The Three Minute Bliss-up — and a Gift for You
I attempted to establish a regular meditation practice for years. For a long time it was hit-or-miss at best, nil more often than I’d like to admit.
I’ve been a yoga teacher for ten years now, but I’m also a busy householder — softball mom, homesteader, wife of a man who travels often, writer and online media consultant are just a few roles I play.
Several years ago I knew stillness had to be part of my every day. I also knew I had to offer alternatives to longer practices for my busy students. As a fan of personal development, I devour books and articles on habits and other practical matters related to time and productivity. And I decided something is always better than nothing in our busy world.
I now have a consistent daily spiritual practice. It includes a mix of many things — yoga, pranayama, devotional reading, stillness, movement, journaling, embodiment practices. Most days it lasts an hour or so. But some days it last a mere three minutes, hence the three minute bliss-up.
Great things are done by a series of small things brought together. ~Vincent Van Gogh
Essentially the practice is three minutes devoted solely to stillness, breath and embodiment. The cool thing is that three minutes is easy to fit in and you can do it several times throughout the day if you’d like. It’s not as beneficial as a longer meditation session, but it’s a place to start.
This practice is perfect if you tend to be in-your-head-go-go-go until a task is complete — I speak from experience on this point. You will have a fresh perspective when you return to left brain work.
Be consistent. Do this practice daily if you do nothing else. I promise a little goes a long way. Eventually you’ll need it. And you’ll commit to more. I did.
Three Minute Bliss-up Instructions
- Sit comfortably on a chair, bolster or cushion on a chair. Set a timer for three minutes. Begin.
- Breathe deeply into the belly, watching it expand on inhalation. Pause at the end of the inhale.
- Allow the exhalation to be as long as the inhalation, longer if possible. Repeat steps two and three until timer concludes.
- As thoughts arise (and they will, even in a three minute span of time) bring your attention back to your breath. You can count the length of inhales/exhales, notice heating/cooling sensation at tip of your nose on exhale/inhale, or recite a word/mantra with each breath. You can also drop into the body by noticing all of the places touching the floor, sensing how much you are allowing yourself to receive the support of the earth and how much you are tensing/holding back.
My Gift to You
If pranayama and/or meditation are new to you, check out this three minute recording I made and uploaded to Soundcloud earlier today. Consider it my gift to you.
It’s also a risk-taking exercise for me. Teaching in person is much easier than listening to myself on audio; forget video — never. It’s not professionally produced; just me in on my deck in the middle of the woods, leading a short breath/body exploration as I would in class. Namaste.
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Heather is a holistic health writer and yoga educator. She shares here daily as part of her personal writing practice — mostly lessons about embodied living, yoga and personal development. Cheers to a life well lived!
