The 3-Step Breathing Space

A 3-step breathing space is a short exercise, that allows you a moment to experience what is going on right now. It's a way to pause and be aware. It can give more clarity of mind and eventually (after some practise) allows a wiser response after a challenging situation.

Transcript

The three-step breathing space.

Take a moment to change your posture a bit,

And if possible,

Close your eyes.

In the first step,

We bring a wider attention to the experience of this moment.

A pause.

So which elements of your experience are here now?

Any thoughts?

Is it busy in your mind?

What are your thoughts about?

And how do you feel?

A mood,

Specific emotions?

And are they pleasant,

Unpleasant or neutral?

And how does the body feel?

Anything specific right now when you pay attention to your body?

You don't need to do anything,

Nor to change the experience.

Just be aware of them.

Recognize them even if they're unwanted.

And now bringing your focus to the breath.

So bringing a narrower focus on breathing in one region of the body.

The breath of the belly,

The chest or the nostrils,

Wherever the breath makes itself known.

And keeping that more concentrated focus.

Maybe your attention is drawn to elements of your previous experience.

That is natural and normal.

So when noticing that,

Use the breath as an anchor to gently guide your attention back.

And then widening your attention again.

Move out to become aware of sensations in the body as a whole.

Feeling the whole body,

The whole breath,

The facial expression.

Getting back to a wider and spacious container of attention for your experience.

And then finishing this short exercise again and opening your eyes.