Mental Body Scan: DBT Skills, Worksheets, Videos, Exercises (2025)

Learn to relax by scanning through your body and listening to how everything feels. (15 minutes) Repeat daily for a week.

This exercise is divided into three parts, based on three different parts of the body: the lower body, the upper body and the head.

To prepare:

• Choose a place that is quiet and where you will not be interrupted.
• Sit comfortably in a chair with your feet flat on the floor.
• Close your eyes.
• Start by taking a few deep breaths.

Step 1: Become Aware of Your Lower Body

Spend about 5 minutes on the first step. As you sit in the chair, start to feel on the ground. Be aware of the contact that they make with the floor beneath you. Notice how your feet feel. Start with the toes, then bring your attention to the soles of your feet, up through to the ankles. Are your feet tired? Do your soles hurt from a busy day? Or are they perhaps rested and they feel just fine? At this point you might get distracted with different thoughts or emotions. Gently accept that your mind may be wandering and shift your focus back to your feet, in places where you may feel tension. Breathe in, and as you exhale slowly release part of the tension.

Next, bring your awareness above your feet, to the lower parts of your legs. Become aware of any sensations that you might experience there. Does this part feel energized? Or does it feel heavy? Slowly move your attention to your knees. Feel how the back of the knee touches the chair that you sit on. How do your knees feel? Keep on moving your focus upwards and feel your thighs. How do they feel? Do you feel like you need to present them with a well-deserved work out session? Feel the sensation of your thighs touching the surface of the chair. If your mind starts wandering around, gently bring your attention back to doing the exercise. Move your attention to your pelvic area and buttocks. Become aware of how your body makes contact with the chair.

Step 2: Become Aware of Your Upper Body

Spend 5 more minutes on this step. Start with your torso. Feel your stomach. How does it feel? Is it calm or is it nervous? Maybe you will realize that you feel slightly hungry. Notice any sensation that might be there, no matter how small. Then, move your attention to the lower back. Feel how it touches the back of the chair. The lower back is one of the body parts that may accumulate more tension and tiredness. How does your lower back feel? Does it hurt? Is it relaxed? If you feel any tension or negative sensation just breathe in and breathe out. Accept whatever sensations your lower back might be experiencing at the moment and keep doing the exercise. If your mind starts to get distracted, gently shift your focus back to your body.

Continue upwards, scanning the front and the back of your torso. Feel how the upper back makes contact with the surface of the chair. Feel how your whole back supports your body on the chair. What sensations can you feel? If you start thinking about other things, just be aware of it and softly bring your attention back to the body. Now, bring the awareness to your hands. Start with the fingertips, through the fingers, through to the palm of your hands. Be aware of any sensations that you may feel. Are your hands resting in your lap or on the chair? Feel the contact between your hands and forearms and your lap or the chair. Move your attention up towards your forearms, through your elbows and the upper part of your arms.

Step 3: Become Aware of Your Shoulders and Head

Spend 5 minutes on this step. The shoulders and the neck are parts of the body that often hold a lot of tension caused by stress. Bring your attention to the shoulders and the muscles of the neck. Be aware of how that region feels. Do you have tension in the muscles? Do you have neck pain because you were sitting in a chair throughout the whole day in your office or at school? Move your attention up to your head. Be aware of your chin, your mouth, your nose, your eyes and then your ears. Do you have any physical sensations or any type of tension? Be aware of how your head feels. Do you perhaps have a headache? Or does it feel relaxed and energized? Don't worry if your mind starts wandering, just gently redirect your focus back to the exercise.

Step 4: Write Down Your Experiences on the Printable

Use the outline of the human body to write down where in the body you had the most notable physical sensations, and what parts were the most tense or the most relaxed. This step provides better insight into how the exercise went. Maybe you will discover that some part of your body is tense that you haven't realized before. When you do this exercise every day for a week, you may realize that you repeatedly have tension in a certain part of the body.