So Why Is It Always About The Breath? (A Simple Explanation)

02:56

So Why Is It Always About The Breath? (A Simple Explanation)

by Corin Bryant

Rated

5

Type

talks

Activity

Meditation

Suitable for

Beginners

Plays

5

You may have noticed that either focusing on the sensations of breathing or controlling the breath is a common (almost always mentioned) aspect of meditative and spiritual practice. In this video, I give a short explanation of why this is and give just a few reasons you hear about the breath so often in meditative and spiritual practice (there are others as well but these three are my best examples). In this video, I am speaking from a secular mindfulness approach but I am also drawing inspiration from Buddhism, Zen and the work of Eckhart Tolle.

Mindfulness Present Moment Anxiety Stress Buddhism Zen Spirituality Breath Awareness Present Moment Awareness Anxiety Reduction Stress Reduction

Meet your Teacher

Exmouth, UK

Meet your Teacher

Exmouth, UK

Transcript

Hi team. Just a short explainer on why we focus on the breath so often in meditation. You might have noticed that so many meditative and spiritual practices begin with focus on breathing. Slow your breathing down, Just be aware of the sensations of breathing. And I'm sure that even as I said that, You began to become aware of the sensations of breathing. And can you notice how that just slows things down? It just slows the body down. Begins to focus the mind, Begins to center. Ground our awareness. Into the present moment through the sensations of breathing. It's a really powerful tool. Focusing on the sensations of breathing for a few different reasons. One, It makes something conscious that you were previously unconscious of. So, Before watching this video, Your breathing was something that was in the background of your awareness. You weren't conscious of it. But you must have been breathing. If you're not currently breathing, Then you've got bigger problems than meditation can help you with. But you were breathing, You just weren't really aware of it. So by becoming conscious of something that was previously unconscious, We draw awareness into the present moment, Which is a really powerful way of alleviating anxiety and stress. It just brings us into the here and now, Takes us out of these endless thought streams, Trains of thought, Overthinking loops, And brings us into reality, Grounding us into the body. It's also that the breath is always with you. You don't have to have any kit with you, You don't have to do any specialized practice or anything. Everybody has access to the breath, So you can at any time, Could be in the supermarket, You could be driving, You could be at work, Simply focus on the sensations of breathing. To tool that. Readily available at any time. Slowing the breath down just calms the body, Calms the mind. If you ever notice someone's losing their temper or becoming really worried about something, We often prompt them, Say, Just take a deep breath, Take a deep breath. Slows the body and mind down. Hope some of that's useful in explaining why the breath is so prominent in meditative practice. Enjoy having an explore.