Mindfulness breath awareness
Breathing. Simple, yet powerful when used with intention. There are so many breathing techniques we can use and plenty of situations where they can be especially beneficial!
When things get tough I use the breath to anchor and try and stay present in the moment. I also use the breath to check in; how am I feeling? Am I here, if not I breathe as a way to return. It is my way of coming home, back to me.
Your intention for breath awareness could be for any of these reasons:
When you are trying to fall asleep and have thoughts whizzing around your mind.
When you are feeling overwhelmed by a long to-do list.
When you are about to do a presentation.
When you’re feeling stressed, sad, lonely, rushed or frustrated
Your breath is always there to help you get through challenging situations, yet it is often overlooked! Here are a few simple practices to try out for yourself:
Breathing waltz
Breathe in for the count of three, hold for the count of three, breathe out for the count of three. Keep bringing your mind back to the counting and notice how this helps to balance out your breath, especially if you’re feeling stressed.
Pearls
Imagine your spine is a string of pearls. As you inhale, your breath travels up the string of pearls and as you exhale, the breath travels down the string of pearls. This is a great practice if you enjoy visualizing and it can be really useful when you’re lying in bed, trying to relax and fall asleep.
Affirmations
As you inhale, use the affirmation “I breathe in love and acceptance” and as you exhale, use the affirmation “I breathe out fear and distrust.” You can replace the words of those affirmations with whatever feels good for you! I love to use this practice, you can experiment with what feels right for you. Enjoy the practice.
The three-minute mindfulness breath meditation
One technique for training our mind to be in the present moment is the three-minute breath meditation. It is well known and simple technique in Mindfulness teaching.
- Set a timer for three minutes and chose a comfortable position to sit, your back upright.
- For three minutes just simply pay attention to your breath.
- Become aware of the breath going into the body and out of the body. There is no need to breathe differently, just find a comfortable rhythm and focus on the breath going in and out of the body. If your mind begins to wonder and starts to jump from thought to thought, you become aware that you have come away from the breath and bring your attention back to the breath.
Through regular practice, you can lengthen the time you stay with, and experience the breath, in the moment.
By practicing this technique, you can become aware of the thoughts that your mind is running. Using the analogy of a computer, you know that when you have lots of different windows open the computer it will start to operate more slowly. When you shut down the extra windows the computer performs faster and is more efficient. Similarly, when doing the three-minute breathing meditation you can become aware of all the different thoughts the mind is running. Some people find it helpful to have a notepad and pen handy and when the timer sounds to mark the end of the three minutes to jot down the thoughts that were being run in the mind. When we become consciously aware of the thoughts we are normally thinking on autopilot we can start to switch them by bringing our attention to the present moment.
This exercise is a big part of starting the practice of mindfulness. You can find out more about my courses here