Mindfulness.com
Meditation
See all Meditation

Browse

Top articles

How to Meditate: Meditation 101 for Beginners

10 Science-Backed Benefits of Meditation

What is Meditation?

Mindful LivingSleep
CommunityFor Work

Self-Control Technique

Cory Muscara

00:00

00:00

Cory Muscara

4.6

Duration

Scan the following QR code with your camera app to open it on your phone

Self-Control Technique

Personalized support for learning how to integrate mindfulness into your life. Delivered fresh everyday by our world renowned experts. Choose meditation duration:

Hi, welcome back to

your Daily Mindfulness.

In today's session, I'm going

to share a self-control strategy

called 'take 3 plus 10,'

Regardless of what you do in

life, you can always benefit

from a little more self-control.

We don't want to constantly be

confining ourselves and never being

spontaneous, but a bit of self-control

helps us do what we do well.

And also prevents us from following

sometimes that negative impulses

that inevitably arise in our

mind and body as human beings.

A lot of times with self-control,

our tendency is to grit our teeth and

that's not always the best strategy

and often causes more tension.

But relaxing into the discomfort of

wanting to respond a certain way and

creating a short pause can be really

effective for letting the energy

of that impulse start to soften.

And that's where take 3 plus 10 comes in.

It's pretty simple.

It involves taking three

breaths and then counting to 10.

As you can imagine, this

can't work in every context.

So if you're in a difficult

conversation and you notice you're

yourself wanting to say something

you shouldn't, it's probably going to

be hard to say, Hey, wait a second.

I need to take 3 plus 10.

But this can be really good if you

know, you want to reach for the

cookies, which is my negative impulse.

I can take three breaths, wait 10 seconds.

And usually during that period

of time, it's enough for the

energy of that impulse to soften.

So let's try it together.

We'll take three breaths, in through

the nose, out through the mouth.

One more.

Out.

One more.

Out.

Now we'll wait for ten, nine, eight,

seven, six ,five, four, three, two, one.

Cool.

That's it.

Now this works better when you

do have an impulse at play.

So try this out in real life.

I think you'll, you'll find

some value to it as always.

Thank you for your practice.

I'll talk to you more in the

meditation and take care.

Get Unlimited Access

Start your mindfulness journey today.

A Mindfulness Plus+ subscription gives you unlimited access to a world of premium mindfulness content.

  • Over 1,800 meditations, sleep, calm music, naturescapes and more
  • Daily mindfulness video meditations 365 days a year
  • 100s of courses and tools to help manage anxiety, sleep and stress

Email Missing

We couldn’t detect your email with the SSO provider you have selected.
or

Mindfulness Guarantee

We are here to make a positive impact on the world. We never want to sell you something that hasn’t helped you live a better life. That’s why if you’re unhappy with any purchase from us, you have 30 days to get a full refund and your money back.

If you subscribed to Mindfulness Plus+ and are unhappy with your purchase, please get in contact with us within the 30-day period and we’ll refund your purchase.


Learn more about our Mindfulness Guarantee.

Mindfulness

Bring balance into your everyday life.

We believe in a world where everybody has access to the life-changing skills of mindfulness.

  • 2,000+ Guided Meditations
  • Daily Coaching
  • Sleep Content
  • Mindful Exercises
  • Mindful Radio
  • 10+ Courses from world-class teachers

Private Browsing

Added to your cart!

Checkout

Claim your free access

Create a mindfulness account and we’ll unlock this premium session in your account forever.

or continue with
By continuing, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Do you already have an account?

Start a free trial to play this session

7-Days free trial, cancel anytime.

Start 7-Day Free Trial

Finish personalizing your account

Complete a few quick questions to make your own personalized mindfulness plan.