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    Guided Meditation Script “One Breath at a Time”

    KW
    Kevin WoodPublished September 22, 2020 · Updated October 21, 2026 · 2 min read

    Guided Script

    One Breath at a Time

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    Printable Worksheet

    One Breath at a Time

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    A mindful companion to this worksheet

    Returning to the present

    Awareness is the ground every other practice stands on. “One Breath at a Time” is an invitation to come back from the past and the future and meet your life as it is actually happening.

    How mindfulness can help

    Mindfulness is mostly the practice of returning. We are not trying to silence the mind, only to notice when attention has wandered and bring it back to the breath, the body, or the sensations of this moment. Each return is the practice.

    Gentle steps to try

    1. Rest in one sense. Choose one sense, sound, touch, or sight, and let your attention rest there for a slow minute.
    2. Notice the wandering. When the mind drifts, you might quietly note “thinking” and lead it back. Noticing is not failing.
    3. Ease off the effort. You do not have to make anything happen. Awareness is already here. Let yourself rest in it.
    4. Let it spill over. Bring the same attention to washing a dish, walking to the door, or greeting someone.

    The present moment is the only place life is happening, and it is always available. It welcomes you back every time.

    Here’s a Sample of the “One Breath at a Time” Guided Meditation Script:

    There’s a popular saying in addiction recovery circles: “One day at a time”. This refers to our very human tendency to feel we have to solve all our problems right now. That we think we have to figure out or achieve everything.

    In a nutshell: to be in control of life. “One day at a time” reminds us that it is impossible to climb a mountain all at once, or even to know what’s going to happen 100 feet up.

    But taking it step by step makes it a lot more manageable. It brings us back into the present moment, which, if we’re honest with ourselves, is the only place where we have any “control”.

    And that control is not usually about our external situation, but about how we’re reacting – or not reacting – to it.

    (pause…)

    The beauty of meditation is that it allows us to break life down into even tinier pieces.

    When we use our breath as an anchor, bringing us back to the present moment again and again as our minds wander off into problem-solving or fantasizing or worrying, we find a natural, built-in way to be present.

    In this presence, it’s easier to be compassionate to ourselves. We do this by meditating one breath at a time.

    Within this one breath, there is only the here and now. This breath is a gentle, life-giving reminder that that conversation or presentation we are dreading or rehearsing isn’t actually happening right now.

    That all we can really do and know is that we are alive, here, now. This is the place where we are.

    Want to take this practice with you?

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