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Body Scan (Audio)

The Body Scan is a mindfulness exercise encouraging present-moment awareness, with the sensations of the body being used as an anchor for mindful attention. The core of all mindfulness practice is cultivating sensed body awareness. This audio exercise can be used during clinical sessions, or prescribed as self-practice to complement clinical work and to develop a client’s personal practice. 

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Audio track (MP3)

A therapy audio track designed for skills development.

Audio script (PDF)

The script for a therapy audio track. Read along with an exercise, or record in your own voice.

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Languages this resource is available in

  • English (GB)
  • English (US)

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Introduction & Theoretical Background

Mindfulness-based programs such as mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT: Segal, Williams & Teasdale, 2013) and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR: Kabat-Zinn, 1990) have demonstrated beneficial effects for a wide range of psychological disorders, as well as helping people to cope with pain and illness (Goink et al, 2015; Khoury et al, 2013). Mindful awareness exercises form part of treatment approaches such as dialectical behavior therapy (DBT: Linehan, 1993) and compassion focused therapy (CFT: Gilbert, 2014). 

The Body Scan exercise forms part of the Psychology Tools For Mindfulness Audio Collection, a guided introduction to the practice of mindfulness meditation. The exercise encourages present-moment awareness using the sensations of the body as an anchor for the attention. Bodily sensations can provide a steadying anchor for mindful awareness and help us to unhook from the thinking mind when we get lost in thought. The Body Scan encourages us to practise connecting with our bodily

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Therapist Guidance

This audio exercise can be used in session, or prescribed as self-practice to complement clinical work and to develop a client’s mindfulness practice. The audio download is a simple .mp3 file which can be played in most media player apps. You can also download the verbatim script, allowing you to record the exercise for your clients in your own voice to reinforce work completed in therapy.

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References And Further Reading

  • Baer, R., Crane, C., Miller, E., & Kuyken, W. (2019). Doing no harm in mindfulness-based programs: conceptual issues and empirical findings. Clinical Psychology Review, 71, 101-114.
  • Gilbert, P. (2014). The origins and nature of compassion focused therapy. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 53(1), 6-41.
  • Gotink, R. A., Chu, P., Busschbach, J. J., Benson, H., Fricchione, G. L., & Hunink, M. M. (2015). Standardised mindfulness-based interventions in healthcare: an overview of systematic reviews and meta-analyses of RCTs. PloS one, 10(4), e0124344.
  • Kabat-Zinn, J., & Hanh, T. N. (2009). Full catastrophe living: Using the wisdom of your body and mind to face stress, pain, and illness. Delta.
  • Khoury, B., Lecomte, T., Fortin, G., Masse, M., Therien, P., Bouchard, V., ... & Hofmann, S. G. (2013). Mindfulness-based therapy: a comprehensive meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 33(6), 763-771.
  • Linehan, M. (1993). Cognitive-behavioral treatment of borderline personality disorder. New York: Guilford.
  • Segal, Z. V., &

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