Finding Refreshment In The Breath

I'm Mark Zielinski,

A meditation teacher here on Insight Timer.

Although the breath is a common topic in meditation,

I want to talk about an aspect of the breath that I find particularly useful.

And nearly universally applicable.

Refreshing quality of the bread.

This combines two of what are referred to in Buddhism as foundations of mindfulness or frames of reference.

One,

The body,

Which includes the breath.

And two,

Feeling tones,

Which is the experience of the spectrum of pleasure,

Pain,

And neither pleasure nor pain.

In meditation,

We're intentionally creating an environment that stands outside of the flow of everyday life.

Therefore,

At times,

Although we don't deny the existence of the pain side of feeling tones,

We do incline toward the pleasure side.

For instance,

When we finally come to sit down in our practice,

We choose a comfortable seat in a room with a comfortable temperature,

Not too many distractions.

We compose our body in such a way that feels good,

Balanced,

Upright,

Alert,

At ease.

And we can address the breath in the same way.

Most people have heard that when confronted with a difficult situation,

We should take a deep breath before we react,

Lest we react in anger.

Or another destructive emotion.

It's a good idea.

But it's only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to what we can do with mindfulness of breathing.

Look at your breath right now.

See if you can move into an understanding that it's already and always moving in accord with an underlying state of mind and body.

It's always there to inform you of the deeper condition of your being.

That's good news.

But the better news is that you can have an influence in the other direction.

By inclining toward nourishing,

Refreshing breath.

You can inform the mind and body that well-being is income.

It's not a one and done situation.

Your circumstances will change throughout an hour,

A day,

A week,

And a lifetime.

Sometimes calm is needed,

Sometimes energy is the cure.

And each take practice to cultivate.

But it all starts with a simple understanding.

The breath is informative.

It's a messenger.

Mindfulness of breathing isn't just following,

Counting,

Or noticing the breath.

It's participating fully in life through this body and this mind in the interest of true well-being.