Breathing Meditations

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Awareness of breath

Correct abdominal breathing lies at the heart of all kinds of meditation. In 'awareness of breath' meditation, breathing itself is the object of the meditation. Such meditation is held in the highest regard among Buddhists, Hindus and Taoists, all of whom believe in it not just as a means of inducing peace of mind but also of encouraging physical and mental health.

Breathing awareness can also be used as a prelude to another form of meditation. If this is to be the case, five minutes or so will calm the nerves and focus and still the mind, putting it in a receptive mood for the session proper.

Awareness of breath meditation techniques are ideal for the novice meditator because they are entirely natural and most people feel quite comfortable with them. The techniques simply involve being aware of the breath as it enters and leaves the body.

Sit motionless in any of the postures you find comfortable, remembering to keep the back, head and neck in perfect balance, and begin to think about your breathing, becoming aware of each intake of breath, the pause, the expulsion of stale air from the lungs, the pause, the next breath. Your attention will wander. Don't be put off; bring it back to the object of your meditation and start again on the next inhalation.

It is not unusual for the pattern of breathing to change during meditation. At first, when you may be feeling a little self-conscious, you may find that you are holding each breath for longer than usual, but as the meditation proceeds you should find that breathing becomes smoother and deeper, or it may become shallow and slow. Don't be concerned by this. As you concentrate on your breathing and lose yourself in the meditation, the body establishes a rate of breathing that is right for that particular time.

There are several methods for encouraging attention to focus on the breath. None of them is better than any of the others. Try them all, and if you are happier with one over the rest, stick with it. Naturally they all require you to adopt a suitable posture and choose an appropriate place. One newcomer to breath awareness meditation decided to try it in a stuffy underground train. He closed his eyes, put his thoughts in order, began to breathe in and out as he had learned . . . and was woken by the guard when the train reached the terminus many stops past his own.

The simplest methods

Take up a comfortable posture. You may shut your eyes to aid concentration, but it is better to keep them half open. Breathe as naturally as you can, counting either each inhalation or exhalation up to ten, and repeat this for 20 minutes. Counting is an aid to concentration and helps to prevent the mind from wandering.

Some people find it helps if they focus their attention on the tip of the nose or the inside of the nostrils as the breath enters and leaves the body. Others use the movement of the abdomen as the focus of their attention.

Mindfulness of breathing meditation

'A monk having gone to the forest, to the foot of a tree, or to an empty place, sits down cross-legged, keeps his body erect and his mindfulness alert. Just mindful he breathes in and mindful he breathes out.' Thus did the Suddha advocate to his followers mindfulness of breathing meditation, also called 'following the breath'.

According to this widely practised method of meditation, the abdomen or nose is the focus of attention, which is a development of basic awareness of breath meditation which many people find unsatisfying after a month or two.

There is no counting in mindfulness of breath meditation, rather it is the flow of breath in and out on which the mind is concentrated. To practise it, sit comfortably in any of the prescribed positions with the eyes closed and breathe in and out quite naturally, focusing the attention either on the abdomen or the nose.

If it's the abdomen, become aware of the pause in breathing at the limit of each sea-swell-like rise and fall of the abdomen. If it's the nose, concentrate on the nostrils where the flow of inhaled and exhaled air can be felt. You are certain to find at first that your attention wanders even if you have been successfully practising counting the breath meditation for some time. When you realize that your attention has meandered, simply return it to the abdomen or nose and continue the meditation.

As you give in to the seductive rhythm of your abdomen as it rises and falls or your sensation of the inflow or outflow of air in the nostrils, your breathing will become smoother and much quieter as the meditation deepens. Try to avoid controlling your breathing in any way. This can be difficult.

Watching the breath without trying to interfere with it seems simple, but it takes some practice for the mind to become used to the fact that you are trying to surrender yourself completely to the spontaneous flow of the breath. Beginners usually find that their breathing becomes uneven, quickening and slowing for no apparent reason. They should not worry, for in time the breath settles to its own rhythm.

Many of those who practise following the breath meditation find it helps if they make themselves aware of the journey of each breath from the moment it enters the nostril to the moment it is expelled. Others picture an aura of energy and light just in front of the forehead. With each breath some of the power is taken into the body and the meditator focuses on its journey deep into the body.

Most of the faiths or religions that advocate breathing meditation have their own techniques. Zen Buddhists, for example, sometimes imagine that a ball of lead drops slowly through the body with each breath-making the stale deoxygenized air fall out.

Many have their own methods of dealing with the inevitable distractions. Some Buddhist teachers encourage their pupils to use the distractions themselves as the objects of meditation for a moment before they are dissolved and following the breath can be resumed.