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A Simple Key to Clarity and Relaxation
By Shinzen Young
Breath meditation is a simple, natural technique for developing calm and concentration. Basically, it involves paying attention to the Life Energy as it expresses itself with each inbreath and outbreath.
What Are the Benefits? Self-control, relaxation, concentration, and direct experience of the flow of Spirit, which is always with you as breath.
When and Where to Do lt. You do it as a daily practice in its own right. Each session should last 10 to 45 minutes. It is good if you can do it at the same time and place each day. Many people like the morning. It makes the whole day calm and peaceful.
Or you may choose to do it for 5 to 10 minutes before prayer or spiritual treatment. You will find these spiritual practices greatly empowered by the extra focus and concentration the breath meditation gives you. You can also do it for 5 to 10 minutes before dealing with some difficult problem or situation. It will clear your mind and give you a better perspective on things. Remember, however, that while you are doing the breath meditation exercise, you must completely let go of that situation or problem and just concentrate on the breath.
Finally, during the day, whenever you feel you would like to center yourself, close your eyes, allow the body to settle, and focus on the breath for a few minutes. If you have some empty moments during the day, such as when waiting in an office or riding on a plane, you can use these moments as your "secret time" to enjoy calm and concentration.
Who Should Do It? Anyone who realizes the benefits of calm and concentration. The breath is a "non-denominational" form of meditation. Everyone shares the same Life Force.
Where to Focus. The body should be upright but relaxed, head and back straight. Let the body settle into the position and become very still. Feel the undersides of the arms and abdomen to be a little heavy. Imagine you are rooted to the spot and have no desire whatsoever to move. Breathe naturally through the nose. Eyes may be closed or open. Within this stillness of the body there will naturally be one activity that continues...the cycle of inbreath and outbreath.
There are two convenient places where you can feel the breath. One is at the nostrils, where the breath passes in and out. There is always a column of air passing across the nostrils causing a tiny impact or "touch" sensation there. This sensation is constantly changing in small ways as the column of air moves across it. The other location for feeling the breath is at the abdomen as it rises and falls. With each inbreath the abdomen will naturally expand slightly and with each outbreath it will collapse. Thus there is a continuously changing body sensation caused by the motion of the abdominal muscles as you breathe.
In doing breath meditation you may choose to concentrate either on the sensations of the air moving over the nostrils or the sensation of the abdomen moving up and down. However, once you have made your choice stay with it for the entire session. Do not switch back and forth during the same session. If you find it impossible to detect the breath either at the nostrils or the abdomen try to feel it wherever you can, for example, in the rising and falling of your chest.
Basic Principles
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Focus all of your awareness on the point of concentration and come back each time your attention wanders. Let all surface thought and stimuli such as sounds fade into the background. From time to time you will discover that your attention has wandered...you have become preoccupied with some thought, memory, judgment, or some sensation such as noise or body discomfort. Without getting frustrated, gently turn your attention to the point of concentration. Do this over and over again each time your attention wanders. After a while you will notice that focusing is easier.
- Let the breath be natural. Do not try to control it. Allow yourself to be breathed. If the breath wants to be long, let it be long. If it wants to be short, let it be short. If it stops for a moment, don't worry — it will start up again on its own. Just let it "do its thing." Tune into the Life Force which moves and directs the breath when you completely let go. Surrender all control of the breath. At the beginning and end of each breath, do not start to breathe as an act of will. Just rest and wait for nature to make the breath happen for you. Feel the Spirit breathing you and let it be!
- Keep awareness on the actual sensation of the breath. Feel it directly as a body sense, either as an impact on the nose or as the feeling of the muscles of the belly as they move. Be aware of each inbreath and outbreath distinctly. If you are focusing at the nostrils try to detect the fact that the outbreath is a little warmer than the inbreath. You will discover a fascinating world of richness and variety in the simple act of breathing.
Difficulties You May Encounter
Two major difficulties are distraction and sleepiness. Be patient with distraction. Remember, like any other skill, concentration can be developed only with continuous regular practice. Just keep practicing and distraction will gradually lessen. If you have difficulty with sleepiness, try to keep the body very straight and upright, and meditate with your eyes wide open.
How to End the Session
A very important moment comes when you are ending the meditation and are returning to your ordinary activities. This transition must be made smoothly.
Towards the end of the session, leave off focusing on the breath. Just sit for a moment and feel any calm and energy that may have developed. Let your mind be like the sky... bright, open, and receptive. Random thoughts, sounds, and body sensations are just passing guests; they do not affect the one True Mind.
Having become centered in this way, you may wish to begin prayer or spiritual treatment. Just let the prayer or spiritual treatment flow naturally out of your calmness and clarity. Alternatively, you may wish to simply end the session at this point. Make a clear resolve to stay in a meditative state while carrying out the activities of your day. Get up very slowly and carefully so as to preserve the meditative state. Stay in the One True Mind all day!
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