Essential Basics Of Breath

This meditation is a simple, basic breath practice, perfect for beginners or those wishing to further their practice, that includes complete instructions on; key methods to use the breath as a tool in meditation, what a setup practice is, how to enter an aware presence, the importance of sitting in silence and the importance of a consistent practice.

Transcript

This meditation is titled Essential Basics of Breath Meditation.

In it,

We'll include some comments and guidance in the area of posture,

Posture of the body.

Meditation object,

Which is in this situation will be the breath and how it's used.

In fact,

We'll cover three different ways that we can use the breath in something that is called a setup practice.

Also,

Using the breath to condition the body,

Using the body to condition the breath,

And also counting the breath and using the touch sensation of the breath itself in our meditation practice.

We'll talk about how we can use and allow the breath to act as a tool and to do its work,

And how this relates to the aware presence,

Which is in many situations the letting go and the acceptance of all situations that arise for us.

And then we'll talk about the importance of practicing in silence,

And also the importance of consistency in the practice itself.

First of all,

As far as consistency goes,

It is suggested that a meditator practice on a daily basis.

It's more important that they be consistent than the length of the meditation itself.

In fact,

I seldom suggest how long a person meditates,

But I often suggest that they do it daily as if they're learning any kind of new subject or new trade.

Meditation is best done on a daily basis.

I would like to start off meditation,

And within the guiding of the meditation will be the essential basics of breath meditation just talked about.

Bring yourself to a comfortable posture,

Whether it's on a chair or upon a cushion on the floor.

If you're sitting in a chair,

Keep both feet flat on the floor.

And in either situation you want to have your back fairly straight,

Perhaps your chin is lifted slightly.

And we can first begin by thinking in terms of meditation object.

We have to have something to focus upon,

Something to concentrate on.

The breath is the most popular meditation object,

And it's the most widely used.

And it's very useful.

It's always with us.

It can be boring and it can be interesting at the same time,

So it's a perfect object for us to use.

We look at the breath in many ways.

We can use the breath in many ways.

We can use it as in a practice called a setup practice,

And we can also use it,

Of course,

For our entire meditation practice.

A very constructive way of using the breath is to use it to condition the body.

When we look at the different parts of the breath,

The inhalation is by far the most relaxing.

So for a few moments,

Just relax the body on each exhalation of the breath.

We're not trying to change or manipulate the breath or the breathing.

We're using the breath as a tool.

So when you exhale,

Just allow and visualize,

If you will,

Every muscle in the body relaxing,

While you're still holding that posture when you're sitting.

Exhaling,

Relaxing,

Just like a flow of relaxation from the top of the head all the way down to the feet.

Notice if there's any areas in the body that you might be holding on to any kind of stress or tension,

And let those relax with the exhalation of the breath.

Alternatively,

When you breathe in,

Allow that inhalation to act like you're bringing energy into the body.

And indeed,

We do need energy when we're meditating,

Otherwise we'll get drowsy,

Sleepy.

So when you breathe in,

Allow that to stabilize and strengthen your posture.

When you breathe in,

Your chest rises slightly and your back straightens,

Not too stiff,

And your chin is lifted.

All of these things happen every time you inhale,

And every time you exhale,

You're relaxing.

So alternatively,

You're holding a wonderful,

Beautiful posture,

And when you exhale,

The next moment,

You're relaxing.

You want to be comfortable and relaxed,

But yet stable and balanced in your posture.

And then you'll find that you can sit for long lengths of time,

Very easily.

Breathing in and breathing out,

Using the entire breath to condition the body.

This can be used as a setup practice,

It can be done just for a few moments,

Maybe before your,

What we might call our regular practice,

Where we're using the touch sensation of the breath alone.

It can be used for a short period or it can be used for a longer period,

Even the entire meditation.

Breathing in and breathing out.

Another way we can use a breath,

A very popular practice,

Is to count the breaths.

Whether we breathe in and then breathe out and count for one,

Breathe in and breathe out,

Count for two,

One complete cycle of breathing,

Or perhaps we want to breathe out and then breathe in and count.

Place the counting on top where the energy is a little bit higher.

If we're a little bit drowsy,

We want to leave that count on top where we inhale and count one,

Exhale,

Inhale and count two,

Exhale.

If we want to relax a little bit more,

We simply place that count on the bottom of the exhalation,

Alternatively.

Breathing in,

Breathing out for three,

Breathing in and breathing out for four and on.

This can also be used as a setup practice.

Many people will do this for maybe a quarter of their actual meditation practice if their mind is real busy.

And then once the mind settles down,

They'll come back to their,

What we can call our regular practice.

What we're looking at is,

In this case,

As being the regular practice,

Is just simply using the touch sensation of the breath.

Knowing where the breath connects with the body.

It might be the tip of the nose,

It might be within the nostrils,

Maybe within the sinuses,

But it's wherever we feel the breath the most on the body.

And it's usually on the inhalation of the breath because of the coolness as it comes in.

Try this for a moment.

Just set aside all thoughts of the past and future and just spend a moment finding the breath in the body.

Where do you feel it?

Breathing in and breathing out.

Notice the coolness of the breath as it comes in and maybe the warmth as it leaves.

Now if you're searching the body and finding this point where the breath caresses or touches the body,

You're likely very,

Very present.

This is the aware presence that is really what we're trying to achieve in meditation.

Within that aware presence is the aspect of being able to let go and acceptance of the current situation or of what arises in the moment.

When we are resting in that pure awareness,

It can be looked at perhaps as a place between the past and the future.

In other words,

Thinking of what happened or planning of what might happen.

It can also be looked at as a place in between thoughts.

We think a thought and then there's an emptiness or a place of pure awareness before the next thought starts.

Some people relate it to thinking of what their last thought was and what their next thought might be.

This resting place in between these thoughts.

And what we're doing is using the breath as a tool.

There's really nothing spiritual or sacred about the breath.

We're just simply using it as a tool to come into this presence.

And here we discover our true nature,

Who we really are,

Beyond the thinking mind.

This aware presence or this still presence is an area that we can become very accustomed to and begin to spend more and more time in this place.

And this is what meditation introduces to us.

It's also important for this reason to practice in silence.

Right now you're listening to my voice,

You're following instructions.

And this is absolutely fine.

But once I stop talking,

There's a better chance of the mind wandering.

And this is where we have to be diligent and work with our concentration to notice that the mind has wandered off,

Catch it.

Just touch that with our awareness and come back to the breath.

In other words,

Come back to this presence.

And with that in mind,

Let's just sit for a few moments in silence.

And bring your awareness to that point where the breath touches the body.

That's it.

Just resting in this pure awareness,

This aware presence.

The mind wanders.

Just notice,

Without judgment,

Without commentary,

Bring your attention back to the breath.

Bringing your awareness back home.

You might try using the breath to stabilize the posture as you breathe in,

Relaxing the body as you breathe out.

Working with the breath in this way,

You might decide to count the breaths,

Count up to 20 or even up to 100,

Which would take about 10 minutes with each cycle of breathing,

Each in and out breath being one.

Placing the count on the bottom of the exhalation or immediately following the inhalation.

Perhaps the most rewarding practice of all is just simply sitting with the breath,

Noticing the touch sensation of the breath against the body.

The analogy of sitting on a river's edge and watching,

Noticing the debris float by in the water.

We don't step out into the water and grab these things and cling on to them and collect them.

We just let them float by.

The same is true with the mind and the many thoughts that we have.

As they arise and we notice them,

Just let them float by.

We don't try to change them or grasp them or judge them.

No commentary,

No decision.

Complete letting go,

Allowing and sitting and experiencing this aware presence as much as we possibly can.

Coming home to ourselves.

Thank you.

Reviews

Excellent thank you 🙏🌺🌸🦋

Lots of useful information. Thank you