Combatting Rumination Series: Body Scan Meditation

A body scan meditation is a simple and effective tool to tap into mindfulness, moment-to-moment awareness. Again, this is helpful in combatting rumination because it moves us out of the past and out of our heads and into the current moment and into our bodies. A body scan involves focusing attention and awareness on sensations occurring in the body. This form of meditation may help us to identify, interpret, and respond appropriately to our internal signals, thoughts, and feelings. Studies have shown that meditation can have beneficial effects on our emotional and physical well-being including:

• Increasing self-awareness,
• Improving emotion regulation,
• Decreasing stress and anxiety,
• Improving sleep,
• Reducing pain,
• Decreasing blood pressure, and
• Improving attention and memory.

Click here to listen to a 10-minute body scan!