Twenty Breaths to Less Stress

Here's a simple meditation technique that anyone can fit into their schedule.  It’s called the Twenty Breaths Practice.  It only takes a few minutes, can be performed almost anywhere, and can yield great stress relief.

The practice, which I learned from the Penn Program for Mindfulness, is a great way to add a break to your day and measure your mood in minutes.

It works especially well when used to segment your day into manageable chunks.  Use it at key transition periods like before or after work, or right before bed.

Sit comfortably but with good posture.  Let your hands fall naturally onto your legs or into your lap.  Close your eyes.  Focus your mind on your breath and feel the rise and fall of your abdomen.  

Begin silently counting.  On each exhale count one, then two, and up to ten.  Then count exhales down from nine to zero.  

Your mind will certainly wander.  Don’t chase your thoughts, just let them go.  You may lose your place.  Just return to a number, to the breath, and continue.  

When you reach zero sit for a moment longer, hearing the sounds around you, again sensing your breath.  Then open your eyes.  In just twenty breaths you have reset your day.

That’s it.  It will take between two and four minutes.  In that time you can relax and re-charge.  No app, no guide, just you and a few moments of peace.

You’ll find that your mind will pull at you just as with longer periods of meditation.  Stay with the count and release the intrusive thoughts. The countdown from nine to one helps, since you have to stay focused a little harder not to lose your place.

This is also a great practice for those challenged by longer periods of meditation.  The benefit you can get from just a few moments of focus can be inspiring and may lead you to try longer periods.

But don’t let that get in the way of the twenty-breaths practice.  Alone it’s enough to help anyone face a challenging day.

Try this three times each day for a few weeks.  I stuck with it and found that it helped me to focus and to relax.  

Of course, as with any practice I teach, if you’re manic or depressed and the meditation leads to dangerous rumination, stop and come back to it later.  In such a short practice, the chance of a negative experience is much less than in longer periods of meditation.

Try it right now and have a great day.

“The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and over again, is the very root of judgment, character, and will.”

                                                                                                -William James