Mindfulness Meditation Tuesday - Stillness in Movement - 3 & 20 Breaths

Our theme for today’s Mindfulness Meditation Tuesday was finding stillness in the movement- a great metaphor for life, work, the world around us and our desire to be present and find inner calm.

Sounds like an oxymoron right? How can things move and things be calm and still? This is the core of mindfulness practice. To have the world and even you at times swirl and to find your calm center. Today’s practice that I taught involved movement- via breath. Being aware of the sensation of breathing can help you to find stillness. Breath is the bridge to your calm and the nice part is it’s constant and always there all you have to do is - yep you guessed it- pay attention to it! That’s easier said than done…fact!

I shared an excerpt from one of Pablo Neruda’s pieces that captured this sentiment.

“Now we will count to twelve
and we will all keep still
for once on the face of the earth,
let's not speak in any language;
let's stop for a second,
and not move our arms so much.

It would be an exotic moment
without rush, without engines;
we would all be together
in a sudden strangeness…”

-Pablo Neruda –excerpt from Keeping Quiet

 How do you start to notice and use your breath? Here are two mediation and mindful strategies:

Mini Practice – 3 breaths

-3 breath meditation repeating on breath #1- I am here; breath #2- I am present; breath #3- All is well or you can substitute a note of sharing kindness or compassion with yourself or others.

20 Breath Meditation

-We also practiced 20 breaths which is a simple way to get grounded and present by counting each inhale and exhale as 1 full breath and making your way counting up to 20.

It’s okay if you lose count just start where you think you are or start over. See if you can make your inhales the same length as your exhales. I find myself trying to take the longest breaths possible to extend my time on the mat, in stillness.

Here’s to finding your calm in the hustle and bustle. It’s always there and the breath is the bridge to it.