Mindfulness

 

What it is: The 3-Step Mindfulness Reset is a quick grounding practice that gently shifts your attention from autopilot to the present moment. It moves through three stages: becoming aware of your current experience, focusing on your breath, and expanding awareness outward to your body and environment. It’s designed to help you pause, reset, and carry presence into whatever comes next.

Why it works: Modern life often pulls us into mental multitasking and constant stimulation. This practice interrupts that loop and invites you to drop back into your body.

By centering on breath and surroundings, you activate your parasympathetic nervous system (the calming branch), which slows your heart rate and reduces cortisol. In just a minute or two, you shift from reactive to regulated.

How to practice it: Find a comfortable seat or standing position. Start by gently noticing what’s happening right now: what you're thinking, feeling, or sensing. Let your shoulders drop.

Next, turn your attention to your breath. Try counting six full breaths. Notice your belly or chest rise and fall. Stay with that rhythm.

Then, expand your awareness. Notice your body as a whole: the contact points with the floor or chair, the temperature on your skin. Now, let your gaze or attention shift outward. What colors, shapes, sounds, or textures are around you? Let your senses bring you fully into the now.

When to use it: This is ideal for transitional moments: before a meeting, after a stressful interaction, during a work break, or any time you feel disconnected or scattered. It’s also a gentle way to start or end your day without needing a long meditation session.

Pro tip: Name the reset silently as it happens: “This is me returning to now.” Giving language to the shift helps reinforce the habit and makes mindfulness feel like a skill you own, not just a concept you read about.

Research backing: Brief mindfulness practices have been shown to reduce stress, improve working memory, and increase focus, even when done for under five minutes. This particular style of breath-anchored awareness also supports interoception, which is the ability to sense your internal state and plays a key role in emotional regulation.