The increasing pressures of life in the 21st century can seem like hard work and leave you stressed, tired, frustrated and a feeling that life is running you.
As day-to-day life continues in its normal routine, remember that you do have a choice and control over how you act in these seemingly demanding times. The aim of this article is to provide you with a short exercise to help you step out of “automatic pilot” for 3 minutes in the following way:
1. Stop what you are doing and notice your posture. Sit comfortably with your spine straight and your feet flat on the floor, or, if standing, stand with your feet shoulder width apart with a straight back and shoulders relaxed, with arms down by your side. You can have your eyes open or closed. In your mind ask yourself, “How am I? How do I feel? What are my thoughts?” Recognise and accept your thoughts, even if they are unwanted, for about a minute.
2. Now, gently redirect your full attention to your breathing. Notice each breath in and out. As you notice your breaths say in your mind “in breath” then “out breath” or slowly count to four on the in and out breath. Do this for a couple of minutes, using the breathing to clear the mind and raise your awareness and stillness.
3. Once you are relaxed, expand your awareness of your breathing to your whole body. Feel any tension or aches, and then focus on the sensations as you breathe in. As you breathe out feel a softening of the sensations for a minute. As best you can, bring this expanded awareness to the next few moments of your day.
I wanted to share this exercise that I recently learnt at a retreat where I found out about mindfulness meditation in the hope that it may provide you with three minutes breathing space.
by John Dyter