A body scan for sleep is simple: lie down, bring your attention to your feet, notice what you can feel there, and then move slowly upwards through the body until you reach the top of your head. Each region gets twenty to forty seconds of plain attention. Nothing has to relax, change or improve.
That last point is what makes the body scan different from most bedtime techniques, and it is the reason it works for people who find other methods turn into effort. You are not trying to produce a relaxed body. You are giving a busy mind a slow, orderly path to follow, and letting the body do whatever it does. Most nights, what it does is settle.
The script is below, followed by pacing, the common problems, and how a body scan compares with the other Relaxation guides on this site.
The point is attention, not relaxation
If you approach a body scan as a relaxation exercise, you will check each region for whether it has relaxed yet, feel frustrated when it has not, and end up more awake. That is the trap.
Approach it instead as an exercise in noticing. When you reach your left knee, the question is only "what can I feel here?" The answer might be warmth, pressure from the mattress, a faint ache, tingling, or nothing at all. All of those are correct answers. Then you move on.
Relaxation tends to follow anyway, because attention fully occupied with sensation has no spare capacity for tomorrow's meeting. But it follows as a side effect. Make it the goal and it becomes harder to reach.
In short: A body scan is a slow tour of the body with curiosity rather than expectations. Noticing is the whole job. Sleep, if it comes, comes by itself.
Before you start
- Lie in your normal sleeping position. On your back is easiest for a first attempt, but a body scan works perfectly well on your side.
- Lights off, phone out of reach. Room as dark and cool as you can make it.
- Take three slower breaths to mark the start, then let the breath do its own thing. You will not be controlling it.
- Decide now that falling asleep before the end is a good outcome. It removes any pressure to finish.
The script
Move through the regions in order. Spend twenty to forty seconds on each, longer on any that feel interesting. Do not count seconds; simply move on when you feel you have visited.
Left foot. Bring your attention down to the toes of your left foot. Notice whether you can feel them at all. Notice the sole, the heel, the top of the foot, the ankle. Warmth or coolness, contact with the sheet, the weight of the duvet. Nothing needs to change.
Left lower leg. Move up to the shin and calf. Notice the calf's contact with the bed. Notice whether the muscle feels loose or held.
Left knee and thigh. The knee, front and back. Then the thigh, the largest muscle in the body, resting heavy.
Right foot, lower leg, knee and thigh. Repeat on the right side, at the same unhurried pace. Notice any difference between the two legs; there often is one, and it means nothing.
Hips and pelvis. Notice where the pelvis meets the mattress. Notice the lower back, and whether there is a gap beneath it or it is resting down.
Belly. Feel the belly rising and falling with each breath. Stay here for a few breaths; it is a natural resting place.
Chest and upper back. The movement of the ribs. The shoulder blades against the bed. The heartbeat, if you can feel it.
Left hand and arm. Fingers, palm, back of the hand, wrist, forearm, elbow, upper arm. Notice whether the hand is open or curled.
Right hand and arm. The same, on the right.
Shoulders and neck. Notice the shoulders. If they are drawn up, notice that. You can let them drop if they want to, but you do not have to make them.
Face and head. The jaw, and whether the teeth are touching. The lips, the cheeks, the eyes resting behind closed lids, the forehead, the scalp, the back of the head heavy on the pillow.
The whole body. Finally, widen your attention to take in the whole body at once, lying still and breathing, from the feet you started with to the head you finished on. Rest there for as long as you like. There is nothing more to do.
Pacing
A full scan at this pace takes ten to fifteen minutes. If that feels too long, use fewer, larger regions: feet, legs, torso, arms, head. That version takes about five minutes and is the one to use if you wake at 3am and want something undemanding to do instead of clock-watching.
Go slower than feels natural. The mind will want to hurry to the end; the point is that there is no end worth hurrying to.
Common problems and what to do
Your mind wanders off. It will, repeatedly. When you notice, there is nothing to fix. Simply return to the last region you remember and carry on. If you cannot remember where you were, start at the belly. Every return is the practice working, not failing.
You cannot feel anything in a region. That is normal, especially in the feet or the back of the head. "Nothing" is a valid observation. Note it and move on.
You notice an itch, an ache or discomfort. Notice it for a moment. If it needs attention, scratch or shift position, then continue. You are not being tested on stillness.
You fall asleep halfway through. This is the best possible outcome. The script is a tool, not a task. If you regularly drift off around the hips, that is your natural stopping point, and there is no need to ever reach the head.
You reach the end wide awake. Rest in the whole-body awareness for a few minutes without starting again. If you are still awake and starting to feel frustrated, the usual advice is to get up briefly and do something quiet in dim light until sleepy, as explained in our guide on what to do when you cannot get back to sleep.
It makes you more alert. A minority of people find close attention to the body energising. If that is you, try the muscle relaxation script instead, which gives the body something physical to do, or do the body scan earlier in the evening in a chair.
Body scan, PMR or breathing?
A body scan uses attention alone. Progressive muscle relaxation adds deliberate tensing and releasing, which suits people who feel physically wound up and want something active to do. Breathing exercises are the quickest to learn. Many people combine them: two minutes of slow breathing, then a body scan.
If tensing muscles is uncomfortable for you because of pain, injury or a heart condition, the body scan is the natural alternative to PMR, since nothing is contracted.
The body scan is also the standard first practice in mindfulness courses, and it opens the door to the wider idea of letting go of the effort to sleep, which many people find is the thing that finally helps.
Following a recording
Plenty of people prefer a voice to guide the scan, especially at first. A recording sets the pace and rescues a wandering mind every half minute. Free body scan recordings are widely available, and our guide to guided relaxation for sleep covers choosing a voice and listening comfortably in bed. Once you know the route, try it silently; then it is available at any hour without a phone.
Tonight's version
Lights off, three slower breaths, then start at the left foot and travel upwards, thirty seconds or so per region, noticing rather than fixing. If you drift off at the hips, good. If you reach the head, rest in the whole body and stay there. Same again tomorrow.
Sources and further reading
- NHS: Mindfulness
- Mind: Relaxation
- NHS: Insomnia
Written and reviewed by the Quiet Mind Sleep editorial team in line with our editorial policy. Spotted an error? Let us know.
