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You've Arrived. Now let your breath catch up!

Arrive breathing is a relatively new term to me.  I came across it a while back when I was doing some research for my new course “Introducing Mindfulness to Your School”.

It all made perfect sense, and I’ve been recommending ‘Arrive’ wherever possible.  In fact, I was going to include in my workshop at the 2020 Summer Exams Office Conference, cancelled due to Covid-19.  (I’ll introduce it next time).

Since looking into it I find Arrive Breathing is used in many situations - at the start of business meetings, school classes and social gatherings, amongst others. It’s a group way to gather together and slow things down before you get going again.

Here’s the background.

We are all in a constant stage of rush. I’ve heard it termed as us being ‘partially present’ most of the time.  No sooner have we arrived at one meeting than we’re thinking about the next, or what to get for tea, that social we have coming up, or a card to buy etc….

Our attention is dragged hither and thither. We find it hard to concentrate and keep focussed, and consequently only give some of our attention to the case in hand. It means our work never gets all of us, our families get some of us, and we feel only part of us is living the life we should.

So much energy is put on arriving, the stress of getting there, that when we do get there we are in a less than great state and only half present.

We ‘re not doing ourselves justice.

Think how things are when you get home. 

  • Does it take a while to unwind?
  • Do you rush for a ‘snifter’ to ease things through?
  • Are you short with the kids till you find your feet again?

 

There is, you guessed, a simple answer, borne from Mindfulness and the notion of slowing down and being still.  I’m calling it Arrive breathing but there are other expressions. It can be a collective or an individual exercise as you see fit.

Let’s go through the different elements.

  1. As you arrive at your meeting/destination make your hellos, discard your bag and coat etc and allow yourself to settle
  2. Don’t get drawn into any lengthy or distracting conversations. Your first focus is to let your mind catch up with your body and to move slowly from being busy and Doing, to breathing more calmly and Being
  3. You’re going to focus on your purpose at being present in this room, but first, close your eyes or gaze downloads and take a few deep breaths
  4. As you come to a gentle awareness of your breathing and being in the room, I want you to ask how much of your attention you’re giving right now to being here.

How much of you is really present?

If you find your thoughts aren’t fully with you at this moment, with kindness to yourself and without judgement, bring them back to the moment. Bring all of your attention to the purpose of gathering here.

  1. As you feel your mind catching up, and your breathing settling, keep asking yourself: How much of me is showing up here?

Is part of you focus off somewhere else? Are you ready to be fully present as you gather with your colleagues?

  1. Give yourself a moment to set your intention for your meeting. Remind yourself of the purpose and focus on the next hour or so you’ll spend together
  2. Feel things start to settle as you move from Doing to Being and bringing your attention back to the room and your intention and purpose of being present
  3. Take a deep breathe in, and a deep breath out.

Remind yourself of what you bring to the meeting. You anticipate a harmonious meeting where each is valued and appreciated.

  1. Before bringing your attention back to your colleagues, thank everyone for being present and send a silent blessing that the meeting will end with the right result for all concerned

Although there are 9 points there, this shouldn’t take you more than a few minutes – the time it might take to get a coffee, sort your papers, or visit the rest room.  Which of these do you think might be most beneficial?

You can bring the same element to class – many teachers are using Arrive at the start of each class to settle students as they pitch up to classes.

I’ve included a section on Arrive Breathing in “Introducing Mindfulness to Your School” alongside a ‘Now You’ workbook.

And if I see you at the next Exams Office conference you might find me leading this at my next workshop.

Why not give it a go and let me know how you get on.  You can message me at [email protected].   I’d love to hear from you.

You can read more about “Introducing Mindfulness to Your School”  here.