Great bodyscan meditations?

September 15, 2023 9:40 AM

Looking for a longish (15+ minutes) guided bodyscan audio. I'd like one with a clear, calm voice and pauses built in for reflection. Don't want anything religious or woo, just someone guiding you through a scan of your body and its sensations. Ideally without a subscription, but happy to pay for a one-off. Do you have a favorite?
posted by jebs to Health & Fitness (12 answers total)

I like the guided meditations by this person
posted by waving at 9:42 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

Headspace app has some nice guided body-attention relaxation scripts. I think it's free still.
posted by Abehammerb Lincoln at 9:46 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I am a big fan of Vidyamala, founder of Breathworks in the UK. She has free meditations available online. She is Buddhist (full disclosure: she is part of the community I practice with, though I've never met her). But much of her work is more secular mindfulness, MBSR, and working specifically with chronic pain. Two to try:

Body Scan Filling the Body with Light (20 min)
Compassionate Acceptance Body Scan (26 min)
posted by Isingthebodyelectric at 9:59 AM on September 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

The free meditations at UCLA are always worthwhile and woo-less.
posted by johngoren at 10:17 AM on September 15, 2023 [3 favorites]

Best answer: The audio recordings provided at Free Mindfulness Project are very good IMHO. Includes various durations of guided body scan.
posted by splitpeasoup at 11:40 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I like this one by Tara Brach although it's a little under 15 min.
posted by virve at 11:56 AM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

This one is my favorite and fits your description perfectly! It is around 30 min long Palouse Mindfulnesses Body Scan
posted by newsomz at 1:57 PM on September 15, 2023 [2 favorites]

I really like yoga nidra, which relies heavily on body scans. This one by Ally Boothroyd is a favorite.
posted by tinymegalo at 9:56 PM on September 15, 2023 [1 favorite]

I second the Palouse Mindfulnesses Body Scan, lovely calm voice and relaxing pace with zero religion and zero woo.
posted by ChodenKal at 10:03 AM on September 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

I can recommend Thanissaro Bikkhu for the clear, calm voice, and the rhythm of reflection, if you're open to Buddhism. What I listened to sounded lucid and was useful. dhammatalks.org has a few guided meditations. YouTube has some body-focused Dhamma Talks: Full body Awareness, The Body from the Inside.
posted by dmh at 12:24 PM on September 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Jason Stephenson has some really good ones, especially this and this one. He has a soothing voice and they’re not too woo, most of them.
posted by SomethinsWrong at 6:06 PM on September 16, 2023 [1 favorite]

Leigh Brasington guides a longer, very granular and thorough body scan

If 50+ minutes is too long for one sitting, I like to just split it up in parts.

Leigh is copying his teacher’s style of body scanning, Ayya Khema.

Leigh’s book is also great
posted by jim_cricket at 1:01 AM on September 22, 2023