How To Stay With The Breath

Many meditations will teach us to use the breath as an anchor at those times when we notice we're distracted. This guided meditation will build on that technique, showing you how to stay with the breath once you've found it. Simple to follow, easy to remember but incredibly useful when put into practice.

Transcript

Welcome to this guided meditation, Staying with the breath. Often when we're meditating and we're using the breath as an anchor to come back to for those times when we're distracted, We can do it, We get back to the breath, But we can't stay there. And this meditation is intended to teach you a few techniques for once you've found your breath, To stay with it and to stay present in the moment. So if you're not already, If you can get yourself into a nice comfortable position, Whatever that means for you is absolutely fine. There's no right or wrong posture to take up for this meditation. You could be lying down, Sat in a chair or sitting or kneeling on a cushion. All of those are absolutely fine as long as you're comfortable and alert. You can let your eyes gently close over and we'll begin. We can let our attention rest gently on the breath, Asking ourselves the question, What is my breath doing right now? What is my breath doing right now? With no requirement to change anything or force anything, Just asking the question, What is my breath doing right now? And you'll find during this meditation that you'll be distracted, Whether that's through thoughts, Feelings, Emotions or sensations in the body, Even external sounds, All of that is absolutely fine. It happens to all of us. When you notice those distractions, Just come back to your breath with kindness and ask yourself the question, What is my breath doing right now? What is my breath doing right now? You may find that you're distracted numerous times and that's perfectly normal. No need to beat yourself up about it. Just with kindness, Come back to your breath and we're going to stick with that question, What is my breath doing right now? For the next minute or so, Then we're going to look at how we can stay with the breath. Now that we found it, The first quality of breath we're going to look at is how deep it is. By simply asking ourselves, How deep is my breath? Pay attention to if it's shallow or are you breathing right down into your stomach? Remember there's no right or wrong with this. We're simply asking ourselves, How deep is my breath? Let's stick with that question for the next minute or so. Just asking ourselves, How deep is my breath? The next question we're going to ask ourselves is, Is there any sound to my breath? Notice if there's any noise when you breathe in or breathe out. Your breath might naturally be quite silent, But just pay attention. Don't try and change anything and ask yourself, What sound does my breath make? You may find yourself distracted during this exercise and that's absolutely fine. Just leave the distraction where it is and come back to your breath. You can ask yourself, What is my breath doing right now? Or how deep is my breath? Or what sound is my breath making? All the while remembering that we're not trying to change anything. We're just paying attention. And as we watch our breath or examine our breath, It's important to remember that we're not analyzing. We're not judging. We're not adding any stories or embellishments to what's happening. There's no right or wrong, Good or bad. We're simply watching. The next quality that we're going to look at is the length of the breath. Just asking ourselves, How long is my breath? How long is my breath? And that's looking at the inhale and the exhale. It may be that they're the same length. You might find that your inhale is longer than your exhale or vice versa. Again, Nothing to change, Nothing to force. We're just watching. And you can move on to the next question. What speed is my breath? What speed is my breath? You may naturally be quite a slow, Relaxed breather. Or you may breathe a little faster. There's no right or wrong. Just let your attention rest on the speed of your breath by asking yourself, What's the speed of my breath? And if you find yourself distracted, That's absolutely fine. Just let go of the distraction and come back to the breath. Asking any of the questions that we've already covered. Now I want you to ask yourself, What temperature is my breath? What temperature is my breath? Is it cool on the way in? Warmer on the way out? Really pay attention to that. What temperature is my breath? It may be that you feel it around your nostrils. If you're breathing just through your nose. Or across your lips. If you're breathing with your mouth open. Either way is fine. All we're doing is noticing the temperature of our breath. The final quality of breath we're going to look at is how smooth it is. By asking ourselves, How smooth is my breath? How smooth is my breath? You may notice some bumps or glitches. Or you might have quite a smooth breath on the inhale and exhale. There's nothing to change. There's nothing to do other than pay attention. So let's do that for a few moments. Again, You may be distracted by thoughts, Feelings or sensations in the body. And that's absolutely fine. Just let those go. Come back to your breath. And pick up any of those questions that we've looked at. There's no right or wrong order to ask these questions. The important thing is that you've got them in your repertoire. So that when you come back to your breath. You can stay with it. By asking yourself, What is my breath doing right now? What is my breath doing right now? How deep is my breath? What is the length of my breath? What is the temperature of my breath? What is the speed of my breath? How smooth is my breath? All the while remembering, There's nothing to change. There's nothing to force. There's no right or wrong. Good or bad. We're just watching the breath. Don't worry if you have forgotten one or all of those questions. The most important one to remember is that first one. What is my breath doing right now? And the answer to that question will hopefully prompt you to remember the others. What is my breath doing right now? So let's just spend the final minute asking ourselves that question. Whatever your breath was doing during this exercise. I hope you're feeling a little bit more relaxed now. A bit more peaceful. The more you practice this technique and ask yourself those questions. The more you'll find yourself being able to bring that relaxation into your day. Whatever you're doing. I hope to see you again soon. Take care.

Reviews

I wouldn't have thought there were so many questions to ask about my breath. Excellent approach, excellent guidance. Thank you.

Dear Dali, I do feel more relaxed now. Good technique.
Thank you. 🙏🌟🕊

thank you very much dear Dali... this meditation Is so helpful in this moment of my life.... Blessings 🩵🙏🩵

A simply superb way to start my Saturday! Enabled me to slow right down , guided me gently towards staying with the breath , noticing , without judging , thank you Dali for this track , that’s going into my favourites folder . Will return to it on the regular , to remind myself to notice the various qualities of the breath 😊.Ty! Blessings to you ! 🙏✨🕊️✨🙏

Thankyou Dali, for your clear guidance. The meditations you offer are much appreciated. Namaste