MBCT-L 3-Step Breathing Space

My dear mindfulness friends,

This is a 3-step breathing space.

It takes around 5 minutes.

So firstly,

Find your posture that could support the practice.

Be wakeful and comfortable.

And when you are ready,

Gently close your eyes or lower your gaze.

The first step of breathing space is to be aware of the present moment inside your mind and inside your body.

Any bodily sensations,

Maybe facial expressions,

Your shoulders,

Your hands,

Back,

Legs,

And feet,

And any thoughts in your mind can be plans in the future or memories,

Reflections in the past,

Or daydreaming,

Just noticing them without judgment.

And any emotions with these thoughts,

You may feel a sense of aversion,

Anger,

Anxiety,

Or boredom,

Or something else.

We are not changing anything,

No control,

Just allowing each moment as it is.

And when you are ready,

Moving to the second step,

Narrowing your attention to the anchor that is most accessible at this moment.

It can be your breath or your feet,

Sitting point,

Or hands.

Really paying attention to the anchor.

If it's breath,

Noticing the full duration of each in-breath and out-breath.

If it's somewhere else,

Perhaps you may feel some temperature,

A sense of warmth or coolness,

Tingling or numbness.

The mind may start to wander,

Just acknowledging where does it go,

And then returning to the anchor,

Returning to this moment.

The third step of breathing space is to expand your attention to the whole body.

Feeling the space the body takes up,

The whole body is sitting here and breathing.

Being aware of your facial expressions,

Your sitting posture,

The surface,

The skin,

And also inside your body.

Each part becomes the one,

A sense of openness and spaciousness.

See if it's okay to bring this mindfulness quality,

This openness,

To your next moment of your day.