Breath Inquiry

The beauty of the breath is that how we are breathing directly reflects how we are engaged and orienting in this very moment. This 15-minute guided mindfulness practice invites you to become more aware and more in touch with the way you are breathing in this very moment, with no other goal then to be friend your experience as fully as possible.

Transcript

Breath inquiry.

In this breathing inquiry,

We're going to take a closer inspection on how we breathe and learn more about how your body takes a breath.

I believe it's best to do this inquiry while seated,

Since the majority of our day is spent in an upright posture.

While you can do this lying down,

And that will provide you with some useful information,

I recommend you first become skilled at discovering how you breathe while seated or standing.

As you start this inquiry,

You might want to place one hand on your chest or sternum,

And the other on your belly or the lowest ribs on your side.

As we continue with the inquiry,

You can allow your hands to drop to your side or rest in your lap for comfort.

While exploring your breath,

Allow the breath to flow normally,

Which means without effort or force,

And reflect on the following questions.

I will be repeating these questions several times and in various order so that you can really discover your spontaneous and honest breath.

You might find that the breath changes as we go through this inquiry,

And that's okay.

Just notice.

So,

Sitting in an upright posture that you can maintain without extra muscle engagement,

You might want to place one hand on your chest and one on your belly or lower ribs.

The first set of questions is about location or placement.

As you simply watch this next breath,

Notice which part of your body or torso moves first.

I also like to say which part of the body or torso breathes first.

See if on the next breath you can determine where your breathing begins,

Which part moves first.

As you continue to soften into this inquiry,

You might find that these questions shift,

Location changes.

The first question,

Which part of the body or torso moves or breathes first?

Now the sister question,

It's companion question,

It's which part of the body or torso moves the most?

Which part breathes the most?

You might find that that's different.

Which part of the body moves or breathes first?

And which part of the body moves or breathes the most?

In keeping with this location section,

Do you find that you breathe through your nose or your mouth?

Simply observe.

This breathing inquiry is not about making anything happen or changing or altering the breath in any way.

It's just observing.

And it's observing what is happening today,

Right this moment.

The next set of questions involve the rate of the breath.

Taking a simple look,

Notice what is the rate or speed of your breath?

Does it seem fast or slow?

No need to count or keep pace.

Just observe.

Notice if there's a difference between the length of your inhalation and exhalation.

Are they equal?

Is the inhalation longer or shorter than the exhalation?

Is this a pattern for you?

Is there a difference between the length of the inhalation and exhalation?

Notice if there are any gaps or pauses.

A gap occurs during the inhalation or exhalation cycle in the middle of it,

Where you find that as you're inhaling or exhaling,

You pause for a second.

Stop.

Pauses occur at the end,

Even for a millisecond,

At the end of the inhalation before you begin the exhalation or at the end of the exhalation before the breath comes in again.

You find a pause.

Notice if there are any gaps or any pauses.

So going back,

Take a moment and notice what part of the body or torso moves or breathes first and what part of the body or torso moves most.

Notice if there's a length difference between the inhalation or the exhalation.

And as you observe that,

See if you can determine if there's any gaps or pauses.

Now observe the volume.

What is the depth of your breath?

And when we use the term depth with breathing,

We're not talking about location.

A deep breath doesn't necessarily mean it's in the belly.

Is your breath shallow or deep?

And that simply refers to the amount of air,

Not the placement.

Do you inhale large volumes of air?

Are they small sips of air?

Does it change when you observe this?

Now what is the quality of your breath?

Does it have a consistency?

For instance,

Does it flow evenly and smooth?

Or is it ragged and uneven?

Does it flow in easily?

Or does it seem staccato-like?

Does it seem rushed?

How would you describe your breath or your breathing?

And be active with your imagination.

Are there any images or words or sounds that you might describe this breath with?

What is the emotional tone to this way of breathing?

Does it create or foster any particular emotional reaction?

Does it seem like an anxious breath,

A hurried breath,

A worried breath?

So what is the consistency?

Is it even and smooth or ragged and staccato?

Are there any words or images that describe it?

And is there an emotional tone to the way of this breathing?

Going back,

What part of the body or torso breathes first?

And which part moves first?

Did the rate change at all?

Did the length of the inhalation or exhalation change during this inquiry?

Did anything happen to pauses or gaps?

And do you find the volume change?

And finally,

Observe your current posture.

Notice your muscles.

Are there any muscles that are tense as you were sitting or even lying here?

And are any of these muscles in any way contributing to the inability to freely flow with your breath?

Is there any muscle constriction,

Any muscular constriction that prevents free flowing breath?

Finally observe,

Scanning from your toes to your knees to your thighs and your hips and groin.

Notice how you hold your low back,

How you hold your belly,

What's happening in your shoulders or even your chest.

What about the back of the shoulder blades or your jaw?

Even the space between the eyebrows,

Is there any muscular constriction that prevents the breath from flowing freely?

So once more,

Just repeating these questions,

The first is looking at location and placement.

Which part of your body or torso moves or breathes first?

And which part of your body and torso moves or breathes most?

Does the breath come in through the nose or the mouth?

Looking at the rate,

What is the rate or speed of the breath just taking a general gestalt?

And notice if there's a difference between the length of your inhalation and exhalation.

And notice gaps or pauses.

Looking at the volume,

What is the depth of your breath,

Shallow or deep?

What is the quality of it?

What is the consistency of your breath?

Does it flow evenly or smoothly or is it jagged and rough?

How do you describe it in words or images?

And what is the emotional tone of this breath?

And lastly,

Notice your posture or notice your musculature.

Is any muscular constriction or tension contributing to the inhibition of free-flowing breath?

You can practice this breath inquiry at any time.

Whether you're standing,

Sitting,

Driving in your car.

Just turn your awareness to your breath and notice how it's moving.

In the breath inquiry,

The goal is not to make something happen but to become more conscious of your current patterns.

Reviews

Really good, i like the way of just observing. Not trying to make anything happen, just notice.

Great meditation. Very grounding and insightful. Thank you.

Great questions exploring one's breathing , thanks

This was profound. I have recently learned that I needed to become much more aware of my breath and this really helped do exactly that

I like this! Thank you.

great reminders to come back to the mind wanders

This is a terrific grounding exercise! And I think it may be very useful for my clients with PTSD as part of a safe body awareness. Thank you so much, Brad! 🙏

Very helpful meditation. I'd appreciate a follow up focusing on techniques to enable a deeper breath of the current one is shallow, ragged etc.