A Three Step Breathing Space Meditation for Stressful Moments
Feeling stressed, anxious or exhausted? The breathing space meditation is a 'micro' mindfulness practice that will help you slow down and feel more grounded and spacious.
Breathing Space Meditation
The breathing space meditation can be done in just a few minutes, so it’s perfect for busy days when you can feel your stress levels rising.
It has three distinct steps: pausing, gathering around the breath, and expanding.
Step one: pausing and becoming aware
This can often be the hardest step, because when you’re stressed out or busy the last thing you feel like doing is slowing down! Get yourself into a comfortable posture (sitting, standing or lying down) and either let your eyes close, or just soften your gaze a little. Start by gently exploring how you’re feeling just now. You can acknowledge any physical sensations in your body, emotions, and thoughts. Remember that in mindfulness there is no right or wrong way to feel so there’s no need to judge yourself. We’re just observing what is here in this moment.
Step two: focusing on the breath
Start to explore the sensations of your breath moving in your body. You could focus on your belly expanding and subsiding with each breath, your chest rising and falling, or the sense of your whole body gently receiving each breath. There’s no need to force your breath to be deeper or slower, let it be however it is. If you don’t feel comfortable observing your breath you can choose a different focus, like your hands in your lap, your feet on the floor, or something you can see.
Step three: expanding your awareness
In the final step you can start broadening your focus out again. You’ll still aware of your breath in your body, your feelings and thoughts, but now you might also start to notice the surface that you’re sitting on, the physical space around you, sounds you can hear, any people nearby. You may naturally start to feel like there is a little more space emerging between you and the source of your stress, or like things have slowed down.
Ready to give it a go?
Get comfy and hit play to have a go at the Breathing Space meditation, led by Sally Harris - this one takes around four minutes.
How and when to use the Breathing Space meditation
Have you heard the phrase ‘Take a break before you break’? This is a helpful principle to have in mind when you’re thinking about your stress levels.
If you practice mindfulness little and often you’re much less likely to reach breaking point, and you will also be more tuned into the tell-tale signs that your stress levels are rising (tense shoulders, tight jaw, headaches etc).
Good times to practice the Breathing Space:
just before you start work in the morning (in your car/at your desk/ while your computer is waking up)
for a breather during your lunch break
as a pause after work before heading into your evening
while you’re waiting (for a meeting to start, for the bus/train)
whenever you feel your stress levels starting to rise