The Three Minute Breathing Space is an informal mindfulness practice that, although conceived and developed within MBCT, has found considerable traction outside this framework as a brief and portable way to practice mindfulness throughout the day. As teachers, we need to balance the virtues of the 3MBS with an awareness of the paradoxes it contains. Not just for ourselves, but for how we understand what we are teaching others and the particular type of learning that is being encouraged. This presentation will employ both didactic and experiential reflection to explore the 3MBS through the lens of attentional deployment, intentionality and what is meant by the informal or casual practice of mindfulness.
Zindel Segal PhD, is Distinguished Professor of Psychology in Mood Disorders at the University of Toronto – Scarborough. Dr. Segal has pioneered the use of mindfulness meditation for promoting wellness in the area of mood disorders. He is the recipient of several awards, including the Douglas Utting Research Prize and the Mood Disorder Association of Ontario’s Hope Award and has been continuously funded by the National Institute of Mental Health and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research for the past 15 years. His work has provided an empirical rationale for offering training in mindfulness meditation to recurrently depressed patients in recovery. An author of over 10 books and 130 scientific publications, including The Mindful Way Through Depression – a patient guide for achieving mood balance in everyday life – Dr. Segal continues to advocate for the relevance of mindfulness-based clinical care in psychiatry and mental health.