The three-step breathing space.
The first thing we do,
Because this is a brief practice,
Is we want to come into the moment quickly,
To take a very definite posture.
Relaxed,
Dignified,
The spine erect but not stiff,
Letting our bodies express a sense of being present and awake.
And closing your eyes if that feels comfortable for you,
The first step is being aware,
Really aware of what's going on with you right now.
Becoming aware of what's going through your mind,
A sense of what thoughts are around.
Noticing any feelings that are around at the moment.
In particular,
Turning curiosity towards any sense of discomfort or unpleasant feelings.
So rather than trying to push them away or shut them out,
Let's acknowledge them.
Similarly with sensations in the body,
Any sensations of tension,
Of holding,
Again an awareness of them simply noticing this is how it is right now.
So we have a sense of what's going on right now.
We've stepped out of automatic pilot and the second step is to collect our awareness by focusing on a single object,
The movements of the breath.
So the best you can gathering your awareness and narrowing it down to the movement of the belly,
The chest.
Moment by moment,
Breath by breath.
As best we can bringing the fullness of our awareness so you know when the breath is moving in and you know when the breath is moving out.
Using the anchor of the breath to really be present now.
And then as a third step,
Having gathered ourselves to some extent,
We allow our awareness to expand so that as well as being aware of the breath,
We also include a sense of the body as a whole.
So we have this more spacious awareness.
Almost as if the whole body's breathing,
Including any tightness,
Any sensations of holding in the shoulders,
The neck,
The back or the face.
Holding all that's here in a slightly softer,
More spacious awareness.
Now when you're ready,
Allowing the eyes to open,
Ready to move forward to the next part of your day,
Perhaps a little more mindfully.
