Following the Breath Meditation
Simple breathing meditation requires only that you find a comfortable position in a place with minimal distractions. You may sit, stand, or walk—whichever you prefer. Many people find the sitting position to be best. Two ingredients are required to make breath meditation work:
To start, let the focus be on where you feel the breath as it enters, inhabits, and exits the body. Try to follow the breath through full cycles, from the beginning of an inhalation to the end of an exhalation, and then on to the next cycle. Notice how the air feels cooler as it enters the nostrils and warmer when it leaves the body. Pay attention to the chest, the belly, the shoulders as the body breaths. If it is difficult to sense the breath in the body you can place a hand on your abdomen and let your attention rest on the rise and fall of your hand as you breath.
Try not to control the breath to make it be any particular way, let the body determine how it wants to breath, your job is just to watch the body breathe. It doesn't matter if the breath is short and shallow or long and deep.There is no right or wrong breath.
The mind can be a noisy, busy place. As you try to focus your attention, thoughts will often arise. This is natural. Simply allow them to arise and pass.The key is to not get annoyed or impatient with your unquiet mind. Acknowledge the thoughts and let your attention slip from them. Learning to focus attention and relax is a skill. As with any skill, your ability to focus and relax will improve with practice. If a chain of thought hijacks your attention and you lose awareness of the breath, gently return your attention to the sensations of breathing.
It helps to create a meditation practice by doing it at the same time every day. To start, try for 5 minutes in the morning or evening; you are also free to initiate an additional session of breath meditation any time you feel stressed out.
Counting Breaths:
Many people find it helpful to start by focusing on their breath, and silently count exhalations: In, out (one), in, out (two), in, out (three) and so on, up to ten. Then start over at one and up to ten. This gives you something to focus on besides intrusive thoughts.If you find yourself counting past ten or getting lost on the way, just start over counting at one and continue. (Remember no judgement, criticism if you get lost, just start over. It's no problem!)
- a sustained focus for your mind such as the repetition of a sound, word, phrase, or movement
- allowing everyday thoughts to come and go as you focus on the repetition.
To start, let the focus be on where you feel the breath as it enters, inhabits, and exits the body. Try to follow the breath through full cycles, from the beginning of an inhalation to the end of an exhalation, and then on to the next cycle. Notice how the air feels cooler as it enters the nostrils and warmer when it leaves the body. Pay attention to the chest, the belly, the shoulders as the body breaths. If it is difficult to sense the breath in the body you can place a hand on your abdomen and let your attention rest on the rise and fall of your hand as you breath.
Try not to control the breath to make it be any particular way, let the body determine how it wants to breath, your job is just to watch the body breathe. It doesn't matter if the breath is short and shallow or long and deep.There is no right or wrong breath.
The mind can be a noisy, busy place. As you try to focus your attention, thoughts will often arise. This is natural. Simply allow them to arise and pass.The key is to not get annoyed or impatient with your unquiet mind. Acknowledge the thoughts and let your attention slip from them. Learning to focus attention and relax is a skill. As with any skill, your ability to focus and relax will improve with practice. If a chain of thought hijacks your attention and you lose awareness of the breath, gently return your attention to the sensations of breathing.
It helps to create a meditation practice by doing it at the same time every day. To start, try for 5 minutes in the morning or evening; you are also free to initiate an additional session of breath meditation any time you feel stressed out.
Counting Breaths:
Many people find it helpful to start by focusing on their breath, and silently count exhalations: In, out (one), in, out (two), in, out (three) and so on, up to ten. Then start over at one and up to ten. This gives you something to focus on besides intrusive thoughts.If you find yourself counting past ten or getting lost on the way, just start over counting at one and continue. (Remember no judgement, criticism if you get lost, just start over. It's no problem!)