Week 33 - Taking a Mindful Minute

Week 33 activity

TAKING A MINDFUL MINUTE

We can all find 60 seconds in our day and Michael

Chaskalson, the author of Mindfulness in Eight Weeks

(2014), has turned this into a simple practice. It's a helpful

way to bring us back to the body and focus—just for

1 minute—on our breathing. I'd encourage you to do this

practice as often as you can, helping yourself to remember

by using a prompt of some kind, perhaps a particular

photograph or a word on a sticky note on your desk. Some

people put coloured dot stickers on computers or telephones

as a prompt to take a minute when they notice it.

TRY THIS

This week, practise Taking a Mindful Minute as often as you can. What do you notice after doing it?


For this practice, we will count the number of breaths we take in a minute. One breath consists of a complete in-breath and a complete out-breath. You will need a timer of some kind. Most cellphones have one, or you could use an old-fashioned egg timer or kitchen minute minder. Set the equipment up for 60 seconds so that it will need just a simple push of a button to start. Begin by taking some time to settle into your breathing. Then, on your next in-breath, start timing and begin counting your breaths.

Breathing in ... breathing out ... One.
Breathing in ... breathing out ... Two.
Continue until the timer goes off.

How many breaths did you count? Write that number down.

The number of breaths you take is irrelevant. I have done it with a group that varied from nine to twenty breaths, but there is no right or wrong. We are simply creating a number for each individual to use in the future.