As a mindfulness teacher, certainly one of the primary practices that it’s possible you’ll introduce to your students or clients is mindfulness of breath. Because respiration is something all of us do, this makes mindfulness of respiration a really accessible beginner practice. It requires little or no explanation beforehand and doesn’t even must be introduced as a meditation.
When you’re teaching mindfulness in a setting where people aren’t conversant in meditation, starting with the breath might be a terrific strategy to bring them to the current moment and into their bodies. Mindful respiration practices can offer a direct experience of mindfulness without having to call it meditation which may loosen any potential resistance people can have to the thought of meditating.
Yet simply because mindfulness of respiration is an easy practice doesn’t mean that its advantages are limited. Like most mindfulness practices, mindfulness of respiration can profit people in some ways including:
As you teach mindfulness of respiration, it’s necessary to be thoughtful about the way you approach it. Consider the audience you’re interacting with and be mindful of their unique needs. Teaching mindfulness in a workplace setting, for instance, is likely to be different than teaching it to teens. So make adjustments as needed based on what intuitively makes probably the most sense to you.
