Mindful Breathing

Reduce stress, anxiety, and negative emotions, calm yourself when you lose your temper, and improve your concentration skills. How do you cultivate mindfulness? One way is to meditate. A basic method is to focus your attention on your own breathing, a practice called “mindful breathing.” After setting aside time to practice mindful breathing, you’ll find it easier to focus attention on your breath in your daily life. This is an important skill to help you deal with stress, anxiety, and negative emotions, and to improve your ability to concentrate. You will need to set aside 15 minutes daily for at least a week.

 The most basic way to do mindful breathing is simply to focus your attention on your breathing; the inhale and exhale. You can do this while standing, but ideally you should be sitting or even lying in a comfortable position. Your eyes may be open or closed, but you may find it easier to maintain your focus if you close your eyes.

It helps to set aside a designated time for this exercise, but you can also practice it when you’re feeling particularly stressed or anxious. Experts believe the practicing mindful breathing regularly can make it easier to do it automatically in difficult situations.

A Simple Mindful Meditation

You can begin by trying this simple mindful meditation:

1. Find a relaxed, comfortable position

You could be seated on a chair or on the floor on a cushion. Keep your back upright, but not too tight. Hands resting wherever they’re comfortable. Tongue on the roof of your mouth or wherever it’s comfortable.

2. Notice and relax your body

Try to notice the shape of your body, its weight. Let yourself relax and become curious about your body seated here, the sensations it experiences, the touch, the connection with the floor or the chair. Relax any areas of tightness or tension. Just breathe.

3. Tune into your breath

Feel the natural flow of breath in and out. You do not need to do anything to your breath. Not long, not short, just natural. Notice where you feel your breath in your body. It might be in your abdomen, it may be in your chest or throat or in your nostrils. See if you can feel the sensations of breath, one breath at a time. When one breath ends, the next breath begins.

4. Try to focus your wandering mind

Now as you do this, you might notice that your mind may start to wander. You may start thinking about other things. If this happens, it is not a problem. It’s very natural. Just notice that your mind has wandered. You can say “thinking” or “wandering” in your head softly, and then gently redirect your attention right back to the breathing.

5. Continue for at least five minutes

Notice your breath, in silence. From time to time, your mind may wonder but gently redirect it to your breathing.

6. Relax before finishing

After a few minutes, once again notice your body, your whole body, seated here. Let yourself relax even more deeply and then offer yourself some appreciation for doing this practice today. You may find that your mind wanders, distracted by thoughts or bodily sensations. That’s okay. Just notice that this is happening and gently bring your attention back to your breath.

Dealing with Stressful Situations

When encountering stressful situations you can try to calm yourself down by taking an exaggerated breath: a deep inhale through your nostrils for around 3 seconds and then hold your breath for 2 seconds. Then, give a long exhale through your mouth for around 4 seconds. Alternatively, you can simply observe each breath without trying to adjust it; it may help to focus on the rise and fall of your chest or the sensation through your nostrils.