3 Minute Breathing Space

3 minute breathing space Taking a breathing space,

Making a definite change in your body position so your posture embodies a sense of being awake,

Present.

In step one of the breathing space,

Acknowledging your experience right now.

Whatever is around for you,

Not seeking to change anything,

But simply acknowledging what is here,

What is going on with me at the moment.

What thoughts,

Feelings,

Any sensations in the body,

Seeing if it is possible to open to them all,

Allowing any experiences to be present.

Moving now to step two of your breathing space,

Narrowing the focus of attention down to the breath.

Focusing on the in-breath for its full duration and the out-breath for its full duration.

Deliberately taking the attention to the place in your body where the breath is most easily felt.

And each time you notice that the mind has moved away from the breath,

Gently but firmly returning your attention to the sensations of the breath in the body.

The breath functioning as an anchor to bring you into the present,

Tuning in to a state of awareness and stillness.

Step three of your breathing space,

Expanding your attention around the breath to encompass the whole body and all the sensations you notice in the body.

Holding them in the spaciousness of body awareness,

The whole body breathing.

And if there are any particular sensations that call the attention,

Seeing if you can open to these.

Perhaps guiding the breath to these sensations and allowing them to be just as they are.

Having a sense of the space around you,

Holding everything in awareness.

And as we finish this three minute breathing space,

See if you can take this sense of wholeness or spaciousness into the next moments of your day.