It’s been a while since I recorded a new guided meditation for lawyers, but I just recorded a new body scan practice. I like doing them. It’s just been busy with other projects lately, including editing my upcoming book.
This week, though, I am pleased to be offering an introduction to mindfulness course for my law firm. This course will track the practices taught in my first book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer. Week 2 of the course for lawyers and legal professionals will be about body scan meditation.
As I will explain in this post, there are numerous ways to do body scan meditation. I prepared a new guided meditation to offer a different option: one that starts in the bottom of the body and moves up. This post will share the new practice, as well as explain its advantages and potential risks for some populations.
What Is Body Scan?
As I have written before, body scan meditation is the practice of systematically scanning through the body to feel sensations. This is not a practice of thinking about the body or its parts. Instead, the practice is to intentionally direct your attention to sense the body.
To many, it may seem only natural to start a body scan from the top of the body and work your way down. After all, many lawyers live in our heads so that is often a great place to start.
The point of doing this practice is to build awareness of and familiarity with sensations in the body. This is essential for several reasons. One is that our emotions often register as sensations in our bodies. Another is that body awareness can help us to remember that there is life outside of the thoughts in our head.
Finally, learning to linger in sensations in the body, is an important way to cultivate mindfulness as a trait. Bodily sensations offer us a direct and tangible link to our present moment reality.
Options for Practice
Because body scan meditation is about feeling sensations in the body, there are multiple ways to do the practice. This can include but is not limited to:
- Top down: head to toe;
- Bottom up: toe to head;
- Sides of the body: left and then right or vice versa;
- Categories of body parts: limbs, torso, head, etc.:
- Cycling approach: jumping from one part of the body to another; or
- Varieties of sensation in the body: examples include temperature, pressure, space, relaxation.
In addition, these practices can be further modified and customized by adding different techniques. Some body scan practices might be quick, including a simple check in with body sensations. Other body scans might be lengthy and lingering, including deep exploration of bodily sensations.
Finally, it is also possible to add movement or pressure to body scan to foster awareness of sensation or relaxation. Progressive muscle relaxation is commonly paired with body scan. With this strategy, you may tense and relax muscles as you move through each body part. As another option, some people move their hands to rest on the bodily areas to help themselves feel sensations more strongly.
Advantages of Bottom Up Body Scan for Lawyers
Many lawyers would hear these options for body scan and ask which meditation style is the best. My answer, as always, is that the real question is which one is best for you. The only way to truly know this is to explore different practice styles and learn which one supports you most.
This is why I recorded a bottom up body scan guided meditation to allow for another option to try. The reason to explore this practice is that it can provide a faster route to relaxation. Many lawyers, myself included, are often stuck in our heads. We think a lot and habitually live in our thoughts as a result.
Starting a body scan at your toes or feet may help you feel relaxed and grounded more quickly. It also may help draw your mind out of your thoughts and into your body faster.
In my normal sitting practice, I tend to use a top down approach to body scan as a matter of habit. However, if I struggle with sleeplessness, I more often start a body scan in my toes. It often helps me relax, remember how good it feels just to lie down, and avoid thinking so I can get back to sleep.
Warnings and Potential Risks
Importantly, though, there are some potential risks for any mindfulness practices that draw you quickly into your body. Because emotions register in the body, a faster connection to the body can imply the potential for overwhelm. For this reason, some people may struggle with starting a body scan meditation at their toes and may do better with a top down approach.
This includes people who are very new to meditation, people who have severe anxiety, or anyone with a history of trauma. If that is you, it does not mean that meditation or body scan is off limits. Instead, it may mean that a top down approach may be preferred or that you should consult a healthcare provider or trained teacher first.
The real question with any mindfulness practice is whether you can feel safe, supported, and alert so that you can do the practice. If this is true for you, then bottom up body scan meditation is one to try.
Where to Try the Bottom Up Body Scan Meditation
You can try the Bottom Up Body Scan Guided Meditation on the Brilliant Legal Mind YouTube channel here:
Want to learn more about mindfulness and compassion? Check out my new book, How to Be a Badass Lawyer, for a simple guide to creating a meditation practice of your own in 30 days. And to share mindfulness with your little one, check out my new children’s book, Mommy Needs a Minute.
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