This simple mindfulness exercise helps kids calm down and relax. The body scan is a fun exercise for building more body awareness and emotional attunement.

It’s terrific for adults as well. I use this exercise weekly. The body scan is a great tool to use when anxious or when you need to release tension.

Cultivate awareness of both body and emotions

The reason why I love this exercise is that it helps us get in touch with our bodies and our emotions.

Emotions are not just experienced as an attitude; they can be felt in the body.

Have you ever had a sinking feeling in your stomach? Have you felt the weight of stress on your shoulders?

When we are busy, we often forget to pay attention to our emotions – we become out of touch with our emotional experience.

Often by the time we find out that we’re in a bad mood it’s already too late, but you can learn to notice negative moods before they escalate. This way you can do something about it before it’s too late.

If stress tends to show up in your shoulders, you can counteract it by checking your shoulders to catch the signals of surging stress.

The more we pay attention to how our body feels, the more we can pick up on subtle moods. The body scan teaches us to do this.

You can also learn to notice, nurture, and enjoy positive feelings.

If you notice a good feeling in your body, an expansive feeling in your chest, or a general lightness in your body, you can tune in to it and stay with it for a while. Allow yourself time to really recognise these moments.

Below the children’s version of the body scan, you’ll find a short guided body scan for adults.

Here’s the children’s version of the mindfulness exercise:

Mindfulness For Children – Body Scan For Kids

Purpose: Mindfulness / Relaxation

Best for: Ages 6+

What you need: Nothing!

This activity asks the child to think about parts of his body that he otherwise probably doesn’t notice. Some of the questions may seem “silly” to little ones, so it’s a great idea to model the activity first while thinking aloud.

The first time the child attempts a body scan, make sure he’s wearing comfortable clothes and the room isn’t too hot or too cold, and then ask him to lie down.

Start at the top of his head, and tell him to think about how different parts of his body “feel,” moving down the body from his head to his toes as the activity progresses.

You might ask things like: How does your hair feel? What about your forehead? What’s happening with your ears today? Are they feeling like ears?

Then suggest he bring his attention to his shoulders. Tell him to think about how they might move a little as he breathes in and out. And so on and so forth, all the way down to his toes.

Some of these questions may elicit giggles from the child; he’s probably never thought about what his hair “feels like.” This is why it’s a fantastic idea to provide a model of your own before asking him to participate. As you think aloud, use relatable words. For example, you might say, “My hair feels soft and twisty” or “Today my forehead is a little tingly in the middle.”

When it’s over, ask the child how it felt during the exercise and how he feels now.

You can introduce mindfulness to your child with the “Squish And Let Go” exercise to get used to sensations in different parts of the body.

Try It Yourself – Body Scan For Adults

The body scan is a classic mindfulness meditation included in the University of Massachusetts Medical School Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction program. The body scan helps you relax, be aware of the different parts of your body, and essentially get in touch with your body. It trains attention and is a great way to release pent-up emotions.

Jon Kabat-Zinn, Professor of Medicine Emeritus and creator of the Stress Reduction Clinic at University of Massachusetts Medical School, writes in “Coming To Our Senses”:

“When we practice the body scan, we are systematically and intentionally moving our attention through the body, attending to the various sensations in the different regions. That we can attend to these body sensations at all is quite remarkable.”

Here’s a 5-minute adult version of the body scan by Elisha Goldstein, Ph.D. for you to try out before you share the simplified practice with your child.

Wishing you many fun mindful moments with your children :-)

Chris Bergstrom

Chief Mindfulness Ninja @ Blissful Kids

 #1 Best-Selling Author of:
 
★★★★★ Awesome “Bought this book for my 6 year old, but even my 3 and 15 yo love the activities. We usually incorporate activities on a daily basis and it’s been working so far.”
&
★★★★★ Cute and calming “With the craze being all about baby sharks, it’s a great idea to take it and use it to help our kids calm down themselves. I’m a therapist and look forward to using this with my kid clients.”

See also:

Liking the Music

Stay Cool Game

5 Mindful Games

If you are new to mindfulness with children OR you want to make practice easy we recommend our online mindfulness courses.


Chris Bergstrom is a bestselling mindfulness author, a leader in the field of mindfulness, the founder of BlissfulKids.com, a blog dedicated to children’s mindfulness, and a dad who is thrilled to practice mindfulness with his son. He is a certified mindfulness facilitator and trained to teach mindfulness to students in K-12. He’s also known as “the dad who tried 200+ mindfulness activities” and has taught meditation for more than 15 years.