Slow Your Breath and Your Thoughts: 12-Minute Meditation

Paying attention to the gentle, natural flow of our breath can help us witness the chatter of the mind without judgment.

By becoming more aware of our inhales and exhales, we gradually bring calm to our mind and our nervous system. We’re giving ourselves permission to slow down for a few minutes. And as we breathe, we can also witness the active chatter of our mind without being swept away, and the thoughts about the past or worries about the future.

Mindfulness practice reveals how our thoughts and emotions are constantly changing, and this simple, relaxing meditation gives us a chance to release expectations and judgments. A state of mind awareness is strengthened each time we notice the mind wandering and choose to come back to the sensations of the breath moving in and out of our body.

A Guided Meditation to Slow Your Breathing and Your Mind

1. First, get yourself ready. You can sit in a comfortable position, in a chair, on a traditional meditation cushion, or on the floor. If you’re sitting, try to sit up tall, working for that dignified spine. Or, maybe you want to take this lying down.  
2. Let’s start by finding our breath. Empty the breath all the way out, and let it go. Then take a big breath into your belly, then let it go out the mouth nice and easy. Keep breathing like this: really big inhales, slow the breath out. See if you can deepen the breath on each round. 
3. Become aware of the flow of the breath. Instead of thinking about your breathing, just be curious about it. Curiosity is so nice, because you can step back and just observe the sensations of the breath, allowing it to help slow things down. 
4. Bring a hand onto your belly, or maybe both hands onto your belly, or right hand in your belly, left hand on your chest. Use the hands to feel more of that breath flowing in and out and focusing just on the simple flow of the breath. By deepening this breath and becoming more aware of the breath, we naturally begin to slow our neurological processes down. We begin to naturally slow the biology down, the heart rate, the blood pressure. We begin to naturally, cognitively slow down the mind. 
5. Now, let the breath rest in its natural state. It doesn’t have to be as big as the first few minutes. Using the breath as the focusing tool, stay with the flow of the breath as it inflates and then expands the belly and also deflates and contracts the belly. If you’re only breathing into your chest at this point, try to invite the breath down deep into the belly. It’s okay if you’re not breathing this way right now, but just be with the breath as it is, where it is, and be aware without judgment.  
6. By focusing in this way, you’re going to be able to see the cleverness of the mind, trying to pull you somewhere into the future or drag you into the past. Notice that you’re thinking. You can even label it: That’s thinking. Then come back to the awareness, the simple awareness of your breath as it fills and spills. Be with the mind and the body as they are. The mind is made to be distracted. It always has a sense of alertness to it, but we don’t have to attach to the mind.  
7. Be curious with the subtleties of each passing breath. Be aware emotionally, as well. Are you beating yourself up when you get attached to a thought? Or swept up in an emotion? Just let that go, too, and come back to the breath. 
8. Notice, too, where you are holding expectations, and gently let them go. Maybe you came to your practice with the sense of, Oh, I should feel more peaceful right now. I should be experiencing this. I was hoping today that my meditation would yield this. Let it all go. No expectations, no attachment. Being with things as they are inside and outside: inside, just following the breath as it is; outside, letting the world around you be as it is.
9. Remember, it doesn’t matter if you need to come back 1,000 times to one breath. That’s the practice. It’s not about getting it right or being perfect. It’s about showing up, doing the best you can with where you are physically, mentally, and emotionally in this moment. 
10. Take a moment and thank yourself for taking the time today to honor your practice and honor your commitment to this course. Thank you for practicing. We’ll see you back here again tomorrow. Have a fantastic day. Way to show up.

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