Preparation
01 · Prepare the space
- Each participant needs enough floor or table space to draw a life-size outline of their body (approximately 170 × 80 cm).
- The space should feel safe, private enough, and conducive to reflection.
02 · Gather materials
- Large paper roll or kraft paper sheets
- Markers, crayons, colored pencils, watercolors
- Scissors and adhesive tape
- Magazines for collage (optional)
- Guide questions prepared in advance
03 · Design guiding questions
- Prepare 5-8 open questions that guide participants through different areas and themes of their body map.
- Examples: "Where do you feel strength in your body?" / "What image represents where you come from?" / "What do you carry that others cannot see?"
Step-by-step instructions
1
Opening and context (15-20 min)
- Explain the methodology and its origins. Clarify that no artistic skill is required.
- Show examples of body maps (from other contexts, respecting anonymity) to lower creative barriers.
- Create a safe container: what is shared in the session stays within the group.
2
Tracing the body outline (10-15 min)
- In pairs, one person lies on the paper and the other traces the outline of their body with a marker.
- Then they switch roles.
- This simple act of mutual tracing already generates a moment of connection and trust.
3
Individual creation (60-120 min)
- Each person fills their body map with drawings, symbols, words, colors, and images responding to the guiding questions.
- The facilitator moves through the space, offering accompaniment without directing content.
- Soft music can help create an atmosphere of concentration and emotional safety.
4
Narration and sharing (30-60 min)
- Each participant presents their body map and tells their story. They choose what to share and what to keep private.
- The group listens without interrupting. After each sharing, a brief space opens for questions or resonances.
5
Closing
- A brief closing circle: what are you taking away from this experience?
- Decide what to do with the maps: exhibit them, keep them, photograph them, share them with consent.
Materials
Large paper roll or kraft paper (enough for a life-size body outline per person)
Markers, crayons, colored pencils
Optional: watercolors, magazines for collage, adhesive tape
Printed guide questions (or projected on a screen)
Practical recommendations
Always offer the option of keeping the map private or sharing only parts of it. Psychological safety is non-negotiable.
If the group has experienced collective trauma (violence, displacement, illness), work with mental health accompaniment and set up emotional support protocols before starting.
The body outline does not need to be exact: a simplified silhouette works just as well as a detailed one. What matters is having a body-shaped space to fill.
Adapted for digital environments: use a body outline template in a collaborative tool and have participants fill it with digital images, stickers, and text.
With youth: incorporate music, movement, and a playful warm-up before starting the individual creation phase.
Inspiration
Guide questions by area of the body:
- Head: What ideas or thoughts do you carry most often? What do you dream about?
- Heart: What do you love most deeply? What has hurt you most?
- Hands: What do you build with your hands? What have your hands received and given?
- Feet: Where have your feet taken you? Where do you want them to take you?
- Belly: What do you carry inside that others cannot see?
- Back: What do you carry on your back? What would you like to put down?
- Collective body map: A group creates a single shared body map, with each person contributing an area or theme.
- Timeline body map: Divide the body into temporal zones (past, present, future) and fill each one accordingly.
- Community body map: A large-scale map represents a community's collective body: its territories, histories, resources, and dreams.
- Simplified body map (workshops with children): Use a pre-drawn silhouette and limit the guide questions to 3-4 accessible ones.
Consulted sources
- Solomon, J. (2002). Living with X: A Body Mapping Journey in the Time of AIDS. Facilitator's Guide. MUSA/Replay Health.
- Gastaldo, D., Magalhães, L., Carrasco, C. & Davy, C. (2012). Body-Map Storytelling as Research: Methodological Considerations for Telling the Stories of Undocumented Workers through Body Mapping. University of Toronto.
- MacGregor, H. (2009). Body maps. In C. Squire (Ed.), HIV in South Africa: Talking about the Big Thing. Routledge.
