ABSTRACT
The Body Scan is the first formal practice that is usually taught in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy groups. The Body Scan also introduces people to watching the breath, which will later on become the main focus of the ‘concentration’ part of Mindfulness. In the Body Scan people are asked to imagine that they are breathing into various parts of the body and out from them, letting their attention travel with their breath into parts of the body. This can be difficult for some people and the Pranayama is a good preparation for this. The Body Scan can teach people a completely new way of being with themselves and people can experientially learn that good things like relaxation are more likely to happen when they let go of trying to make them happen. The roots of the Mindfulness meditation are in Buddhist psychology.
