A body scan is a meditation where you move your attention slowly through your body, from one area to the next, and simply notice what you feel there: warmth, pressure, tingling, tension, or nothing much at all. You don't try to change anything. It's one of the core practices of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), the eight-week program developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn, and you can do it lying down or sitting.
Below is a complete 10-minute script we wrote, with shorter and longer versions, a bedtime version for sleep, and what the research says about it.
How to do a body scan in 6 steps
- Get comfortable. Lie on your back or sit in a chair with your feet on the floor. Loosen anything tight.
- Arrive in the breath. Take two or three slower breaths, then let the breath do what it wants.
- Start at one end. Most scans start at the feet or at the head. Pick one and stay with that direction.
- Stay a few breaths in each area. Ask "what's here right now?" and notice the answer, even if it's "not much."
- Come back when you drift. You will drift. When you notice it, go back to the last area you remember.
- Finish with the whole body. Feel the body as one piece for a few breaths before you open your eyes.
Body scan meditation script (about 10 minutes)
We wrote this script for lying down, but it works in a chair too. Read it once to know the flow, then record it on your phone in a slow, even voice, or have someone read it to you. Each (pause) means about three calm breaths; (long pause) means about six.
Let your body settle on the floor or the bed. Let your arms rest where they want to. Close your eyes, or let your gaze rest softly on one point. (pause)
Notice that you're breathing. You don't need to breathe in any special way. Just feel the air coming in, and going out. (pause)
Now feel the places where your body is supported. The back of your head. Your shoulder blades. Your hips. Your heels. Let the surface under you do the holding. (pause)
Bring your attention down to your left foot. The toes. The sole. The heel. Perhaps you feel the air on your skin, the touch of a sock, warmth or coolness. Whatever is there, just notice it. (pause)
Let your attention move up into your left ankle, your shin and your calf. Then your knee. Then the long muscles of your thigh. Notice how heavy the leg is. (pause)
Now travel over to your right foot. The toes. The sole. The heel. You might notice that it feels different from the left one. That's fine. (pause)
Up through the right ankle, the shin and the calf. The knee. The thigh. (pause)
Now both legs at once, from the hips to the toes. Two long, heavy shapes, resting. (long pause)
Move your attention to your pelvis and your lower back. Notice where you touch the ground and where you don't. If there's tension, you don't need to fix it. Breathe out, and let it be there. (pause)
Now your belly. Feel it rise a little as you breathe in, and sink as you breathe out. Stay here for a few breaths. (long pause)
Your chest and your upper back. The ribs widening with each breath in, and settling with each breath out. (pause)
Now your hands. Your fingers, your palms, the backs of your hands. Hands often feel very alive: tingling, pulsing, warmth. Notice whatever is there. (pause)
Up through your wrists and forearms, your elbows, your upper arms, into your shoulders. Many of us carry the day in our shoulders. Notice them. On the next breath out, let them sink a little, if they want to. (pause)
Now your neck. The back of the neck, the sides, the throat. (pause)
Your face. Your jaw, and whether your teeth are touching. Your lips. Your cheeks. The area around your eyes. Your forehead. Let your face be soft. (pause)
The back and the top of your head. (pause)
If your thoughts have wandered off at some point, that's part of it. Notice where you are, and come back to the body. (pause)
Now let go of the separate parts, and feel your whole body at once. From the top of your head to the soles of your feet. Breathing, resting, held by the ground. (long pause)
Slowly let the breath get a little deeper. Move your fingers and toes. Stretch if you like. When you're ready, roll to one side and open your eyes.
The script has about 470 words, 15 pauses and 3 long pauses. At a slow reading pace of about 100 words a minute and about 5 seconds per breath (our assumptions, not measurements), that comes to roughly 10 minutes. Your own pace decides the exact length.
A 5-minute body scan
Short on time? Keep the structure, drop the detail:
- Arrive and feel the support (30 seconds).
- Both feet and legs together (1 minute).
- Belly and breath (1 minute).
- Hands, arms and shoulders together (1 minute).
- Face and jaw (1 minute).
- The whole body at once (30 seconds).
A 20-minute body scan
To make the script twice as long, don't add more words, add more time. Double every pause, and split the big areas: each toe on its own, the front and back of the thighs, each side of the face. Stay longer with the belly and the whole body at the end.
Body scan for sleep
A bedtime body scan is the same practice with three small changes:
- Lie the way you sleep, on your side if that's how you fall asleep. The body scan doesn't need you on your back.
- Go from head to feet. Moving downward goes well with the feeling of getting heavier, and it ends far away from the busy head.
- Leave out the ending. Don't move your fingers or open your eyes. When you reach your feet, rest in the whole body, and if you're still awake, start again at the head, slower.
Here's a short version for bed, about 5 minutes. Read it during the day so you know it, then go through it in your mind at night:
Lie the way you usually fall asleep. Let the pillow hold your head. Feel your forehead, and let it smooth out. Your eyes, heavy behind the lids. Your jaw, a little loose. Your neck and shoulders, sinking into the mattress. Your arms, heavy, all the way to your fingertips. Your chest and belly, moving slowly with each breath. Let each breath out be a little longer. Your hips, heavy. Your legs, heavy. Your feet, far away and warm. Now the whole body, resting. Nothing left to do tonight.
If a 10-minute body scan for sleep suits you better, use the full script above in the head-to-feet direction and skip the last paragraph. Our sleep meditation guide has more ideas for the time before sleep, and if your thoughts are the problem rather than your body, see racing thoughts at night.
Where the body scan comes from: Jon Kabat-Zinn and MBSR
The body scan became widely known through Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR), developed by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Researchers describe MBSR as "an eight-week meditation program that includes sitting and walking meditations, yoga, body scan, and breathing meditation as intensive practices." Kabat-Zinn's first published report, in 1982, described the program as a 10-week Stress Reduction and Relaxation Program for people with chronic pain.
The German health ministry's portal gesund.bund.de describes the same idea in mindfulness meditation: either systematically moving through the whole body, or resting in one region of it.
Body scan or progressive muscle relaxation?
| Body scan | Progressive muscle relaxation | |
|---|---|---|
| What you do | Observe each area without changing it | Tense each muscle group, then release |
| Feels | Quiet, slow, often sleepy | Active, clear, physical |
| Good when | You're tired or going to bed | You can't feel where you're tense or you're restless |
| Needs | Some patience with a wandering mind | Nothing but a few seconds per muscle group |
You can combine them: a few rounds of tensing and releasing first, then a body scan. Our progressive muscle relaxation guide has a full script, and how to release tension in your body combines both in 5 minutes.
What the research says about the body scan
- Body awareness: In two small randomized trials published in 2025 (85 and 90 young adults), a daily 2-week audio body scan improved several measures of interoception, the sense of what's going on inside the body. In the first trial, guided imagery produced comparable changes, so the body scan wasn't uniquely effective.
- Mindfulness in general: The US National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) says mindfulness meditation practices may help reduce insomnia and improve sleep quality, but also that much of the research is preliminary. Most studies test whole programs like MBSR, not the body scan on its own.
- Tension: The NHS offers a guided body scan on its Every Mind Matters site and says it can help you connect with your body and identify areas of tension and anxiety.
When the body scan feels hard
- You fall asleep. Scan sitting up, keep your eyes slightly open, or shorten it.
- Your mind wanders all the time. Name the area out loud in a whisper ("left knee"), or rest one hand on the area you're scanning.
- You feel restless or itchy. Move if you need to. Moving mindfully is part of the practice, not a failure.
- An area feels painful or brings up something unpleasant. You can skip it, open your eyes, or switch to the breath. NCCIH notes that relaxation practices are generally considered safe, but that some people report increased anxiety or intrusive thoughts, and there are rare reports of worsening symptoms in people with a history of trauma. If that happens repeatedly, talk to a professional about which practice suits you.
Body scan sessions in the app
If you'd rather listen, AI Meditation: Sleep & Calm has Body Scan for Deep Relaxation. It travels from the crown of your head down to your feet, lets you choose "lying down or sitting, either is fine," and offers an optional image of a warm light moving through the body. For nights, Back to Sleep with the Yoga Nidra Method includes a quicker rotation through the body, and Mini-Reset: Arriving and Relaxing is a short beginner session with a bit of muscle relaxation.
You can set how long a session lasts within its range, and the voices are AI voices. See how the app works, try it for free, no account needed.
For more ways to relax, see our overview of relaxation techniques, our deep relaxation practice and our guide on meditating lying down.
Your health
This app is a wellness app and does not replace medical advice. If pain, tension or sleep problems last for weeks or affect your day, talk to a doctor. NCCIH's page on relaxation techniques covers safety.
Sources
All pages accessed on September 25, 2026.
- Schwerdtfeger AR, Weber B, Rominger C. Two weeks to tune in: Evaluating the effects of a short-term body scan on interoception. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 2025. MBSR contents, two randomized trials, comparison with guided imagery.
- Kabat-Zinn J. An outpatient program in behavioral medicine for chronic pain patients based on the practice of mindfulness meditation. General Hospital Psychiatry, 1982. First report of the program.
- gesund.bund.de (German Federal Ministry of Health): Entspannungsmethoden (in German, updated March 27, 2026). Moving through the body in mindfulness meditation.
- NCCIH: Meditation and Mindfulness: Effectiveness and Safety. Sleep research, quality of the evidence.
- NCCIH: Relaxation Techniques: What You Need To Know. Side effects.
- NHS Every Mind Matters: How to meditate for beginners. Guided body scan.
- AI Meditation: Sleep & Calm, app version 2026.6.1. Session contents quoted from the sessions.
