Once again we find ourselves paying attention to the concept of Mindfulness, already discussed at length in another article in our portal. With the term Mindfulness one indicates a whole series of practices aimed at increasing the awareness of ourselves, our bodies and our existence, paying special attention to each and every one of our actions, to the present we are living, not letting ourselves be carried away by thoughts and feelings beyond the present moment. The exercises included in the Mindfulness program are many and varied in nature, and we will try, over the course of the next few articles, to examine them all in detail. After a first step focused on pure and simple meditation, here we will focus on another aspect of the Mindfulness methodology: the Body Scan.
Body Scan
This exercise, to be carried out at least once a day if one has the opportunity and the material time to do so, consists of a very special meditative phase, during which our attention is to be directed to all the individual parts of our body, taken individually and at different times, in order to create a close connection between our inner sense and our body, and to carry out a true “scanning” of each and every part of us. Of course, Body Scan is applied for healing purposes as part of the MBSR“Mindfulness-based stress reduction” program.
From a practical point of view, Body Scan exercise is recommended at least once a day for a duration (at best) of about 40-45 min. Particularly important throughout the exercise is the attention that must be given to the breath, which must accompany us from the beginning to the end of the exercise. As well as on the breath, our attention should be directed hand in hand to all parts of the body, starting from the toes, continuing through the knees, legs, chest, all the way to our heart and head, focusing both on the muscles, bones, joints but also and especially on our internal organs (heart, lungs, stomach, brain, etc.).
As specified earlier, the key thing to keep in mind throughout the exercise lies in the fact that any other feelings from outside (thoughts, emotions, disturbances) whether positive or negative must be ignored, and we need to turn our attention solely and exclusively to the meditation exercise that is taking place in the present moment, so as to achieve a state of balance that is fundamental to decreasing the distance between our mind and our body.
