3 minute breathing space.
For this short exercise,
Sit up straight,
Or stand if that is better for you.
A position of dignity,
Relaxation,
The back straight but not stiff.
Your attitude is alert and curious.
You close your eyes.
Next,
Shift your attention to the inner experience and explore it with the question,
What exactly am I experiencing at this moment?
Which thoughts are going through my head?
Observe them with your attention,
Recognize them as mental event.
What feelings am I now experiencing?
Are they pleasant or unpleasant or neutral?
And what physical sensations are there?
Is there any tension,
Prickling,
Tingling?
Where is stiffness,
Where is comfort in the body?
Then shift the attention to the breathing and the physical sensations associated with it.
The belly rises as you breathe in and falls as you breathe out.
You follow with attention the whole movement inward and outward again.
In this way you anchor yourself in the here and now.
And if your mind wanders,
Bring the attention in a friendly but firm way back to the breathing process.
Then extend the attention from frolicking your breath to the body as a whole,
Including your pose,
Your expression,
As if the whole body is breathing.
If you notice sensations,
They may be there.
They are part of our body as a whole.
In this way a somewhat larger,
More spacious awareness arises.
And then finally,
When you are ready,
You open your eyes again.
