Learning how to relax into the experience of the breath is a foundational skill in meditation. It lays the groundwork for everything that follows. In the Insight (Vipassana) Meditation tradition, the breath is used as both an anchor to stabilize the energies in the mind and body and as an object of meditation.
Most who begin investigating Insight Meditation are initially surprised at their seeming inability to keep their attention on the breath. This is due, in part, to an expectation that this should be relatively effortless and a misunderstanding about the meditation process. You will experience frustration, confusion, and a sense of failure to the degree you have an idealized preconception of what is supposed to happen during meditation.
So it is of some considerable importance at the beginning of your meditation education to devote the necessary time and effort to understand and make a habit of the basic components of the meditation process.
This initial meditation process involves repeating these simple steps over and over again, until connecting and sustaining the connection with the breath become a relaxed habit, and a natural process of experiencing, or experientially investigating, the Qualities and Characteristics of the breath. Once this begins to happen, the breath becomes a focal point of interest and curiosity.
Initially, it may be difficult to distinguish any real difference between one breath and another. As the ability to concentrate the mind on the breath develops, however, a rich and diverse experience will begin to unfold. You will begin to notice even subtle changes in the breathing process and, eventually, its clear interrelationship with bodily sensations, emotions, thoughts, speech, and conduct. This is the beginning of the process of discovery, which leads to transformation, then transcendence.
Our objective during meditation is to simply settle back into the moment, and allow ourselves to experience what is happening with the breath from the standpoint of neutral, non-judgmental observation. If we can do this, it allows us to see the moment as it is, not how we think it is, how we wish it were, or how we believe it is. It allows us to directly experience whatever is present without the filter of concepts and thought. This allows us to experience whatever is present — the breath, bodily sensations, thoughts, emotions, the interactions and relationships of these different manifestations of energy — without distortion. This experience is sometimes referred to as “mindfulness.”
Gently move the attention to the experience of breathing. Calmly investigate and determine where the experience of breathing is most clearly and strongly felt. In the rising and falling of the abdomen? Or at the tip of the nostrils as the air enters and is expelled? Select one of these areas and allow the attention to focus here exclusively during your fifteen minute meditation session.
What does it mean, from a meditative perspective, to experience the “Qualities” of the breath?
In any moment, there is a range of experiential sensations available to us in each breath. A description of a number of different ways you can experience the breath follows. Although each quality has two alternatives listed after it, these are for illustration only. The actual scope of what might be experienced involves a wide spectrum of sensations.
| Movement: | Expansion or contraction | |
| Length: | Long or short | |
| Depth: | Deep or shallow | |
| Rhythm: | Slow or fast | |
| Fluidity: | Smooth or uneven | |
| Intensity: | Strong or weak | |
| Temperature: | Warm or cool |
Notice whether there is a difference in these Qualities between the in breath and the out breath, the inhalation and the exhalation.
What does it mean, from a meditation perspective, to experience the “Characteristics” of the breath? In any moment, there are several dominant characteristics of the breath that are particularly important to notice from the perspective of seeing into and understanding the inherent characteristics of experience. These include:
Notice that these characteristics, in contrast to the Qualities of the breath, do not change. These are the inherent characteristics of the breath, as well as all of our experience.
You can work with these Qualities and Characteristics during a sitting in two different ways. You might place the attention on the breath and focus on the most dominant Quality or Characteristic that emerges from moment to moment — a sense of expansion and contraction flows into the experience of the depth of the breath which flows into a sensation of temperature which flows into noticing that the breath is a process in constant movement. Or you might consciously focus the attention on a particular Quality or Characteristic and experience it more deeply– just staying with the sense of the length or rhythm of the breath or the process of change on a moment-to-moment basis.
Experiment with these two approaches and see what happens. Connect the attention with the in breath at the earliest point you can sense the in breath, then maintain the contact until the end of the in breath. Connect with the out breath at the earliest point you can sense the out breath, then maintain the contact until the end of the out breath. You may experience a gap or lull between the in and out breath, or you may experience the in breath flow into the out breath without a gap or lull.
With both approaches, you'll need to let go of control and relax into the experience that is presenting itself. Don't try to control or manipulate the breath in any way. Let it find its own natural rhythm. Just be present on a moment-to-moment basis for however you're experiencing the breath during a particular sitting or during a moment when you stop and connect with your breath during the day.
If the attention is focused on the sensation of the breath at the abdomen, a note of "rising" would be made concurrent with the expansion of the abdomen, and a note of "falling" concurrent with the contraction of the abdomen. If the attention is focused on the tips of the nostrils, a note of "in" would be made concurrent with the breath crossing the entrance to the nostrils, and a note of "out" concurrent with its departure.
If used regularly, this technique can be a powerful way to assist the mind in maintaining its connection with the breath. It increases the continuity of attention and strengthens the power of concentration. It helps the mind stay bright, alert, and aware. It diminishes the degree to which attention is distracted. It supports the mind in understanding the process that is occurring.
This technique may, at first, seem awkward or cumbersome. This feeling will slowly begin to change as you become accustomed to, and familiar with, the noting process. The goal is to work with this technique until it becomes a natural, comfortable, and relaxed part of the meditative process. If you can develop this skill, it will eventually provide you with a powerful tool that will later be used in the meditation processes associated with bodily sensations, thoughts, and emotions.
How we relate to these common mental and emotional events, and the experience of waking up, is one of the most important moments in the meditation process. At this point, there are two options: A reaction of aversion, self-judgment, and criticism; or a response of non-judgmental acknowledgment that the attention has wandered off the breath, and a gentle returning of the attention to the breath. A reaction sets up a struggle with the natural tendency of the mind to wander and sets in motion a negative or aversive cycle that is often difficult to break. Many find this is a habit of mind that must be slowly unlearned and replaced with a more conscious response. A response allows the meditation process to continue without the turbulence associated with reaction.
This choice in every moment of our life — reaction or response — conditions and directs our thoughts, emotions, and actions. It points our minds towards a conscious way of living, or living unconsciously. Waking up from being lost in reaction and habit to the possibility of choice is one of the liberating features of the meditative process.
Why is this so important? Because it is the beginning of seeing and understanding our lives clearly and pointing our intention and energies towards a conscious and caring life, and away from thoughts, emotions, and conduct that harm us and others.
In taking on any new project or attempting to learn a new skill, it is natural for us to want to “do it the right way” and to avoid making “mistakes.” Frequently, however, we only have a hazy, ill-defined standard of what “right” looks or feels like, which has not been the subject of careful examination. This allows the judging, comparing mind to find fault with almost anything we do. When we fail to live up to this nebulous test of correctness, we feel that we have failed, or feel inadequate or deficient. This is a set up for disappointment and confusion.
There are, of course, a number of basic skills that one needs to master to meditate skillfully. They do not include beating yourself up, punishing self-criticism, or constant self-judgment.
From the perspective of the meditative process, it's essential to non-judgmentally reframe and redefine what we normally classify as “mistakes” as “experience.” Testing, exploring, finding what works and what does not, exploring what is skillful and what is not are at the center of the meditative experience. These are key elements in developing and honing meditative skills. Self-confidence, trust, and a sense of authenticity arise from this process. This is how we discover our own true path.
A poem by Antonio Machado captures the potential beauty of understanding our “mistakes” and “failures” in this way.
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Last night, as I was sleeping I dreamt—marvelous error!— that I had a beehive here inside my heart.
And the golden bees |
So if you find yourself struggling, stop for a moment; take a deep breath; relax the body; let go of the struggle; then return to the breath with kindness. A new start during meditation — and in our life — is only a breath away. Connect, sustain and experience.
The life of Helen Keller may be helpful in understanding this principle. Keller was born a deaf mute at a time when our society's ability and willingness to identify and work with such profound disabilities was almost non-existent. She had the good fortune to collaborate with a young teacher who introduced Keller to a way of understanding her life and her world that began with the smallest point of experience — what is this feeling in my hand?
By attending to the smallest experiences of her life on a moment-to-moment basis, Keller demonstrated how small acts can transform an entire lifetime. In later years, she commented on this process in a way that seems particularly applicable to the process of meditation:
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I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble. |
With practice, our relationship with our breath can become an on-going source of moment to moment insight, self-knowledge, reassurance, and refuge. It is always with us, and it can become a constant friend. We can return to the rhythm of our breath at any time whether we are sitting, standing, lying down, or walking.
Thank you for your interest and may we all find a deep and lasting level of peace, satisfaction, and happiness in our lives.
Sacramento Insight Meditation
guiding Instructor
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Deep inside of us, we are already whole, already healthy, already exactly as we are supposed to be. We are each an inseparable part of a living, breathing universe.
We have difficulty seeing and feeling and touching
To cut through this illusion and return to our true
Once we reconnect with this source of balance, our
Once we reconnect with this place of inherent wisdom, |
Dennis has also participated in the professional training programs, under the direction of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center's Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli, on using meditation and yoga practices to deal with chronic pain and stress related conditions such as headaches, high blood pressure, sleep disorders, anxiety, and gastrointestinal problems.
Sacramento Insight Meditation offers introductory meditation courses, half-day retreats on the last Saturday of each month, day-long retreats, community-based meditation workshops, and an on-going meditation sitting group that meets on the second and fourth Thursdays of every month.
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If you have questions about or would like a schedule of events of Sacramento Insight Meditation activities or would like printed copies of this guide, send an inquiry or request to sactoinsight@earthlink.net or call (916)447-9999. |