Keeping stress under control with this 20-second mindful breathing practice
Do you deal with a lot of stress in your life? Do you feel like you just don't have enough time in the day to practice mindfulness?
Do you wish someone would explain how to do mindfulness in a simple and easy-to-understand way?
In this post you will find a step-by-step guide to a mindfulness practice that helps relieve stress and can be done in under 20 seconds. If you've never practiced before, don't worry! This 20-second mindful breathing technique is a great place to begin.
You may want to start by reading my post on the 4 things you should know about mindfulness before getting started, it will give you a solid understanding of what mindfulness really means. Even if you already know what mindfulness is, I'd recommend reading it anyway – there are some things in there that might save you years of bad practice.
Here are the 6 steps to mindful breathing in under 20 seconds. I'd recommend reading through these instructions all the way first, and then sitting down somewhere to give it a try.
1. Find a comfortable place to sit
It can be on a chair, a cushion on the floor, or even a bench outside. The key is to find somewhere stable, where you can sit comfortably with your back straight for a few minutes. Having the back straight (not slouched or reclining in a lazy-boy) is the key here. It will increase blood and oxygen flow to your brain, and make you feel more alert. In future guides, I'll talk about other ways you can practice mindfulness, but when you're first learning, it's best to stick with the basics. Seated with the back straight is all you need to remember.
2. Let your hands come to a rest, and gently close your eyes
You can put your hands anywhere that feels comfortable. I usually place my hands just on the tops of my thighs, just near my knees, palm down. Sometimes I will bring my hands together, and set them in the middle of my lap. What you want to focus on here is keeping your hands still while you practice. Once you have found a spot for your hands, gently close your eyes.
3. Take one or two deep breaths and relax the body
At the beginning of every meditation session, it make it a point to spend a few moments just relaxing my body. You can do this quite easily by letting go of muscle tension while you breathe out. First, breathe in deeply, and raise the crown of your head towards the ceiling. This will help you keep your spine elongated. Next, as you breathe out, see if you can keep your head in the same spot, while relaxing your shoulders. Even dropping the shoulders a few centimeters can have a dramatic impact on your level of ease.
Having practiced this relaxation technique for years now, I can easily relax my body on command in just a few seconds. I'm also more aware of when my body feels tense, which allows my to address the tension before it gets too bad. It's a very useful skill to have, particularly if you work in a high-stress environment, or live in a large, bustling city (those environments have a tendency of building up tension in the body).
4. Bring your attention to your breathing
Now that you have spent a few moments relaxing your body, and letting go of unnecessary tension, you can start to bring your attention to your breathing. Here you should see if you can be aware of the physical sensations in your body that are associated with breathing. For example, you might notice the rising and falling of your chest, or the expansion and contraction of your abdomen. You might notice the subtle sensations of air passing in and out of your nostrils. There is no "correct" place to notice the breath, it depends on what you feel! I recommend picking the sensation that feels most apparent to you as you breathe, and sticking with that.
Now see if you can stay with the feeling of your breath as it goes from in-breath to out-breath. Follow the movement. In, out. In, out. That's it. As much as possible, focus on the raw feeling itself, rather than the knowledge that you are breathing. Try to feel the texture of each breath.
You can do this step for as long as you like! Though even just a few seconds of feeling your breath will make you feel better.
5. When you notice the mind has wandered off, bring your attention back to your breathing
As you sit and follow your breathing, your mind will begin to wander to other, more exciting things. We call this the "monkey mind," because it jumps from branch to branch, never staying still for very long. This is the natural habit of the mind, to think and ponder and ruminate on all sorts of things.
If this happens to you (and it will.. I guarantee it 100%), it does not mean you are doing something wrong, or that you are not good at doing mindfulness. It simply means you have a functioning brain! Mind wandering happens to everyone, even highly experienced meditators. When this happens to you, simply bring your attention back to your breath. Do this every time you notice you're lost in thought and not paying attention to your breath. Each time you bring your attention back to your breath from being lost in thought, you are strengthening your mental capacity for being present, being aware, and letting go of your habitual thought patterns. This is an important and healthy outcome of mindfulness training. It allows us to be more present in our daily lives, and to let go of negative emotions when they occur.
6. Be kind to yourself
The last step, and potentially the most important thing to remember, is to be gentle with yourself. Remember that everyone gets lost in thought, and everyone will at times feel agitated, restless, or sleepy, and none of these mean you are a bad meditator (I thought this about myself for the first few years of my practice, until I realized all these things happen to everyone). Furthermore, being kind to yourself is strengthening your mental capacity for kindness. This leads to increased levels of self-compassion and better relationships with others. But it doesn't come for free. You have to practice it to see the results in your daily life. Really, put the kindness into practice. Whenever I notice my myself being overly critical or judgmental of my practice, I try to say to myself in my mind, "That's ok, Jeremy. You're doing just fine." It always makes me feel better.
Here's a quick recap of the 6 easy steps to mindful breathing:
Find a comfortable place to sit
Let your hands come to a rest, and gently close your eyes
Take one or two deep breaths and relax the body
Bring your attention to your breathing
When you notice the mind has wandered off, bring your attention back to your breathing
Be kind to yourself
See if you can try this out today. If you have more time, try going for 5 minutes. Set a timer or download a meditation bell onto your phone (I use Insight Timer).
Once you've tried it out, leave a comment and let me know how it went! If you have questions, just leave them in the comments and I'll reply there.