MBCT 3 Minute Breathing Space Responsive Version

This is a brief responsive version of the 3 Minute Breathing Space practice for the Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy Program (MBCT). This track is intended to be used in response to when a difficulty arises. You are invited to follow this practice with a sense of curiosity and kindness.

Transcript

Welcome to this three-minute breathing space responsive version.

I am your instructor,

Jen Churchill.

This practice is designed for when you feel troubled in your mind or your body.

This is a first step to looking after yourself.

And to do this,

We deliberately change our posture,

Rooting down into the surfaces beneath us and growing tall as a signal of stepping out of automatic pilot.

And noticing what is going on right now in your thoughts,

Your feelings,

You might describe or identify them in words,

For example,

A feeling of sadness is here,

Or self-critical thoughts,

Feeling of anger,

Or tightness in my body.

Begin to gently redirect your attention to a focus on the physical sensations of the breath in the abdomen,

Following the breath all the way in and all the way out as a way of anchoring you in the present moment.

Noticing if the mind is very busy,

Bringing it back to the breath,

You might even appreciate counting the breath,

Breathing in for one and out for one,

Breathing in for two and out for two,

And so on,

And so on.

Knowing that you can start over any time that your mind has wandered.

Now moving to the next step of expanding the field of awareness around your breathing,

So that it includes a sense of the body as a whole,

Posture,

Facial expressions,

Just as they are right now.

Noticing if there are any lingering thoughts or feelings that are troubling you,

Becoming aware of any sensations of tension or bracing in the body.

Breathing into those sensations on the in-breath,

And breathing out of them on the out-breath,

Perhaps softening and releasing with each breath.

You might say to yourself,

It's already here,

Whatever it is,

Let me feel it,

Let me be with it.

And for these last few moments,

Returning to the sense of just sitting here as you are,

The whole body breathing,

And as best you can,

Bringing this expanded,

More spacious awareness to the next moments of your day.