INTEGRATIVE MEDICINE
12
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April 2016 | Read this issue and more at www.healthandwellnessmagazine.net |
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Body Scan
Meditation
By John A. Patterson MD, MSPH, FAAFP
Mindfulness
practice is fundamentally about
training the mind
to skillfully pay
attention, beginning with mindfulness of the body.
Mindfulness also emphasizes present-moment awareness, in contrast to
our frequent habit of thinking about
and living in the past and the future.
The body is a perfect place to begin
this practice since it is our constant
companion and only lives in the present moment.
Body scan meditation is one
of the foundational practices of
Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
(MBSR). This body-based awareness practice invites a compassionate self-regard for your body as you
direct your attention to one area of
your body at a time. The body scan is
taught initially lying down. It usually
begins with the left foot. Attention
is focused like a laser sequentially on
the toes, the heel and the sole of the
left foot, followed by the left ankle,
the skin covering the shin bone, the
shin bone itself, the skin covering the
calf and sensations deep into the calf
muscles. You work your way up to the
left hip and gluteal area, then sense
the entire left leg before repeating the
process on the right leg.
The process continues into the
pelvis and abdomen with an appreciation of the belly rising and falling
with each breath. Kindly paying attention to the low back area is followed
by the upper back, the rib cage and
the expansion and contraction of the
rib cage with each breath. Attention is
paid to a subtle awareness of the vital
organs and vital functions happening
in the pelvis, the abdomen and the
chest. Attention is then directed to
the arms in the same way as the legs,
starting with the tips of the fingers
and moving up to the shoulders.
Finally, your attention is directed to
the neck, chin, jaw, mouth, face and
head.
Moving your attention sequentially
throughout the entire body, you are
encouraged to focus on the tactile
sensations and grounded physicality
of the body, welcoming and accepting non-judgmentally whatever
sensations are present. When you
are aware your attention has