3-Step Breathing Space For Stressful Situations

This is the 3-step breathing space practice for stressful situations. It is a guided meditation for the Mindfully Aware Parenting (MAP) Study at Seattle Pacific University. Practice this 3-step breathing space under stress (or follow 3 breaths mindfully) whenever you notice unpleasant feelings and particularly when you notice parental stress. Adapted from Bogels (2020).

Transcript

Bring yourself into the present moment by purposefully choosing to be in a tall and dignified position,

Whether sitting,

Standing or lying down,

Whether you choose to open your eyes for this practice or keep them closed.

And then begin with step one,

Turning in.

Turning your attention inward.

Begin by asking yourself,

How am I doing right now?

What is my experience at this very moment?

What thoughts are going through my mind?

And as best you can,

Acknowledging thoughts as mental events,

Maybe putting them into words,

Giving them labels like,

This is a self-critical thought,

Or this is a ruminative thought,

Or this is a catastrophizing thought.

And then thinking,

What feelings are here?

Turning towards any sense of emotional discomfort or unpleasant feelings,

Maybe putting them into words,

There is fear.

There is shame,

Anger or sadness.

What body sensations am I aware of?

Turning towards any physical discomfort,

Sensations of tightness,

Bracing and pressure in the body.

Then asking yourself,

What action tendencies do I notice?

Becoming aware of a tendency to get up and move,

Getting angry,

Avoiding and hiding.

You have connected to how you are right now.

This is the first step.

Step two,

Breathing.

Then gently turning your full attention towards your breath,

Following each breath all the way in and all the way out.

Maybe also aware of the pauses between the in-breath and the out-breath.

Aware of the breath breathing itself,

Using the breath to anchor you in the present and help you tune into a state of awareness amidst the stress or intensity,

Perhaps a sense of watching the turmoil from a place of stillness.

This is the second step.

Step three,

Expanding.

Now expanding your attention to the whole body so that it includes a sense of the body as a whole.

Your posture and facial expression,

You may get a sense of the movement of the breath throughout the body as if the whole breath is breathing.

This breathing body in this moment of time,

In this space,

Embracing any sense of discomfort or tension in the body,

Saying to yourself,

It's okay,

Whatever it is,

Whatever I'm feeling,

It's okay,

Let me feel it,

It's already there.

And then staying a moment in this more spacious awareness.