Meditation for mindfulness: 3-minute gratitude session, before a presentation

About this practice

Slow, spoken guidance for mindfulness. A gratitude session you can do before a presentation. A guided session of about 3 minutes, suited to all levels. Nothing is recorded and no account is needed.

What this works on: mindfulness

Attention spends most of its time in the past or the future. Being present is not a state you find, it is a return you keep making.

It tends to show up as:

• Missing conversations while composing replies
• Arriving somewhere with no memory of the walk
• Eating without tasting

Every return to the senses is a repetition of the actual skill. Losing it is part of the practice, not a break in it.

Doing this before public speaking

• Do it somewhere private, or in the washroom if needed
• Slow the exhale deliberately and check your speaking pace after
• Warm the voice by reading a line aloud, not by staying silent

Rushing is the tell of nerves. A slower breath now is what sets a slower pace in the room.

How gratitude works

Gratitude here is an attention practice, not a demand for a positive mood. Attention defaults to threats because they are urgent, so pleasant and ordinary things get skipped simply for being safe.

• Pick one ordinary thing rather than something impressive
• Stay with it for two breaths — depth beats length of list
• Do not aim at feeling grateful; aim at noticing

What happens, minute by minute

1. 0:00Drop your attention from your head into your chest for a second.
2. 0:13Pick one ordinary thing from today — a warm drink, a dry walk, a message — and let it count.
3. 0:30Bring your attention to the parts of you that are already still.
4. 0:43Let your breathing be boring. Boring is good here.
5. 0:54Notice the small gap after each exhale. Rest there for half a second.
6. 1:07Feel your heart somewhere in there, doing its work without instructions.
7. 1:19If the here-and-now your attention skips is loud right now, make your attention smaller. Just the next breath. Nothing beyond it.
8. 1:36Whatever the ordinary present tense is doing right now, your breathing can keep going underneath it.
9. 1:51Notice the difference between the breath at the front of your nose and the breath in your chest.
10. 2:07Think of the present moment you keep leaving as a guest that arrived without knocking. You can let it stand in the hallway.
11. 2:25If you're sleepy, sit up a little. Or let the sleepiness be there.
12. 2:38Let it be unimpressive. Small good things are the most reliable ones.
13. 2:51Stretch whatever feels stiff, then carry on.

Questions people ask

Meditation is a practice, not a treatment. If you are dealing with ongoing distress, please also reach out to a professional.