Meditation · Stress
The Doorway Pause
Aya Fujimoto · 4 min
4:00
remaining
What to do, minute by minute
1. Settle in
0:00–0:48Sit or lie down somewhere you won't be disturbed. Let your shoulders drop, close your eyes or soften your gaze, and take three slow breaths.
2. Follow the breath
0:48–1:36Breathe in for a count of four, out for a count of six. Let the out-breath be longer than the in-breath — that's what calms the nervous system.
3. Scan and release
1:36–2:24Move your attention slowly from your jaw to your shoulders, hands, belly and legs. Wherever you find tension, breathe into it and let it go.
4. Rest in stillness
2:24–3:12Stop steering. Let thoughts come and go like passing traffic — when you notice you've wandered off, that noticing is the practice. Return to the breath.
5. Come back gently
3:12–4:00Deepen your breath, wiggle your fingers and toes, and open your eyes slowly. Carry a little of this quiet into whatever comes next.
One breath taken at the threshold between two parts of your day.
Stand still where you are, as if in a doorway. Take one breath that belongs to neither the room behind nor the room ahead. Let the last hour finish. Then step forward, arriving instead of continuing.