wrong, resulting in better physical and mental health.
Why should you give it a shot?
Experts have discovered evidence that meditation can help with physical and emotional well-being in a variety of ways, including:
-better sleep
-relief from anxiety and tension
-a better sense of self-awareness
-increased compassion for oneself
-less pain
-fewer cravings
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Here are some of the most well-researched advantages :
1.To have some rest
By looking forward to 2019, mindfulness meditation will help reduce specific sleep problems and improve sleep quality.
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, a routine body scan activity just before bedtime can be especially helpful in relieving insomnia.
2.For anxiety and stress
Meditation has been shown in studies to be a potentially effective way to reduce anxiety and stress.
According to a 2013 report, mindfulness meditation can alleviate depressive symptoms in general. Mindfulness-based stress reduction practices, according to the researchers, can improve the ability to manage stress.
In a 2014 study of 47 clinical trials, mindfulness meditation was a beneficial method for dealing with anxiety and stress.
3.To relieve discomfort
If you’ve ever been in a lot of pain, you know how difficult it is to think about something else. Many people who suffer from chronic pain go through this regularly. This form of pain, understandably, can have a substantial adverse effect on your life.
Meditation may or may not be able to relieve pain. However, meditation’s benefits, such as increased understanding of your body and emotional state, can help you shift your pain outlook. Increased pain tolerance and experience will contribute to a more optimistic view.
According to a 2017 study of 13 studies, mindfulness meditation can help minimize chronic pain’s adverse effects, such as depression and poor quality of life.
These advantages could last longer than traditional chronic pain treatment.
According to Jon Kabat-Zinn, a meditation teacher and stress expert, body scan meditations are the most beneficial form of meditation for pain.
What do you do first?
A body scan is similar to a mental X-ray that slowly moves through the body.
Here’s how you can give it a shot:
Make yourself at home. Begin by being at ease. Sit or lie down in a way that helps you to spread your limbs comfortably.
–Concentrate
Close your eyes and breath. When you inhale and exhale, note the sound of your breath filling and leaving your lungs.
–Decide where you want to begin
Start with your left hand, left foot, right hand, right foot, or the top of your head if you prefer. Keep breathing slowly and deeply while focusing on that spot.
–Keep your eyes peeled
Open your mind to any feelings of pain, tension, discomfort, or something unusual.
–Slow down
Observe these sensations for anywhere from 20 seconds to a minute.
–Recognize it
Recognize and sit through the feelings that these stimuli bring up if you start to experience pain and discomfort. Accept them without reservation. For example, don’t pass judgment on yourself if you’re upset and angry. Please take note of them and let them go.
–Take a deep breath
Continue to breathe, picturing the pain and anxiety dissipating with each exhalation.
–Allow yourself to be released
Slowly let go of your mental concentration on that particular part of your body and redirect it to your next focus point. Some people find it beneficial to envision releasing one body part while breathing out and then going on to the next while breathing in.
–Continue on your way
Whether you move from top to bottom or up to one side and down the other, continue the exercise in a way that makes sense to you.
–Keep track of your wandering thoughts
If you continue to scan your body, take note of when your thoughts start to wander. Don’t be concerned; this will most likely happen more than once. You haven’t lost, and getting your thoughts back on track is easy. Put your awareness back to the point where you left off scanning.
–Visualize and take a deep breath
Allow your focus to move around your body once you’ve finished scanning different parts of your body. Consider it as a liquid filling a mold. Continue to sit with this knowledge of your whole body for several seconds, inhaling and exhaling slowly.
–Please return
Slowly let go of your concentration and return your gaze to your surroundings.
