Following The Breath

This is an empowering yet calming practice that will allow your mind to remain interested and attentive to the breath. When following the breath, we will begin to dissect and investigate the different parts of the breath in an engaged way.

Transcript

Welcome to this guided meditation. In this meditation we're going to learn a technique called following the breath. You may have noticed when meditating that the mind tends to wander away. It tends to forget that it's meditating. This is to be expected. It's actually perfectly normal. But still we would like to train attention to be stable and to stay on our meditation object for as long as we need. This is doable by training the mind. By following the breath we will give the mind a new task. This will make the mind more interested and more sensitive. So let's start by closing our eyes. Take notice of where you are, Of your posture. How do you feel? What can you feel? Can you hear sounds? Smells? Physical sensations? Thoughts? Anything you may feel in this moment. Just let it come. Let it stay. Let it go. We're not controlling anything. We're just looking. We're taking this time to let the body do its thing without trying to control it. We're not trying to feel in a certain way or fit a certain image of what meditating should be. We're just being normal. Take notice of what's happening inside of you. Can you feel stuff in your legs? Can you feel sensations in your arms? What's going on inside your body? Is it calm? Or is it agitated? Do the sensations overall feel pleasant? Or do they feel unpleasant? Or maybe they feel neutral. Not really pleasant. Not really unpleasant. Can you notice your body changing as you breathe in? Changing as you breathe out? Let's look more specifically at what's happening at our nose. Can you feel the breath coming in, Passing through your nostrils? Can you feel the breath coming out? Coming out of your nostrils? You may feel different types of sensations. And what's a sensation? Well, A sensation is any experience that you may feel at your nose. Maybe a simple feeling that lets you know that your nose is there. It may be a slight pressure that you feel when you put your attention at the nose. You may feel the light touch of the air touching your skin. You may feel some small vibrations. Some tingling. Some itching. You may feel some heat or cold. Anything you feel. Nothing special. Nothing magical. Just normal sensations like you feel throughout the day. But now we're closely looking at them. Now we're going to look a little bit closer at these sensations. Let's see if we can increase the resolution of your mind. Can you feel at least one sensation while breathing in? Can you feel at least one sensation when breathing out? If you can, Well good. That means the mind is properly trained. It's getting sharper. If you can't feel a sensation during the inhale or during the exhale, Don't be disappointed. Simply keep looking and keep looking. Just pay attention. There might be something you're missing. Something right under your nose. And maybe you can notice even more sensations during the inhale. Maybe you can notice the beginning and the ending of the inhale. And the same with the exhale. See if you can see two sensations during the inhale and two sensations during the exhale. Can you sharpen the mind even more? Could you even notice a sensation between the beginning and the ending of the inhale? Could you do the same for the exhale? We're paying close attention to what's happening at the nostrils. Yet we're staying relaxed. We're not trying too hard. We're aware of how we sit. We're still aware of surrounding sounds. You're still aware of the sound of my voice. You're here. Not in a trance, In a very normal state. And lastly, One more challenge. See if you can notice a sensation between the inhale and the exhale. And another sensation between the exhale and the inhale. What makes you notice that the inhale has ended and that the exhale has begun? Explore this gap. Is it empty of sensations? Or is there still something subtle going on? Now let's go back to feeling the breath inside the whole body. Feel your chest expanding. Feel your chest contracting. Feel all the sensations in your body. And notice if they are pleasant, Unpleasant, Or neutral. Notice your posture. Notice how you feel. Maybe you can notice some surrounding sounds around you. Or a little bit of light coming through your eyelids. When you feel ready, Gently open your eyes. This technique of following the breath will make your mind sharper. Instead of simply looking at the inhale and the exhale as a single breath, We're trying to divide it into different sensations. In this way we increase the resolution of our mind by noticing more subtle and more subtle realities. You can practice following the breath when you feel the mind is a bit bored or need an additional challenge to look at the breath with interest. You can also use it when you notice that the mind is stable but not clear enough. Focusing it regularly will benefit you greatly.

Reviews

A unique experience for me. Not just breath work, but an exploration of the intricacies of breathing I never considered. So easy to take our breath for granted. I’ll be incorporating this meditation into a daily mindfulness practice. Thank you!

Your way of guiding attention and describing the details of meditation practices is very grounding and helpful.

Thanks for the guided meditation! Great reminder on how to follow the breath.

Great meditation. I was at stage 4-5 of TMI and have regressed back to stage 1-2. I am having difficulty in finding the breath sensations, they have become almost imperceptible. So, I started from beginning and am using your guided meditations to practice with diligence.

This is very helpful! Thanks 🙏🏾