Taking a Break
No matter what your work involves, we all need to “pause” every now and then. Take a break by taking this breather—reconnecting with a feeling of being present so that you can feel refreshed, a little lighter, and a little calmer during the rest of your day.
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So just sitting down comfortably, make sure you're not gonna be disturbed for the next 10 minutes. We're gonna begin with the eyes open, aware of the space around you. And when you're ready, just starting with a few big deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. All these deep breaths not only helping the body feel a little more relaxed but also just calming the mind. With the next out breath, you can just gently close the eyes. And before you do anything, just take a moment to enjoy that feeling of having nothing to do. Starting perhaps to notice the different sensations in the body. Don't worry if the mind's thinking, just allow the thoughts to come and go. Just feeling that contact to the body against seat beneath you. Notice whether the weight is evenly distributed. The feet on the floor and the hands and the arms just resting in your lap or in your legs. Now just sort of settling into your body, starting to notice the space around you as well without opening the eyes. Just starting to notice any sounds. Not thinking about them, just acknowledging them. In fact, just allowing the sounds to come and go in the same way we had our thoughts to come and go. And as you bring the attention back to the body, just checking in, noticing how the body feels right now. So the body will naturally let go of tension once we're aware of it. So starting at the top of the head just gently scanning down through the body noticing which areas feel comfortable, which areas feel uncomfortable. Evenly scanning down, not getting stuck on any one area. If the mind wanders, and just letting go of that thinking, coming back to the body as you scan down towards the toes. And as you scan, you may have already noticed that rising and falling sensation of the breath. It doesn't matter whether you feel it in your stomach, in your chest, diaphragm, wherever you feel it. Just beginning to follow that movement. If you can't feel anything just gently placing your hand on the stomach and noticing that rising and falling sensation. And to begin with, we're just gonna stay with that movement. You'll find it easier to maintain focus. You can just count the breaths as they pass. So one with a rising sensation, two with the falling sensation. So we're just gonna count to two each time. So one with the rise, two with the fall. One with the rise, two with the fall. Just staying with that, just for a few more seconds. And then just, letting go of any focus on the breath or on anything else. Just giving the mind a few seconds just to do whatever it wants to do. So it's been wanting to think, you're gonna allow her to think now. Just letting the mind be free. And then just reconnecting with...
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A former Buddhist monk, Andy has guided people in meditation and mindfulness for 20 years. In his mission to make these practices accessible to all, he co-created the Headspace app in 2010.
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Eve is a mindfulness teacher, overseeing Headspace’s meditation curriculum. She is passionate about sharing meditation to help others feel less stressed and experience more compassion in their lives.
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As a meditation teacher, Dora encourages others to live, breathe, and be with the fullness of their experiences. She loves meditation’s power to create community and bring clarity to people’s minds.
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Kessonga has been an acupuncturists, therapist, and meditation teacher, working to bring mindfulness to the diverse populations of the world.
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Rosie Acosta has studied yoga and mindfulness for more than 20 years and taught for over a decade. Rosie’s mission is to help others overcome adversity and experience radical love.
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