Guided Body Scan Meditation
This body scan mindfulness meditation
practice by HeyZen helps you:
- ground yourself in the present moment,
- nonjudgmentally observe your feelings and thoughts,
- release suppressed emotions by tuning into your body.
Listen to your body to heal your inner self.
The Flow of Meditation
The session starts with mindful breathing that allows you to tune your body to the practice and prepare mentally for the relaxation. Just as with every mindfulness exercise, you should take every step at your own pace, as it’s all about listening to your inner voice and body needs. So, if you feel the need to stay at the breathing stage for longer or want to observe a body part more closely, feel free to pause the recording whenever it’s needed.
We’ll begin by focusing on your toes and then gradually move upwards, covering your entire body. As you shift your attention from one body part to the next, you’ll be guided to fully experience all your physical sensations, observe your emotional state, and become aware of any thoughts or feelings that arise along the way.
You may notice pain as you bring awareness to your back or find some unusual bodily sensations as you focus on your hips. Remember that it’s totally normal, and all those feelings will serve as hints about what you should work through after the practice.
This is the main aim of the body-scan practice—to uncover all suppressed feelings and thoughts that might be weighing you down.
How It Helps Your Mental State
Reduce stress
The relaxation techniques used during this body scan practice allow you to reduce stress and anxiety levels as you ground yourself in the present moment. It teaches you how to drag your brain from the whirlwind of negative thoughts and catastrophization to an adequate reaction to present events. Regular practice may make it easier to navigate life’s challenges with resilience and a more balanced perspective.
Unravel subconsciousness
We often don’t have time to pay attention to our true feelings and thoughts as our attention is captured by chores and challenges of daily life. This mode of living leads to constant tension, problems with sleep, and overall bad well-being. The problem is that, together with numbing the unpleasant feelings, we suppress the joyful ones too.
This practice enables you to take a moment to shift your gaze from the external world to your inner self and all its pains that were stashed away at the subconscious level. As you release them, you’ll be able to experience life to the fullest again.
Explore All Meditations for a Calmer Life
This practice focuses on developing feelings of compassion, kindness, and goodwill towards both yourself and others. It typically involves repeating phrases like ‘May I be happy’ or ‘May John be healthy,’ gradually extending these wishes from yourself to loved ones, friends, and even those you may struggle with. The goal is to cultivate a deeper sense of empathy and emotional warmth.
Meditating while doing everyday tasks can help you find peace and balance, not in the sterile, trigger-free environment but amidst the hustle of life.
Walking meditation involves paying close attention to the movement of your feet, the sensation of the ground beneath you, and your breath while being fully aware of your surroundings. It’s a way to practice mindfulness while moving, which can be particularly effective for those who have already mastered sitting meditation.
This practice focuses on recognizing and appreciating the positive aspects of life. It typically involves reflecting on things, people, or experiences that you’re thankful for, and they shouldn’t be necessarily positive! By cultivating a sense of gratitude, you can shift your mindset towards a brighter and more comprehensive perspective on life events, even if they were not as pleasant at first.
It involves the repetition of a mantra (a word, phrase, or sound) to focus the mind and enter a meditative state. The mantra can be spoken, chanted, or silently repeated. This practice helps in reducing distractions and concentrating on a specific aspect of life you’d like to develop. For example, on some days you may create the mantra “I’m open to every experience life offers me,” and on others, “I’m kind and compassionate.”
Combining elements of mindfulness with physical activity, this practice involves engaging in slow, deliberate movements while paying attention to bodily sensations and breath. It can include practices like yoga or Tai Chi, strengthening both physical and mental well-being via integrating awareness with motion.
It focuses on connecting with the present moment and stabilizing your energy when you feel overwhelmed. Techniques may include visualizing roots growing from your feet into the earth, deep breathing, or focusing on all physical sensations such as smell, taste, and touch. This meditation is often used to reduce anxiety and foster an overall sense of stability and safety to restore emotional balance.
This practice helps you develop compassion for yourself and others by imagining and wishing for relief from their suffering. It can cultivate your empathy as you encourage a caring mindset towards everyone. It’s a great way to improve your relationships and overcome feelings of being disliked or unlovable.
Use the power of your mind to create peaceful scenes, like a tranquil beach or a quiet forest. By visualizing these calming scenarios, this practice promotes relaxation and helps counter negative thoughts. It’s especially helpful for those who have trouble sleeping, can’t unwind easily, or feel overwhelmed by stress.
It involves practicing mindfulness in a natural setting, focusing on the sights, sounds and smells around you. It’s about immersing yourself in nature to foster a deep sense of peace, presence, and interconnectedness with the natural world. You don’t need to be in nature yourself, but the practice can be based on only visualizing walking in a forest and feeling all the soothing experiences of the living environment.
It focuses on tuning into the body’s current sensations. By paying close attention to your breathing, muscle tension, and bodily feelings, this practice allows you to work out mental problems from top to bottom.
It means that you’ll feel how, for example, a panic attack is manifested in your body, and by exploring these sensations, you’ll be able to handle the attack much more easily.
Also known as open monitoring, this type involves maintaining awareness but without focusing on one particular object or sensation. Instead, you observe thoughts, feelings, and emotions as they arise and pass.
This practice cultivates a non-judgmental attitude to your thoughts and a greater understanding of the mind’s activities.
This type aims to help people with ADHD cope with everyday life. Some techniques can help them pay attention for longer periods, while others seek to save energy and avoid overstimulation.
Meditating is highly important for ADHD people, as it allows them to stop the ever-changing flow of thoughts and feelings and remind the brain about the present moment.
This simple yet effective practice involves focusing on your breath, noticing each inhalation and exhalation, and the sensations that come with them. It helps you anchor your mind in the “now,” clear away the flood of thoughts and feelings, and build steady mental focus at any place or time.
It’s a guided visualization that helps connect with the spirit of a deceased loved one, someone far away, or those with whom you lost contact. Through imagery and memory, it facilitates feelings of closeness, comfort, and emotional healing, providing closure or ongoing connection with the person you still love.
This practice involves consciously acknowledging what you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch, grounding you in the present, and fostering a greater connection with your physical experience in the here and now. This way, you gently remind your brain about the need to stay present, which, in turn, leads to a happier state of mind.
This meditative technique is designed to help you recognize, understand, and healthily deal with emotions. During this practice, you may be guided to reframe your emotional responses and change your perspective toward triggers.
This way, you nurture your emotional intelligence to respond to stimuli with greater calm and clarity.
It’s another powerful technique that can be used anywhere and at any time to anchor yourself in the present and reduce anxiety. The practice requires you to focus on your breath while silently counting each inhale and exhale. This. way, you can reduce mental clutter by providing the brain with structured meditative grounding.
Loving-Kindness Meditation
This practice focuses on developing feelings of compassion, kindness, and goodwill towards both yourself and others. It typically involves repeating phrases like ‘May I be happy’ or ‘May John be healthy,’ gradually extending these wishes from yourself to loved ones, friends, and even those you may struggle with. The goal is to cultivate a deeper sense of empathy and emotional warmth.
Walking Meditation
Meditating while doing everyday tasks can help you find peace and balance, not in the sterile, trigger-free environment but amidst the hustle of life.
Walking meditation involves paying close attention to the movement of your feet, the sensation of the ground beneath you, and your breath while being fully aware of your surroundings. It’s a way to practice mindfulness while moving, which can be particularly effective for those who have already mastered sitting meditation.
Gratitude Meditation
This practice focuses on recognizing and appreciating the positive aspects of life. It typically involves reflecting on things, people, or experiences that you’re thankful for, and they shouldn’t be necessarily positive! By cultivating a sense of gratitude, you can shift your mindset towards a brighter and more comprehensive perspective on life events, even if they were not as pleasant at first.
Mantra Meditation
It involves the repetition of a mantra (a word, phrase, or sound) to focus the mind and enter a meditative state. The mantra can be spoken, chanted, or silently repeated. This practice helps in reducing distractions and concentrating on a specific aspect of life you’d like to develop. For example, on some days you may create the mantra “I’m open to every experience life offers me,” and on others, “I’m kind and compassionate.”
Mindful Movement Meditation
Combining elements of mindfulness with physical activity, this practice involves engaging in slow, deliberate movements while paying attention to bodily sensations and breath. It can include practices like yoga or Tai Chi, strengthening both physical and mental well-being via integrating awareness with motion.
Grounding Meditation
It focuses on connecting with the present moment and stabilizing your energy when you feel overwhelmed. Techniques may include visualizing roots growing from your feet into the earth, deep breathing, or focusing on all physical sensations such as smell, taste, and touch. This meditation is often used to reduce anxiety and foster an overall sense of stability and safety to restore emotional balance.
Compassion Meditation
This practice helps you develop compassion for yourself and others by imagining and wishing for relief from their suffering. It can cultivate your empathy as you encourage a caring mindset towards everyone. It’s a great way to improve your relationships and overcome feelings of being disliked or unlovable.
Calming Visualization Meditation
Use the power of your mind to create peaceful scenes, like a tranquil beach or a quiet forest. By visualizing these calming scenarios, this practice promotes relaxation and helps counter negative thoughts. It’s especially helpful for those who have trouble sleeping, can’t unwind easily, or feel overwhelmed by stress.
Nature Connection Meditation
It involves practicing mindfulness in a natural setting, focusing on the sights, sounds and smells around you. It’s about immersing yourself in nature to foster a deep sense of peace, presence, and interconnectedness with the natural world. You don’t need to be in nature yourself, but the practice can be based on only visualizing walking in a forest and feeling all the soothing experiences of the living environment.
Somatic Meditation
It focuses on tuning into the body’s current sensations. By paying close attention to your breathing, muscle tension, and bodily feelings, this practice allows you to work out mental problems from top to bottom.
It means that you’ll feel how, for example, a panic attack is manifested in your body, and by exploring these sensations, you’ll be able to handle the attack much more easily.
Open Awareness Meditation
Also known as open monitoring, this type involves maintaining awareness but without focusing on one particular object or sensation. Instead, you observe thoughts, feelings, and emotions as they arise and pass.
This practice cultivates a non-judgmental attitude to your thoughts and a greater understanding of the mind’s activities.
Guided Meditation for ADHD
This type aims to help people with ADHD cope with everyday life. Some techniques can help them pay attention for longer periods, while others seek to save energy and avoid overstimulation.
Meditating is highly important for ADHD people, as it allows them to stop the ever-changing flow of thoughts and feelings and remind the brain about the present moment.
Breath Awareness Meditation
This simple yet effective practice involves focusing on your breath, noticing each inhalation and exhalation, and the sensations that come with them. It helps you anchor your mind in the “now,” clear away the flood of thoughts and feelings, and build steady mental focus at any place or time.
Meeting a Loved One in Spirit
It’s a guided visualization that helps connect with the spirit of a deceased loved one, someone far away, or those with whom you lost contact. Through imagery and memory, it facilitates feelings of closeness, comfort, and emotional healing, providing closure or ongoing connection with the person you still love.
Body Awareness Through the 5 Senses
This practice involves consciously acknowledging what you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch, grounding you in the present, and fostering a greater connection with your physical experience in the here and now. This way, you gently remind your brain about the need to stay present, which, in turn, leads to a happier state of mind.
Meditation for Emotional Regulation
This meditative technique is designed to help you recognize, understand, and healthily deal with emotions. During this practice, you may be guided to reframe your emotional responses and change your perspective toward triggers.
This way, you nurture your emotional intelligence to respond to stimuli with greater calm and clarity.
Counting Meditation
It’s another powerful technique that can be used anywhere and at any time to anchor yourself in the present and reduce anxiety. The practice requires you to focus on your breath while silently counting each inhale and exhale. This. way, you can reduce mental clutter by providing the brain with structured meditative grounding.