The mini breath meditation is one of the simplest and yet most powerful meditations that you can use when practicing mindfulness. Here’s how it goes:

  1. Sit on a chair in a comfortable yet upright balanced position, away from the back of the chair so that you’re self-supporting your body if you can. Close your eyes if that feels okay with you.

  2. Become aware of your breath around the area of your belly. If you can’t feel it there, just feel your breathing wherever you can — around your nose or chest for example. Focus on your breath.

  3. When your mind wanders off to other thoughts, notice what you were thinking about and gently guide your attention back to your breath.

  4. After a few minutes, gently open your eyes and be mindful of whatever you do next.

You can do this mini breath meditation at any time of day – not necessarily in a sitting posture. You can feel your breathing when you’re in a traffic jam, waiting in a queue in a coffee shop or while listening to a customer who’s complaining about something. You can feel your breathing anywhere.

The nice thing is, no matter how forgetful you might be, you’ll never forget to take your breathing with you wherever you go.

In mindfulness, awareness of breath is the cornerstone of the practice. Because focusing on your breath brings you straight back into the present moment, it’s often calming and feels like coming home — it has a sense of comfort and stability about it. Think of breath awareness like an anchor that grounds you in the here and now and protects you from the winds of change that try to blow you off balance.