When A Body Scan Feels Like Too Much: A Gentle Approach to Somatic Awareness and Healing
Why traditional body scans can feel overwhelming and introduce a gentler way to reconnect with your body using somatic tracking, a compassionate and effective mind-body practice.
Living with chronic pain or persistent symptoms, traditional body scan meditations can sometimes feel like too much. In this post, we'll explore why and introduce a gentler way to reconnect with your body using somatic tracking, a compassionate and effective mind-body practice.
Why Traditional Body Scans Can Feel Overwhelming
Have you ever been encouraged to try a body scan for anxiety, chronic pain, or stress that afterward feel more disconnected, numb, or overwhelmed?
For those living with chronic persistent symptoms that could be due to nervous system dysregulation, autoimmune challenges, or post-viral conditions, turning inward can feel like shining a spotlight on suffering.
Rather than providing relief, it can stir up a cascade of sensations, including discomfort, frustration, fear, or a desire to escape the body.
Let's name that gently:
Returning to the body can feel counterintuitive when your body has become a source of distress.
Many people living with chronic illness or pain learn to cope by managing symptoms the best they can, often by functioning despite their discomfort. So, intentionally feeling more can seem unwise at best and unbearable at worst.
What If There's a Different Way In?
And there is. It doesn't mean to power through.
The new way of returning to your body starts with curiosity, kindness, and choice.
Rather than scanning everything or confronting discomfort head-on, you begin by gently noticing all sensations, including those that feel neutral, safe, or even pleasant. It's about creating space internally, allowing the body's natural intelligence to emerge.
Whereas a full-body scan may take you through all sensations, somatic tracking invites you to guide your attention with intuition and care. It's less about analysis and more about developing a relationship with a single sensation, a breath, a sense of ease, openness, and curiosity.
You're observing what's here with presence and non-judgment—often starting with a sensation that hasn't overtaken you.
You might notice something subtle or a pain that is there but not overtaking you.
From there, you practice allowing yourself to be with that sensation, not to fix it but to witness it with openness and trust in the body's wisdom.
These small moments of safety and attention that may emerge can shift how your brain interprets sensation. They can loosen the fear response, rewire old patterns, and create new associations rooted in calm and even pleasure.
Your body is more than pain - a reflection of your inner state.
Your body is more than a vessel you inhabit or a problem that must be solved. It is a field of living awareness that is always in conversation with you.
sensation, every breath, every pause carries its capacity
You don't have to feel everything all at once. You can begin with something.
Something small. Something steady.
A Gentle Practice - Leaning Into A Positive Sensation
This beginner-friendly practice helps you reconnect without overwhelm:
Sit or lie down in a way that feels supportive.
Close your eyes or soften your gaze. Take a slow breath in—and exhale fully.
Choose an area that feels neutral or pleasant: your hands, your feet, and the rise of your belly.
Let your attention rest there lightly—no need to analyze. Just feel.
If discomfort arises elsewhere, acknowledge it gently. You might say, "I notice you. But right now, I'm choosing to rest here."
Stay with this awareness for a minute or two. Then, open your eyes slowly and return to the present.
Something to know
Somatic awareness isn't about pushing through. It's about returning to the self with care.
You are not your symptoms with the capacity to be aware of them
And within that awareness lives the power to regulate, restore, and relate differently to your experience.
Somatic tracking helps build that inner relationship. It helps restore trust with your body, with the brain and body, and with the mind.
Want to Go Deeper Into Mind-Body Healing?
And if you're ready to go further, we offer trauma-informed, neuroscience-backed, heart-centered care through 1:1 guidance to help you reconnect with your body's brilliance. Reach out on @ritamindfulmentor on Instagram or message here. Stay tuned for new website updates!