Live Whole Health #295: Sink into relaxation

If your health care team suggested a body scan, you might immediately tense up imagining yourself sliding into a coffin-like machine. Good news—this isn’t that! The kind of body scan we’re talking about can provide complete and total relaxation. This is one you should add to your well-being routine!

Head-to-toe relaxation

In this video, retired Navy SEAL Commander Jon Macaskill guides us through a brief body scan meditation, bringing awareness to our bodies. This simple, step-by-step guide shows us how to connect with our breath and the various sensations in our bodies in a gradual sequence from head to feet.

Research shows that mindfulness meditation practices like the body scan can bring many physical and mental health benefits. It can help us gain more awareness of what’s going on in our bodies, what our bodies may be telling us, and how to respond to our internal signals. The body scan is very helpful in helping us notice where we may be carrying tension so we can relax those areas. As we relax and breathe, we become calmer and more centered.       

With regular practice, the body scan can help us become more grounded and relaxed, which leads to reduced stress, improved mental and physical well-being, and healthy living.

Well-being is more than just the lack of illness

Have you ever thought about your Whole Health? Your body, mind and spirit, all working together can produce a healthier and happier you! Many VA health care facilities offer health and well-being coaches who can help you set goals and walk with you on the path to achieving them. Find your local Whole Health team.