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Got Stress? Try a Body Scan Meditation
Do you ever feel like you’re carrying the world’s weight on your shoulders? If so, you’re not alone. We all experience stress and tension. Distress and tension can create disease in our lives, which in turn creates physical, emotional, or even spiritual diseases in our being. However, did you know that some stress is helpful in that it helps us to grow physically, emotionally, and spiritually? Here, let us explore familiar sources of stress and ways we can use a body scan meditation.
Eustress vs. Distress
Two types of stress can affect us: eustress and distress. The difference is that one version of stress helps you grow. At the same time, the other creates weakness in the cells, the psyche, or even the spirit, allowing for small tears that can eventually become a breakdown in the system.
The Oxford English Dictionary defines Eustress and Distress as follows.
- Eustress: Positive mental or emotional response to a stressor, typically manifesting in increased motivation, excitement, or happiness.
- Distress: The sore pressure or strain of adversity, trouble, sickness, pain, or sorrow; anguish or affliction affecting the body, spirit, or community.
We all have stress in our lives. However, how we deal with our stress creates the ability to grow or deteriorate from its effect.
Examples of Eustress can include life changes, small challenges, new experiences, or any minor stress that engages the brain in its problem-solving capacity. Examples can be traveling, starting new relationships or employment, thrill-seeking behaviors, or even watching a movie that creates a little tension if done in service to create togetherness. While eustress creates the same neurological response as distress, how we associate it with its effect creates the means for inner growth rather than deterioration. Eustress allows for growth, while distress creates deterioration.
Another main factor of divergence between eustress and distress is the element of time. Eustress, over time, can create distress. We see this in the four circles of holistic being: physical, spiritual, psychological, and social. When tensions rise over time in any of these quadrants, they create tension levels that will eventually tear at the affected part of the organism. Therefore, it is imperative to develop mindfulness habits to identify the common themes underlying our stress levels and develop ways to use individualized tactics to heal from our felt stressors. Creating stress busters for our lives creates the environment needed for body, mind, and spiritual well-being.
The Body Scan Meditation
What is body scan meditation? This form meditation is a mindfulness exercise that you can implement to scan the body for any sources of tension, pain, clogged energies, or fatigue. We spend so much time externally focused that, at times, we fail to notice the sirens going off from within. A body scan meditation can help.
What are the benefits of body scan meditation?
They are numerous. The benefits of this mindfulness exercise helps you to identify areas of the body, mind, and spirit that may need attention. Our body stores the memory of our day-to-day life. It is the hardware through which we interact, present, and engage the external world. Do you want a fast, healthy, top-of-the-line computer or a dinosaur with viruses that can barely operate one function? Although much more complicated than a computer, your body does just that: it keeps score.
How do you do body scan meditation?
Define Your Mindfulness and Meditation Goals
Your goals for mindfulness exercises, such as this form of meditation, can be numerous. By doing a quick body scan meditation, you can decrease your heart rate, increase your oxygen volume, decrease the harmful stresses in life, and improve your cellular response to the environment because you provide healthy oxygen levels to your system.
What are your body scan meditation goals? Define yours. It could be to relax. A body scan meditation can also be a beginning step to learning how to meditate.
You can use a body scan meditation for better sleep, more energy, de-stressing, and creating a mindfulness practice that fosters the possibility for inner potential.
My Goal for You in this Body Scan Meditation?
My goal in producing this guided meditation is to help you connect with your body and let go, relax deeply, and awaken the spirit of your dreams.
In just a few moments, I will invite you to scan your body from head to toe, noticing any areas of tension or discomfort. I will then ask you to undertake a relaxation exercise to let go of the stress and anxiety affecting you at this moment.
Are you looking to connect more deeply with your physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being? Your time here will bring you to that greater sense of self that calls upon you. Are you ready to start? Let’s begin.
How to do Body Scan Meditation?
Find a comfortable place to sit or lie down. Make sure you will be able to continue uninterrupted. Once settled, close your eyes and take a few deep breaths. Inhale slowly and deeply through your nose, and exhale slowly through your mouth. As you breathe, allow your whole body to relax.
Notice any areas of tension or discomfort, and let go of them as best as possible. If you notice pain or discomfort, take a moment to breathe into that area. Breathe in, two, three, four, and out two, three, four. Don’t judge the breath; find your count. It can be by threes, fours, or even fives. Just notice it, and as you breathe into the affected area, let the cold, dark tension in that area release just as the night turns to dawn, and a new breath, like a new day, is a welcome home.
Now, scan your body from toe to head, noticing any sensations you feel. Don’t judge or try to change anything; observe what is there. Start with your toes. When you finish there, move into the feet, the ankles, legs, and glutes.
Continue this process through the abdomen, the chest, back, and shoulders, breathing in warmth and light to those areas and releasing cold tension. Proceed to the neck. It may need to stretch out. That is okay. Just roll it from side to side if needed. Finally, focus that attention on each area of the face, relaxing the cheeks, the jaw, the forehead, and ending with the crown of your head. When you reach this point, envision a light extending from the tip of your toes to the crown of your head, and rest, just be.
After you have scanned your body, focus your attention on your breath. Notice the sensation of the air moving in and out of your lungs. Follow your inhale and exhale to completion. With each inhale, feel your body relaxing more and more. With each exhale, let go of any remaining tension.
Allow yourself to be at peace. Stay here for as long as you like. When you’re ready to return to the present moment, slowly open your eyes and take a few deep breaths.
Congratulations! You have just completed a body scan. Relax, breathe, and enjoy the ride!
If you found this meditation helpful, many other resources are available to help you deepen your practice. There are also many different types of meditation, so experiment and see what works best for you. Remember, being patient and kind to yourself is the key to long-term success. Meditation is a practice, not an act of perfection.
As always, my friends, may blessings find you on your journey to advance confidently in the direction of your dreams.
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