This 2 minute 40 second meditation is a useful for tool for cultivating a mindful presence so that when we need it in a tricky or challenging situation we have developed our ‘on the go’ mindfulness muscle. It’s a great way to check in, ‘What’s alive for you in this moment?’
When we pause and connect with the moment as it is, we create a sense of spaciousness. Space to connect to life and to the moment just as it is. In this pause, there is often more choice.
In this very brief practice, the invitation is to stop and open wide to everything just as it is – thoughts, emotions, sounds and sight. To connect with the breath. Connect with the body and the ground; and expanding to include all the senses. And then, to reconnect back to what you were doing noticing any shift in awareness and quality of presence.
The more you practice this way of being, the more your capacity grows to come to mindful presence even in the most challenging of circumstances. Needless to say, it’s not about not taking action … i.e. if a bus is coming towards you. Jump!
I find joyful moments are enhanced, mundane moments are given more life and, in the arising of more seemingly unacceptable emotions like anger, I find there is a richness to the anger that is clearer and more connected to being compassionately angry; or supports me to connect with my needs in a way that allows greater clarity.
Click here to listen to ‘Stop and Breathe’.