Mindful Breathing for One Minute
Find yourself a space where you won't be interrupted for a minute or two.
Sit comfortably, lower your eyes and notice where you feel your breath.
You might feel your breath in the air going in and out at your nostrils or the rise and fall of your chest or stomach.
If you can’t feel anything, place your hand on your stomach and notice how your hand gently rises and falls with your breath.
If you like, you can make the in breath and the out breath longer or just breathe naturally.
Your body knows how to breathe. Focus on your breath.
When your mind wanders, just bring your attention back to your breath.
You might like to say ‘thinking’ when you notice your thoughts and just gently bring your attention back to your breath.
This can be done for longer than one minute.
However, even for one minute it will allow you to pause and be in the moment.
Or you might just like to breathe out stress on when you exhale and breathe in peace when you inhale.
What Was Your Mindfulness Experience?
We can’t wait to read your experience and get inspired.
And until then...
I do a similar exercise every day and it is always nice to do. I have done vipassana meditation several times and now I can easily feel my breath on my upper lip. A valuable exercise!
Thanks for your input Ben.
Vipassana is definitely a fantastic tool to get us connected to our breath and to the NOW
This exercise reminds me of the practice I used to do during Vipassana. Whenever the mind wanders just notice where it goes to and name it. Not just ‘thinking’, also ‘sound’, ‘pain’, ‘irritation’, ‘itch’, ‘rise (of the stomach), ‘fall (of the stomach) …. whatever the mind is attracted to.
This brings my attention also back to the breathing and the movement of it in my body. I like it 🙂
Love this one! So fast in result. I tend to try to do the whole day in my head and feel stressed… With this exercise there is an abundancy of time! Thanks
Such an simple exercise and so effective. Funny to notice how quickly my mind starts wandering and how noisy it is in my head :-). And then… a heavenly moment of peace and quiet.
Thanks for help me getting at peace again and helping me other to get at peace
I use this in my qigong and Taiji lessons.
Great to hear this Jacqueline… we all need a reminder sometimes.
Thanks for your input
Thank you for the reminder. I have a whole morning routine now with breathing, exercise, detox smoothie and so on that it is sometimes overwhelming. It is good to know that it sometimes just takes one minute to reset and not a huge program.
Thanks for your contribution Jacoline.
Great to hear that you have such wonderful morning routine.
I find that breathing is the best way to let go of pressure and stress, and of returning in the now
Thanks for your comment Margit.
Breathing is our most powerful tool for living healthy.
lovely, thank you…..
Thanks Frank.
Would love to hear what was your experience?
During breathing exercises (Wim Hof) I always do my affirmations in the time you are totally quiet. (Breathhold)
Thanks Jur for your valuable addition on how to make breathing even more powerful
Thank you for reminding me! I used to do this every morning straight after getting up. Sitting on a yoga pillow if possible with the doors of the bedroom wide open to be in contact with the sun/nature. A sort of ritual.
At that time I counted 10 breaths per finger. After 10 I pressed the next finger a tiny little bit to remind me how many counts I already had. So no real counting in the head. That helped me to focus on the breath and leave thoughts behind.
Somebody also learned me to tell myself “there is a thought and that is OK”.
A few weeks ago somebody advised me to meditate more. This one minute exercise brought me directly back to the feeling I had with the ten minute exercise. A clear head.
Thank you very very much for that!!
Thanks for this valuable contribution Cathrine.
Great! Listening to the blackbird singing 🙂
Thank you for sharing with us your experience Heleen
A true basic exercise to get in control of your breathing and relaxation. It will get your focus back and sharpens your awareness.
Thanks for your input Hendrik.
Would love to hear what was YOUR experience?
I knew this one already, but then you forget sometimes to do it when you need it. Thank you
Thanks for your contribution Guido.
We all need sometimes a reminder… would love to hear about YOUR experience
Haven’t done meditation for a while now. Too restless. This practice is a good one to start with.
Thank you for your honest comment Liana.
Thanks for reminder me focussing on my breath!!.
I do it often only I forgot the focus on breath
Thanks for your input Roland.
Would love to hear WHAT was your experience of doing it.
The exercise is real easy and really calms you down. The not wondering of the mind is an issue. Gives me something to work on.
Thanks Ard for your honest comments.
Breathing if life. Thank you. I will pass this through my clients before starting colonics ❤️???
I agree Merel… breathing = living.
Thank you for spreading it around
I love this, so essential. I have tried many breathing techniques, it mostly requires some thinking and counting, movement even… This specific one is a great reminder for me to come back to center with the quickness and keep it super simple!
Thank you, I enjoy it very much and feeling more clarity.
Thanks for your valuable comment Sharon.
Like we always said… simple is do-able…
Classic, always works! Unfortunately, one tends to forget to do it when one needs it most… 🙂
So true Hans. Thanks for your input.
Would love to hear from you how would you remind yourself to do it on a daily basis?
This is a great exercise I forgot about… thank you very much for the reminder.
Whenever I can I try to do this outside for an extra relaxing breath of outside air…
Great to hear that Angela.
Curious to know how would you remind yourself to do it on a regular basis?
Got a warm feeling and slowely relaxed and started my day work in the office with more energey
Thanks for sharing your experience with us Claudia
Feeling more calm, yawning
Great to hear that Kristel.
Thanks for sharing it with us
Had forgotten how good this feels! I’ll make it a part of my morning routine.
Great to hear that Dirk_jan.
Curious to know what would you do to remind yourself to do it on a regular basis?