Affirmation · Secular practice

Just this

Just this breath. Just this step. Just this moment.

Three sentences for bringing attention back to what is in front of you, written for this app. The shortest of the set, and meant to be.

This text was written for Japa. It is not a traditional formula, and no tradition teaches it as one.

The count shown here is Japa's suggestion, not a rule of the tradition. Follow the form and number you were taught.

Not counted on beads

How many times

Japa suggests 21 times a day. Follow the number you were taught.

Japa counts this one without a mala: a plain daily number rather than a ring of beads, with the words kept in view while you say them. Counting is unlimited and free.

Open this practice in Japa

Opens a preview of this practice, with an option to add it in Japa 1.6 or later. If you install the app, return here and open the link again.

What the words say

Breath, step, moment — narrowing each time. 'Just' is doing all the work: not 'this breath is important' but 'this breath and nothing else', which is a refusal rather than an emphasis.

Where it comes from

Written for Japa. The sentiment is everywhere in contemplative teaching across traditions; the wording is not from any of them.

How it is practised

Said when the mind has gone somewhere else, which is most of the time. No number is meaningful here.

Keep it, and count it every day.

Japa keeps this text beside a large, calm counter on iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch, with a haptic for every bead and an optional bell at the end of each round. Counting is unlimited and free.

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