How Long is Long Enough?
My first exposure to meditation was a 45-minute sitting session at a local Zen center. Two main memories stand out for me about that experience. First: It was really hard trying to sit cross-legged and still for that long, facing a wall. And second: My foot fell asleep about 10 minutes in, which completely consumed my attention for the last 35 minutes.
As much as I appreciated the calm of that place, and the warmth and commitment I sensed around me, I didn't go back. Because frankly, 45 minutes just felt like too steep a climb for me, daily or otherwise, at that point. That was about 25 years ago, and since then, with practice, I'm happy to say that my "endurance" has improved.
Also since then, brain science has delivered some welcome news: Turns out, daily practice doesn't have to be about longevity, or "endurance," after all. The benefits of mindfulness meditation do come from daily and consistent practice -- much like learning to play an instrument, or training for a sport. But where relief from anxiety and depression are concerned, several brief practices throughout the day now are believed to be even more impactful than sitting for one long stretch each day.
Three-minute practices spread throughout the day help curb what’s known as “auto-pilot”: The brain’s tendency to wander into rumination loops linked with anxiety and depression. While longer meditation sits likely reap benefits of their own, the research is showing that a few 3-minute, daily mindfulness practices each day can release us from the hold of auto-pilot rumination more effectively than packing those 3-minute practices into a single 30- or 40-minute stretch.
By pausing two or three times a day to presence ourselves, we can learn to catch and release worry-driven thought streams before they drive us off the anxiety ledge. These brief practices teach the brain how to steer attention away from fear-driven thinking, and gently back to what generally is a far less problematic circumstance: The present moment. We can learn to choose what we pay attention to, rather than let auto-pilot choose for us.
Among the short practices shown to be widely helpful with the above is the Three Minute Breathing Space (TMBS). Developed first as part of an 8-week Mindfulness-Based program designed for managing depression, TMBS consists of three one-minute parts. Each includes shifting attention to a particular field of inner experience.
It can help to begin this practice with audio guidance — click here for a link. Once learned, practicing either with or without a recording three times a day for a few weeks has been shown to enhance our ability to catch our minds spinning into auto-pilot, and shift out of it. Other reported effects of daily practice include improved concentration and overall well-being.
But the best way to find out whether this helps is to try it yourself. Following is a description of the Three Minute Breathing Space practice.
Begin the practice by finding a comfortable, upright posture, either sitting or standing. For one minute each:
1) Minute One: Bring your attention to your inner experience in this moment. Notice thoughts, feelings, and body sensations that are here right now, without trying to change them. Scanning mental space, notice what thoughts are present. Check for any flavor of emotion that's detectable -- just noticing, without trying to push anything away, whether it’s pleasant or otherwise. What about sensations that are here? Scan through the body to notice whether any physical sensations are arising, as you sit here. Pause...
2) Minute Two: Gently narrow the attention to settle only on the sensation of breathing. Feel the breath moving in on the inhale, and out as you exhale. Notice where the sensation of breath is present -- perhaps in the abdomen, expanding as you breathe in, and falling back as you breathe out. Follow the full breath in as you inhale, and the full breath out on each exhale. If you catch the mind wandering into thinking, simply notice where it went, then guide attention back to the breath. Pause...
3) Minute Three: Widen attention around the sensation of the breath, to include as well sensations in the body as a whole. Observe any sensations from the top of the head, through the entire body down to the feet. Perhaps notice areas where the body is contacting the chair or the floor, as the breath moves in and through the body. You may also notice any sounds arising and fading around you. Feel the sensation of air wherever it touches your skin, and perhaps even bring awareness to the sense of the space around you as you sit here.
When you’re ready, open your eyes if they’ve been closed. Notice how you’re feeling as you transition from this practice, and whether you detect any difference from when you started a few minutes ago.