The Breathing Space with Compassion is a short informal practice for when you encounter moments of suffering and require a mindful pause. The first phase invites you to mindfully meet the difficult experience, with an attitude of soften, sooth, allow: softening bodily tension, soothing painful emotions and allowing difficult thoughts. In the second phase you let your attention rest on the breath, allowing a Soothing Breathing Rhythm to emerge, a key practice in Compassion Focused Therapy. In the third phase you expand the field of awareness to the body as a whole, attuning to your deeper needs and allowing a compassionate wish to come up. Allow the words to flow through you on the rhythm of the soothing breath, if you like supported by an inner smile or a gentle touch. Mindfulness-Based Compassionate Living (MBCL), a deepening course created by Erik for those who have already followed MBSR or MBCT.