Breathing meditation
In mindfulness meditation practices, our intention is to be as aware as possible of the present moment. By deliberately bringing our attention to the ‘here and now’, we loosen the mind’s strong habits to dwell negatively on the past or future, the cause of much of our mental and emotional suffering. Here we use breathing as our focus. The meditation below assumes we are setting aside time to sit and meditate. However, a short version can be very helpful in daily life, to help us settle when feeling stressed. Hence at any point in our day, it can be very effective to pause, and focus attention on our breath, even for as little as one to three breaths.
See meditation guide
1. Choose a comfortable quiet space where you can sit undisturbed. Feel the contact of your body with the chair… and of your feet with the floor…allowing your weight to drop down into the support of the chair/floor…
2. Allow your body to relax. ‘Soften’ your face, shoulders, belly, hands. Aim to have the spine as upright as possible....while at the same time relaxed and comfortable. Place both feet parallel on the floor…rest the hands on the lap or knees…lightly close the eyes…or if you prefer leavethe eyes open with a soft gaze ahead of you. Adjust these instructions as needed to be comfortable.
3. Start by taking three breaths where you extend the out-breath…breathing in normally and breathing out long and slow. This helps the body release tension and relax further.
4. With a sense of kind attention…become aware of your breathing in…and breathing out… noticing the soothing natural rhythm… perhaps naming ‘breathing in’… ‘breathing out’…
5. If it helps, you can count the breathing cycles…breathing in…breathing out…one…breathing in…breathing out…two…etc. Return to one if you lose count. Leave out the counting if it doesn’t feel helpful.
6. If your mind becomes distracted by thought (as is likely at times), you are not ‘getting it wrong’! When you notice your mind has wandered, calmly guide your awareness gently back to following your breathing again... just as many times as you need… knowing this is fully part of the meditation…
7. Continue for up to ten minutes…or shorter/ longer if you want to. As you finish, take a moment to notice how you feel… perhaps notably calmer…but this is not the ‘aim’ of the meditation…so whatever your experience… be kind to yourself … thankful that you have given yourself time to meditate… knowing that meditation is beneficial…
N.B. If for any reason you find it difficult/uncomfortable to focus on breathing , you can choose any part of the body, e.g. 'palm of the right hand', to focus your awareness on throughout the meditation, just noticing the changing sensations or lack of sensation in each moment...and returning awareness to this area when the mind wanders...