August 4, 2025 • 16 mins
In between stimulus and response, there is a space. There is a space to be found in between our thoughts. There is a space between inhale and exhale. We call this place The Gap. The gap is where we feel present and aware. Not thinking, not worrying, just absorbing and observing, just living in that space of pure conscious awareness. This meditation aims to help the meditator find their way into that space through practice of breath.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:10):
Welcome to mindful meditations with calm, the bleep down. As always,
I'm your guide Michael Beckameier, and today we are going
to enter the gap. Let's get started. As always, we
have a mindfulness quote to help us get started and
(00:31):
head into our meditation with some intent. And today our
quote comes from Eckhart Toole and it reads, create a
gap of no mind, in which you are highly alert
and aware but not thinking. This is the essence of meditation.
(00:52):
This quote is interesting to me because it talks about
the gap, and the gap is a can be both
a mystical place but at the same time an actual
place between thoughts. I don't know about that whole but
not thinking thing, uh, because you know, I feel like
our brains really don't ever really stop thinking. We're just
(01:14):
trying to distance ourselves from our thoughts. We're trying to
get them to be quieted. So maybe they're not like
so right in front of our our minds. They're not
like right out there in front. There maybe off in
the background. But it is the essence of meditation. And
I also think that in terms of a physical place,
(01:37):
I have found that when I'm meditating, if I'm breathing
in and holding my breath right before I exhale and
then exhale, and then down at the bottom bottom bottom
of my breath, exhales as much as I can before
I stop and hold my breath pause. Basically at the
end of the breath. I actually feel what presence feels
(01:58):
like because when you're whole holding your breath, your body
is actually waiting for the inhale, the next inhale or exhale.
So when you're in and you hold it, your body
goes into pause. Your mind is only thinking about breath, breath, breath,
(02:19):
so in a way, you are focused on your breath
in a way in a way that we aren't when
we're just sort of mindlessly breathing. So I have begun to,
just like in my own explanation to myself, I've started
thinking of that place as the gap in between my thoughts,
and it is helpful sometimes to put yourself in that place.
(02:42):
Don't hold your breath until you pass out. I'm just
talking about holding your breath for four or five seconds
and feel what being exactly in the present moment feels like.
And it's a little uncomfortable because what that present moment
feels like is breathe, breathe, breathe. But this is why
(03:06):
I think box breathing is so helpful for some people.
Box breathing is when you breathe in for four or
five seconds, hold your breath for four or five seconds,
exhale for five seconds, four or five seconds, hold your
breath again for four or five seconds. So you're basically
creating a box of breath in out, in out. Because
(03:26):
that it does force you to pause. You're concentrating on
your breath because you're counting in and holding it in.
You're counting and you're counting, and you're breathing out and
you're counting, and you're holding it and you're counting. It
puts you in the present moment. It helps pause, It
helps slow you down. We're not going to do box
(03:48):
breathing today, but we are going to practice holding our
breath at the top of the at the top of
the inhale, and holding our breath at the bottom of
the exhale, just over and over again as as long
as you can, as slow and deep breaths as you can,
and hold them a little bit at the bottom and
see if you can feel the feeling of presence. When
(04:15):
we're present. We are aware, we are listening, we are alert,
we are absorbing, taking things in, but not necessarily wrought
with thoughts over that thing. So we are observing. And
that's ultimately what we're trying to teach ourselves to do
(04:36):
with our thoughts when we're meditating, so that we can
hopefully do that with our thoughts when we're not meditating,
instead of losing our cool, getting sad, depressed, anxious, angry,
all those things. So let's get ourselves comfortable. Take some nice, long, slow,
(04:57):
deep breaths in just to get settled. Sit down or
lie down as always, just find yourself in a comfortable
place where you can slow your breathing. Maybe scan your
body for any discomfort, any tightness that might be preventing
(05:21):
you from being totally present during this meditation. If you
need to, go ahead and give yourself a nice big
stretch or relax your body from head to toe, take
a nice, long, slow, deep breath in, and then we're
gonna hold it up at the top of the breath,
(05:42):
so inhale, hold it an exhale, and we're gonna hold
it all the way down at the bottom of the breath.
Hold it slow, long, deep, breath in, hold it and exhale,
(06:23):
empty your lungs as much as you can of air,
and then get all the way down to the bottom
of that breath and hold it. Do you feel that?
At first? It almost feels like anxiousness because your body's
(06:52):
wondering when you're going to breathe again. But after you practice,
you kind of get used to that feeling and you
push past it for a few seconds and you feel,
for me, at least, you feel present because you're right there,
right here, right now. You are nowhere else except right
(07:12):
there holding your breath. And this helped me early on
in my meditations when I was trying to understand what
it felt like to be present. Because when we spend
so much time with our ping pong ball brains bouncing
around in our head, the monkey mind just jumping all
over the place, we kind of have to learn what
(07:35):
it feels like to be present. What does that mean?
Everybody says it, but what does it mean? This was
just a little trick that I learned early on that
helped me, so maybe it will help you too. So
we're going to continue on this practice for a few moments.
Do this as little or as much as you like.
(07:56):
If it's still hard for you or uncomfortable for you
to hold your breath for any significant amount of time
at the top or bottom of your breath, just slow
your breathing. If you don't like the idea of holding
your breath, just slow your breathing. Try to distance. Put
a bigger distance between the top of the inhale and
(08:18):
the start of the exhale, even if you just have
to slow it down, because even that little pause is presence.
You're in between breaths, which to me symbolizes being in
between thoughts. When you're in that space, you are more alert,
(08:44):
You are aware of your breathing, and you can really
think about how you're taking control of your breath, which
to me also symbolizes a very small way taking control
of your life. You are in charge, reminding your body
that you're running the show, all from just a pause
at the top of your breath. So practice is for
(09:07):
a few more moments, breathing in and out, holding it
up at the top of your breath exhale, holding it
down at the bottom of your breath, viewing that presence
(09:32):
that here and now, and continue.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Stas sing no Mong.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Okay, it's time to come back into your body. We
can return to our normal breathing. Let's take another long, slow,
deep breath in together and out. Let's do that again,
breathe in and out. I hope enjoyed your time today practicing.
(14:36):
I hope you enjoyed that feeling of being in the cap,
that space between thoughts. If we can grow that space
and our hearts and minds over time, I believe we
can find more peace, more balance, less chaos, less worry,
(15:04):
all from just practicing our breath. And now, when you're ready,
you can open your eyes and go about your day.
No I mistake. That's it for this time, Uncolm to
(15:48):
bleep down. If you like this meditation, please feel free
to send us an email, post a comment, hit us
up on Instagram or TikTok, where we're posting a lot
these days. We'd love to hear from you. Once again.
I'm Michael black Am I reminding you to please calm
the bleep down. We'll see you again soon. Thank you
for meditating with us. Be well, have fun, and no
(16:11):
mistake
Welcome to mindful meditations with calm, the bleep down. As always,
I'm your guide Michael Beckameier, and today we are going
to enter the gap. Let's get started. As always, we
have a mindfulness quote to help us get started and
(00:31):
head into our meditation with some intent. And today our
quote comes from Eckhart Toole and it reads, create a
gap of no mind, in which you are highly alert
and aware but not thinking. This is the essence of meditation.
(00:52):
This quote is interesting to me because it talks about
the gap, and the gap is a can be both
a mystical place but at the same time an actual
place between thoughts. I don't know about that whole but
not thinking thing, uh, because you know, I feel like
our brains really don't ever really stop thinking. We're just
(01:14):
trying to distance ourselves from our thoughts. We're trying to
get them to be quieted. So maybe they're not like
so right in front of our our minds. They're not
like right out there in front. There maybe off in
the background. But it is the essence of meditation. And
I also think that in terms of a physical place,
(01:37):
I have found that when I'm meditating, if I'm breathing
in and holding my breath right before I exhale and
then exhale, and then down at the bottom bottom bottom
of my breath, exhales as much as I can before
I stop and hold my breath pause. Basically at the
end of the breath. I actually feel what presence feels
(01:58):
like because when you're whole holding your breath, your body
is actually waiting for the inhale, the next inhale or exhale.
So when you're in and you hold it, your body
goes into pause. Your mind is only thinking about breath, breath, breath,
(02:19):
so in a way, you are focused on your breath
in a way in a way that we aren't when
we're just sort of mindlessly breathing. So I have begun to,
just like in my own explanation to myself, I've started
thinking of that place as the gap in between my thoughts,
and it is helpful sometimes to put yourself in that place.
(02:42):
Don't hold your breath until you pass out. I'm just
talking about holding your breath for four or five seconds
and feel what being exactly in the present moment feels like.
And it's a little uncomfortable because what that present moment
feels like is breathe, breathe, breathe. But this is why
(03:06):
I think box breathing is so helpful for some people.
Box breathing is when you breathe in for four or
five seconds, hold your breath for four or five seconds,
exhale for five seconds, four or five seconds, hold your
breath again for four or five seconds. So you're basically
creating a box of breath in out, in out. Because
(03:26):
that it does force you to pause. You're concentrating on
your breath because you're counting in and holding it in.
You're counting and you're counting, and you're breathing out and
you're counting, and you're holding it and you're counting. It
puts you in the present moment. It helps pause, It
helps slow you down. We're not going to do box
(03:48):
breathing today, but we are going to practice holding our
breath at the top of the at the top of
the inhale, and holding our breath at the bottom of
the exhale, just over and over again as as long
as you can, as slow and deep breaths as you can,
and hold them a little bit at the bottom and
see if you can feel the feeling of presence. When
(04:15):
we're present. We are aware, we are listening, we are alert,
we are absorbing, taking things in, but not necessarily wrought
with thoughts over that thing. So we are observing. And
that's ultimately what we're trying to teach ourselves to do
(04:36):
with our thoughts when we're meditating, so that we can
hopefully do that with our thoughts when we're not meditating,
instead of losing our cool, getting sad, depressed, anxious, angry,
all those things. So let's get ourselves comfortable. Take some nice, long, slow,
(04:57):
deep breaths in just to get settled. Sit down or
lie down as always, just find yourself in a comfortable
place where you can slow your breathing. Maybe scan your
body for any discomfort, any tightness that might be preventing
(05:21):
you from being totally present during this meditation. If you
need to, go ahead and give yourself a nice big
stretch or relax your body from head to toe, take
a nice, long, slow, deep breath in, and then we're
gonna hold it up at the top of the breath,
(05:42):
so inhale, hold it an exhale, and we're gonna hold
it all the way down at the bottom of the breath.
Hold it slow, long, deep, breath in, hold it and exhale,
(06:23):
empty your lungs as much as you can of air,
and then get all the way down to the bottom
of that breath and hold it. Do you feel that?
At first? It almost feels like anxiousness because your body's
(06:52):
wondering when you're going to breathe again. But after you practice,
you kind of get used to that feeling and you
push past it for a few seconds and you feel,
for me, at least, you feel present because you're right there,
right here, right now. You are nowhere else except right
(07:12):
there holding your breath. And this helped me early on
in my meditations when I was trying to understand what
it felt like to be present. Because when we spend
so much time with our ping pong ball brains bouncing
around in our head, the monkey mind just jumping all
over the place, we kind of have to learn what
(07:35):
it feels like to be present. What does that mean?
Everybody says it, but what does it mean? This was
just a little trick that I learned early on that
helped me, so maybe it will help you too. So
we're going to continue on this practice for a few moments.
Do this as little or as much as you like.
(07:56):
If it's still hard for you or uncomfortable for you
to hold your breath for any significant amount of time
at the top or bottom of your breath, just slow
your breathing. If you don't like the idea of holding
your breath, just slow your breathing. Try to distance. Put
a bigger distance between the top of the inhale and
(08:18):
the start of the exhale, even if you just have
to slow it down, because even that little pause is presence.
You're in between breaths, which to me symbolizes being in
between thoughts. When you're in that space, you are more alert,
(08:44):
You are aware of your breathing, and you can really
think about how you're taking control of your breath, which
to me also symbolizes a very small way taking control
of your life. You are in charge, reminding your body
that you're running the show, all from just a pause
at the top of your breath. So practice is for
(09:07):
a few more moments, breathing in and out, holding it
up at the top of your breath exhale, holding it
down at the bottom of your breath, viewing that presence
(09:32):
that here and now, and continue.
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Stas sing no Mong.
Speaker 1 (14:03):
Okay, it's time to come back into your body. We
can return to our normal breathing. Let's take another long, slow,
deep breath in together and out. Let's do that again,
breathe in and out. I hope enjoyed your time today practicing.
(14:36):
I hope you enjoyed that feeling of being in the cap,
that space between thoughts. If we can grow that space
and our hearts and minds over time, I believe we
can find more peace, more balance, less chaos, less worry,
(15:04):
all from just practicing our breath. And now, when you're ready,
you can open your eyes and go about your day.
No I mistake. That's it for this time, Uncolm to
(15:48):
bleep down. If you like this meditation, please feel free
to send us an email, post a comment, hit us
up on Instagram or TikTok, where we're posting a lot
these days. We'd love to hear from you. Once again.
I'm Michael black Am I reminding you to please calm
the bleep down. We'll see you again soon. Thank you
for meditating with us. Be well, have fun, and no
(16:11):
mistake
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