Shelagh Evans

Bristol, UK

Acknowledge your thoughts, anchor your focus on the breath, and expand awareness throughout your whole body.

English

The Three Minute Breathing Space is a brief, pocket-sized meditation to help you reconnect with the present moment when you most need it.
It’s particularly helpful when you want to check-in with how you’re feeling, and get unstuck from any automatic thoughts, feelings and habits ~ or at least be more at peace with them.
You can use it when feeling unsettled, anxious, confused, frustrated, overwhelmed or sad. Anything that feels a bit meh or sticky. Or just when you crave a few minutes space to reset and come back to yourself.
You can use it anywhere from sitting in a dignified, upright position on your meditation cushion, to standing up on a stuffy overcrowded train.
You can also treat it as a regular meditation practice, dropping it in a couple of times a day to help build your mindfulness muscle.
The three minute breathing space was initially created by by Zindel Segal, Mark Williams, and John Teasdale, as a short exercise in their Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy program.

A Moment Of Mindfulness - The Three Minute Breathing Space

Welcome to the three-minute breathing space. Your pocket-sized mindfulness meditation to be used whenever you need a moment just to acknowledge what's there for you right now in mind and body. A moment to gather attention and take a ride on the breath before expanding out again and into your day. Okay, inwards we go, gently closing your eyes. Notice how your mind is. Any particular thoughts making themselves known. No need to analyze or follow these thoughts, just a relaxed curiosity of what's there. And noticing any feelings you're experiencing at the moment. Maybe an emotion is arising right now. You're just being interested in what's there. Now let your awareness flow from head to toe. Paying attention to any sensations you notice in your body. Any areas of attention, of holding. Just observing what's there. Now, moving your attention to your breath. Notice how your belly expands on the in-breath and lowers when you breathe out. The sensation of air flowing delicately through your nostrils. Gently rest your attention on the breath. If you find your mind wanders somewhere enticing, that's okay. Guide your focus back to your breathing. Now, gradually expand the sensations of your breath into your whole body, until it feels like the whole body is breathing. From the crown of your head to the tips of your fingers and toes. Breathing into any pockets of tension. Befriending any sensations of discomfort. And with this embodiment of the breath within you, very, very slowly begin to open your eyes. Wiggle and wriggle anything that wants to move. And maybe take this feeling of presence, this spacious awareness, into the rest of your day.