In our series on Buddhist meditations, today we are going to focus on breath meditation.
Why start with the breath, you might ask? The reason is simple. It’s relatively easier for the beginners and comes with a lot of benefits. Before we start the meditation, let’s spend a few minutes, to see what we are trying to achieve here.
Breath meditation
Our first aim is to calm the mind. Once it is calm, we can work on it, heal it, sharpen it. How do we achieve that calm? We start with breath meditations. Breath is available to us everywhere. We don’t have to carry it with us, it comes on its own. This means, we can meditate anywhere, even in our offices, or while at airports. First let’s see what benefits will this meditation bring for you:
- Calm and stable mind.
- Ability to let go of negative thoughts and emotions.
- Reduction in stress levels.
- Efficiency in our work.
- Joy for body and mind.
The practice
Let’s start now. Sit in a suitable posture (click here to read about postures). Relax all your muscles and the other parts of your body, while keeping your back straight. Keep your eyes closed, or partially closed. If there is a tension in any part of your body, let it dissolve and disappear. Let your breathing be natural so that your breath flows in and out in natural rhythm. Now follow the steps mentioned below:
- Focus on your breath. You can do this either by focusing on the openings of your nostrils, or by focusing on the abdomen.
- If your attention is directed at the nostrils, feel the sensation of the breath as it enters and leaves the body. If the attention is at the abdomen, feel the in-and-out movement of it with each breath.
- Keep your mind, your attention, on the sensations you can feel during each inhalation and exhalation of your breath.
- Let the breath flow naturally. Don’t exert any force.
- If your mind wanders away, it’s all right. It will happen in the beginning. Just bring it back to the breath.
- Some practitioners like to count their breaths, especially in the beginning. It helps to keep your mind concentrated. You can say to yourself, “Breathing in, breathing out, one. Breathing in, breathing out, two…”
- You don’t have to count the exact numbers. If you get distracted and lose count, start from one again. The idea is to keep the focus on breath, not count.
- Inevitably, thoughts will appear, and your attention will get distracted. Simply come back to the breath. See these thoughts, or any sensation in mind, like some itching in your body. They come and go. Have the same detached attitude towards these thoughts. Just notice them and let them go.
- Stay close to your breath and continue this for a few minutes. Ideally, ten to twenty minutes is a good time for beginners.
Congratulations! You have completed the first meditation session. Smile.
You can continue practising this meditation for the next few days, before you feel comfortable to move on to the next one.
Kalampedia 