Vipassana - Focus On The Abdomen

Everyone at some point in their meditation practice loses focus on the foundational elements of the practice itself. Most notably - breathing. It is easy for the mind to wander and the breath is an excellent anchor for focus. This practice focuses on the physical sensations of breathing.

Transcript

Go ahead and find a relaxed meditative posture and notice the spine straight but not tight so getting the spine straight but not tight noticing your hips grounded down into the chair and lifting the spine up through the back of the neck through the base of the skull maybe bringing your chin down a little bit and noticing the freedom in the back of your neck noticing your feet flat on the floor or supported noticing where your hands are resting and allowing your hands to hold weight meaning feel your hands heavy in your lap or across your body or beside you wherever your hands are and at no time during this exercise today are we going to focus on deep breathing we are only focusing on your natural rate of breathing so take a few moments and allow your body to find a natural rate of breathing take in a few moments and just noticing your body as it is breathing in and out you noticing that when you breathe in you're breathing down into the pelvis grounding your body into the chair or wherever it is that you're seated and when you breathe out you're breathing up the spine elongating the spine supporting your body in a meditative posture next try to keep your mind but not your eyes try to keep your mind on your abdomen or your stomach and pay attention to the movements of the rising and the falling of it and if these movements in your body are not clear to you in the beginning try to place both hands on your abdomen and feel the rising and the falling movements of your breath going in and out because if you're breathing in such a way that's conducive to this process then it will be your abdomen that is rising and falling and not your chest so if you notice that when you breathe in and out your chest is moving up and down try and focus that breathing down into your abdomen or your stomach and after a short time the upward movement of your exhale will become clear and then make a mental note for the rising of the upward movement and the falling of the downward movement and your mental note of each of the these movements the rising and the falling of your breath must be made while it occurs and from this exercise you learn the actual manner of the upward and downward movements of your abdomen you're not concerned with the form of the abdomen and what you actually perceive is the bodily sensation of pressure that is caused by the heaving movement of the abdomen so do not dwell on the form of the abdomen but proceed with the exercise and for the beginner this is a very effective method of developing the faculties of attention it helps in developing a concentration of mind and insight into contemplation so as this practice of noticing the rising and the falling of your abdomen progresses the manner of these movements will be clearer the ability to know each successive occurrence of the mental and physical processes at each of the six sense organs is acquired only when insight contemplation is developed so since we are new in this process of developing the power of concentration it might be difficult to keep the mind on just the rising and falling of your breath as it occurs and you might think to yourself I just don't know how to keep my mind on these movements and in these moments just remember that this is a learning process the rising and the falling movements of your abdomen are always present so therefore there is no need to look for them continue this exercise in full awareness of your abdomens rising and falling not speaking the words rising and falling and do not think of rising and falling as words just be aware of the process of rising and falling movements of the abdomen avoid deep breathing or rapid breathing that may cause fatigue and interfere with the practice just be aware of the movements of the rising and the falling of your normal breathing just noticing the rising and the falling of your breathing not thinking about rising and falling not even noticing the words rising and falling as it relates to you breathing in and out just being aware of your breath going in and out with your abdomen as the place through which you feel the sensations of the breath entering your body and leaving the body you you you you you you and noticing the breathing still in this natural pattern filling the lungs and diaphragm exiting the lungs and diaphragm the rise and the fall of the abdomen and taking inventory of this process and how it feels now that you've been in the practice today and taking a complete breath in and a complete breath out feeling the body settled and the mind rested and taking this feeling with you throughout the rest of your day