Out Of Your Mind (Hopefully)
I love the body scan meditation because you can do it anytime, anywhere. It is readily accessible to you, even in particularly stressful moments.
I often am asked how to monitor stress, like this question I got on social media:
“How does one identify stress? Having too much on your plate at once, feeling frantic, frequent ugly crying in therapy - those seem like "regular" indicators of stress. But if it's there under the surface all the time...how do you know?”
This person brings up an important point: chronic stress is insidious. You don’t realize it’s there until it causes a major problem - like burnout.
That is, unless, you listen to your body.
We tend to ignore the sensations we feel in our body. But those sensations are signals from our body, trying to alert us that we're under stress.
Your body has a lot to say when you are under stress. You just have to tune in and listen.
Think of your body as an alarm system. When stress is negatively impacting your health and wellbeing, your body will tell you by setting off alarms.
The temporary alarms may look like a fast heartbeat or clenched jaw. The prolonged alarms may look like fatigue or brain fog.
Instead of hitting snooze on these alarms, your job is to pay attention to them. And one way to do that is by doing a body scan.
Body scans are a great way of tuning into your body.
The body scan is a type of meditation where your attention is focused on the different sensations in your body.
The reason I love the body scan is because you can do it anytime, anywhere. It is readily accessible to you, even in particularly stressful moments.
My personal favorite is one by Kirat Randhawa, a New York City meditation instructor and good friend.
I’m so thankful to have met Kirat when I did. It was early March 2020 when I first attended one of her meditations (i.e. the last in-person session before New York City went into lockdown).
Kirat’s sessions shifted to Zoom gatherings, and they quickly became the bedrock of my nightly ritual at the height of the pandemic. They were one of the few sources of stability I had during that unsettling time.
Kirat has the most a-m-a-z-i-n-g voice. She could read a drive-through menu and make it a magical experience.
But there’s one line in particular she would say every night that I’d eagerly wait for:
“You are held, grounded, and completely supported.”
Every time I would hear her say that, I could feel the tension in my body melt away. It’s a simple sentence, but its sentiment is profound.
In this moment, you are safe.
You can experience the magic for yourself by checking her out on Alo Moves. (Use the code “KIRAT30” to get a 30-day free trial.)
As you go through your week, notice the sensations in your body. Is your heart racing? Is your jaw clenched ? Is your stomach in knots?
Remember: you are always held, grounded, and completely supported.
