Three-Minute Breathing Space

Here is a mindfulness exercise I thought I'd share with you. It's called the Three-Minute Breathing Space. It's a great way to integrate mindfulness into everyday life. You can do it several times throughout the day to check in and ground yourself. It is a useful tool to step out of “automatic pilot” and bring yourself into the awareness of the present moment.

Awareness

Bring yourself into the present moment by deliberately adopting an erect (but not rigid) and dignified posture. If possible, close your eyes, or close them half-way, focusing a few inches in front of your feet. Then ask yourself:

What is my experience right now... my thoughts... my feelings... my bodily sensations?

Acknowledge your experience in this moment, even if it is unwanted.

Gathering

Now, gently direct your awareness to your breathing, following each inbreath and each outbreath, one after the other. If necessary, say to yourself, “I am breathing in. I am breathing out.”

The breath can function as an anchor to bring you into the present moment since the breath is always with us and available at any time as a focus of attention. Regulating the inbreath with the outbreath can assist in maintaining awareness and stillness.

Expanding

Now, expanding your awareness to the whole body, imagine that you are breathing with the body as a whole, including your posture and facial expression. When you’re ready, take a deep, cleansing breath, and then open your eyes and return to your day. You may find that you bring with you a little bit of something that wasn't there before.

This exercise can be found in The Mindful Way Through Depression: Freeing Yourself From Chronic Unhappiness, by Williams, Teasdale, Segal and Kabat-Zinn. It is taught in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) and Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) courses, but it can be a useful exercise for anyone.