Responsive Breathing Space
Session 1 Pre-Work
During the first live session, we will complete an activity together that requires some preparation. The Three-Minute Responsive Breathing Space is taught as a formal practice to give the client the opportunity to work with challenging situations in a relatively benign, safe, and manageable context.
The client has the choice regarding the intensity and duration of the challenge with which they want to work. It is recommended that a challenge of relatively low intensity is initially chosen and then, if desired, titrating the practice over time to enhance distress tolerance and the ability to safely endure challenging states.
Ultimately this practice is used more informally, in life when a challenging situation, mind, or mood state arises. One may use personal signals (thoughts, emotions, sensations, behaviours – or urges and impulses) as a source of information. These signals inform the person that they now have an opportunity to turn attention to the body, felt sense or physical correlates of emotion, exploring and staying with the experience for as long as they are willing, investigating how they meet what is happening. One may experience an amplification of the sensorial nature of the experience, a dissipation, or even very little. Insights around the situation may arise, as may the knowledge of whether one can stay with the experience (be with it), let it go, or address it in a skillful manner. For example, shortness of breath or tightness in the chest triggered by the challenge the client has elected to work with is a sensation that could be further explored.
Preamble to the Practice
In this practice, bring to mind a difficult situation, worry, or concern. Please do your best to bring up a situation of manageable difficulty, not one that is overly intense. If you find, however, that something overwhelming comes up and you don’t wish to continue the practice, feel free to open your eyes and return your attention to the sensations of breathing at the level of the abdomen.
Note
Sometimes when bringing to mind a challenging situation, you may find your mind jumping around to a number of difficult situations and not choosing one to work with. Remember this is a practice, and it doesn’t matter what you choose as long as the incident is one with which you feel comfortable working.
Script
Please note these times are approximate
The following practice is an adaptation of the three minute responsive breathing space developed by Kabatt-Zinn, John Teasdale, and Mark Williams. This is a practice to be used when difficulty shows. And as with any meditative practice needs to be used repeatedly. So, in a few moments I’m going to ask you to bring to mind a manageable concern, worry, or troubling thought. So, please try your best to bring up something that is not the 100lb weight, but rather the 10lb weight. This could be a time when you were cut-off in traffic, received an unexpected bill in the mail, or had a moment of irritability because things didn’t go your way. Know that, if what comes to mind feels overwhelming or unmanageable you always have the choice to let go of this practice and either pick up something else or try again some other time.
Now, coming into a comfortable position, one that embodies a position of being alert and awake, closing your eyes if that’s comfortable for you or taking a soft, receptive half open gaze a few feet in front of you on the floor. Then turning your attention to the body. Becoming aware of your posture, the front body, the back body and everything in between.
(silence for 15 seconds)
Now, turning attention to the sensations of breathing in the abdomen, noting the expansion of the abdomen on the in breath and its deflation on the out breath.
(silence for 15 seconds)
Now, bringing to mind some difficult situation, some worry, some concern or troubling thought or image.... something manageable, versus the greatest stressor you have ever experienced. Noticing what arises in thinking, emotions and sensations.
(silence 10 seconds)
If there is an emotion or emotions naming it or them… perhaps saying sadness is here, or irritation, whatever it is… (silence 15 seconds) and then bringing attention to any attendant sensations and focusing here, exploring them, investigating them, being with whatever is here as best you can, exploring them, getting curious about them…
(silence 30 seconds)
Saying to yourself, “this is a moment of distress, let me feel this, it’s ok whatever it is, it’s already here. I can be with this.” And if they are particularly challenging note that. If needed, breathing with these sensations, perhaps expanding into them on the in breath and softening on the out breath, staying with these sensations for as long as they are capturing your attention.
(silence 15 seconds)
And when you’re ready, letting go of attending to the sensations in the body and returning the attention to the lower abdomen, being with the body breathing, in and out.
(silence 45 seconds)
Now, expanding or widening attention to the entire body and all sensations, inside the body, and at the surface of the skin, bringing a more spacious attention to experience and your next moments.
(silence 45 seconds)
And now letting go of this practice and opening the eyes, looking around the environment and moving the body in any way that is needed.
Now the final part of this exercise is, if you are willing, to record the thoughts, emotions, and bodily sensations that came up, as well as the choice you made – if you made one – around letting it go, be, or addressing it. If the latter, how? Finally, writing down any reflections or learning that occurred if there were any.
Audio
Once you have finished reading the transcript, please listen and engage in the reflective exercise as an awareness and exposure practice. We will do this activity again as a group in the live session.
Adapted from Segal et al., 2018.
References
Segal, Z., Williams, M., & Teasdale, J. (2018). Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy for Depression (2nd Ed.). The Guilford Press.