Body Scanning - why you should do it?

Body scanning is a technique where you turn your focus inward. You draw your attention to a part of your body in an effort to be more aware of what you are experiencing there.

2024 might as well be the year where you add this to your list of habits. Let me explain why.

Your body works to maximise efficiency. It does this through automation. Yes, the original inventor of automation was not some computer geek but a living being.

So your body worked to automate everything it could. Where it became really good at doing this was its internal functioning. The beating of your heart, the flow of your blood, the digestion of your food, and so on.

Once it did this, your body could turn outward to scan for external threats and dangers. Your body sets itself up to continuously scan the horizons for looming danger.

Sight, smell, touch - all your senses were honed to detect danger of any kind. Being able to do so made the difference between survival and death.

So then why bother scanning your body when it is already automatically doing the job?

To understand that, we need to understand two key concepts. Exteroception and interoception. Exteroception is the capacity you have to be aware of things happening outside of you. Interoception is the ability to be aware of things happening within you. Interoception is the part largely automated.

So when you turn your awareness from the external to the internal, you are signalling to your body that all is well.

You see, you would not turn off your security system unless you were sure there was no one trying to rob you, would you?

In the same way, the fact that you are focusing on your internal self is a signal that all is well. You are in a safe place. Your body regulates the release of stress hormones, lowering your stress levels.

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