Because I obviously can't post the physical act of breathing, I will share a summary my mom forwarded to me in her own mindfulness studies.
The 3-minute breathing space: As a practice, this breathing space begins with sitting quietly. As we focus on breathing in and out, we observe how our mind wanders and how thoughts enter in. As we feel a thought, we visualize placing it on cloud in the sky or a leaf on a stream and let it float away.
This practice helps us to not get wound up on our thinking but rather gain an awareness to our thoughts. Are they helpful and good to pursue, or are the negative and self-critical and be dismissed immediately because they are a waste of time and energy to entertain?
Of course, this breathing practice may last a varying lengths. It could just be a few seconds as we are dealing with a conversation with another person. Taking those few seconds to bring in slow, deep breaths aids in detaching from the conversation slightly and acknowledging any thought that can be felt. If they are irrelevant to our every day life we can send them off and move on to the next. Utilizing that time to breathe helps to calm our minds and recenter our energy to continue on. Creating a spot of peace just through one breath can go even further by helping diffuse any sort of drama or conflict.
Sitting still to breathe and take thoughts one by one is a challenge for an anxious, overactive head like mine. Lately I've been struggling with this as searching for that sense of calm further inflates the anxiety and panic increases to where I can't focus on anything but the panic, and I spiral downwards again. It is something that I am trying to incorporate more and more each day.
Breathe into each thought you feel, and acknowledge all them equally. Hold on to the good, and let the bad sail down the road.
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