Finding the Felt-Sense: Body Scan

“A felt sense is not a mental experience but a physical one. A bodily awareness of a situation or person or event. An internal aura that encompasses everything you feel and know about the given subject at a given time—encompasses it and communicates it to you all at once rather than detail by detail. Think of it as a taste, if you like, or a great musical chord that makes you feel a powerful impact, a big round unclear feeling.”
Eugene Gendlin

In the 1950s, Eugene Gendlin, a young graduate student at the University of Chicago working with the American psychologist Carl Rogers, set out to discover why some people in therapy have successful outcomes and others don’t.

Through carefully controlled analysis of scores of audiotaped psychotherapy sessions, Gendlin and his team demonstrated that the crucial variable was not the kind of therapy but a capacity that the successful clients manifested from the very first session that the unsuccessful clients lacked.

This was the ability to connect with and speak from a nonconceptual, bodily felt experience

Gendlin called this nonverbal inner source of knowing the bodily felt sense, or simply the felt sense. Felt senses can be found in a subtle, mostly unrecognized zone of experiencing inside us, a kind of border zone between our conscious and unconscious.

This level of experience lies below our everyday awareness of objects, thoughts, emotions, and beliefs. It is an embryonic form of awareness in which “body” and “mind” are not separate. Felt senses are both bodily experienced and meaningful. They embody the unique reality of our individual lives in ways that can’t yet be put into words.

Felt senses are unclear somatic sensations that for the most part go unnoticed, yet they are not wholly unconscious.

Entering into a process of inquiry with the felt sense invites spontaneous flashes of intuitive insight that generate novel perceptions and understandings, leading to fresh solutions to life’s challenges.

Finding the felt sense is a powerful way of knowing yourself deeply, accepting yourself as you truly are in the present moment, and also changing yourself in directions that are genuinely life-enhancing.

The goal of this exercise is to help you develop a greater awareness of the sensations in your body and to cultivate a sense of curiosity and non-judgment about these sensations. By practicing the body scan regularly, you can become more attuned to your body’s needs and better able to respond to them. This exercise can also help to reduce stress and anxiety by bringing your attention to the present moment and allowing you to let go of worries or distractions.

Eugene Gendlin

Relaxation is the key to a healthy and happy life. But with our busy schedules and never-ending to-do lists, it can be hard to unwind. That’s where body scanning comes in. This technique helps you tune into your body and release pent-up tension. Here’s how to give it a try:

First off, get cozy. Find a comfortable spot where you can lie down or sit with ease. Once you’re settled, close your eyes and focus on your breath. Feel the sensation of air filling and leaving your lungs with each inhale and exhale.

Now, choose where to start. You can begin anywhere you like – your head, your foot, your hand. Focus on that spot as you take slow, deep breaths. Then, move on to another part of your body and repeat the process.

Pay attention as you scan your body. Open your awareness to any sensations of pain, tension, or discomfort. Take your time, spending anywhere from 20 seconds to a minute observing each sensation.

If you begin to feel pain or discomfort, acknowledge it. Sit with any emotions that come up without judging yourself. Breathe through the discomfort, imagining it decreasing with each breath.

Once you’ve focused on a specific part of your body, release your mental awareness and redirect it to your next area of focus. Some find it helpful to imagine releasing one body part as they breathe out and moving on to the next as they breathe in.

Continue the exercise along your body in a way that makes sense to you. Whether you move from top to bottom or up one side and down the other, keep scanning until you’ve covered your entire body.

As you continue to scan your body, note when your thoughts drift. This will probably happen more than once, but don’t worry. You haven’t failed and can easily get your thoughts back on track. Just gently return your awareness to where you left off scanning.

Once you’ve finished scanning all parts of your body, let your awareness travel across your body. Visualize this as liquid filling a mold. Continue inhaling and exhaling slowly as you sit with this awareness of your whole body for several seconds.

Finally, slowly release your focus and bring your attention back to your surroundings. Take a deep breath, wiggle your fingers and toes, and come back to the present moment.

Body scanning is a simple yet effective way to release tension and calm your mind. It can be done anytime, anywhere, and only takes a few minutes. So the next time you feel overwhelmed, take a break and scan your body. You might be surprised at how rejuvenated you feel.