Developing the breathing space.
Once you've been practicing the breathing space regularly,
Now we can begin to call the breathing space to mind whenever we feel troubled in the body or mind and use it as a first step.
Step one,
Acknowledging your inner experience,
Noticing what's happening in your thoughts and feelings and body sensations.
Now you might find it helpful to describe and identify what you're noticing,
To put experiences into words.
In your mind you might say to yourself a feeling of anger is arising or noticing self-critical thoughts are here.
Step two,
Gathering your attention.
As we've already been practicing,
Narrowing our focus of attention to the breath so we continue following the breath all the way in and all the way out.
Now you might try noting at the back of your mind,
Breathing in,
Breathing out,
Noticing and saying this to yourself as you are breathing in and breathing out.
Step three,
Expanding your awareness to the whole body,
Deliberately including and allowing the current mind state any difficult thoughts or uncomfortable body sensations.
Just saying to yourself it's okay to feel this way just now.
Anywhere you notice some discomfort,
Tension or resistance,
Try bringing your awareness to them by breathing into them on the in breath.
Then breathe out from the sensations,
Softening and opening with the out breath.
Saying to yourself on the out breath it's okay,
Whatever it is,
It's already here,
It's okay to feel this.
Remembering an attitude of compassion here.
Perhaps embodying this by placing one hand on the heart center in the middle of the chest and the other on the belly center both as expressions of kindness and compassion.
And as best you can bring this expanded awareness to the next moments of your day.
