Finding the Breath in Your Body is a direct experience. When people strive to become more conscious of their breathing, they may picture or picture it. They may also be thinking about their breath. They even say to themselves from time to time: Hey, I'm breathing, see, I'm breathing in, that was a long breath, now I'm breathing out...
None of these strategies will help you stay focused on the breath (although mental labeling might assist.
Feeling the breath is the key to awareness in breathing exercise. It's crucial to keep your breathing practice from becoming conceptual or cerebral.
Mindfulness allows you to connect directly to an experience rather than getting caught in its notion. Breath is a bodily sense that may be immediately felt, rather than a notion.
- You may think a lot about breath—for example, when you take the time to learn about the science of breathing and breath regulation—but mindfulness requires you to let go of the notions and focus on the "felt sense"—how you actually feel your breath.
- This relaxes your cognitive functioning and helps you to learn on a more intuitive level.
- After reading this, close your eyes and simply feel your breath in your body to get the felt feeling.
You can find yourself focusing on one region, or you could notice that your breath is felt throughout your entire body, in moving portions of your body, or in specific places of your body, such as your belly button or nose. Wavelike sensations or little ripples of movement may be felt in various parts of your body. This is when you feel your breath rather than thinking about it.
You can examine some of those particular regions since you may observe your breathing in a number of places in your body.
• Concentrate your physical and sensory focus on your abdomen.
- Put your hand on your abdomen to get a better sense of it.
- Are you able to breathe without needing to do anything?
- Your stomach is swaying back and forth.
• Take a minute to notice any feelings in your abdomen, then return.
What did you pick up on?
- We're guessing you had a rising and falling experience, an expanding sensation, inflation and deflation sensations, and maybe a contraction in the conclusion.
- Perhaps a little moment of silence before the next breath began.
- Not what you're envisioning or thinking about the breath, but what you're feeling—the felt sense—is what you're striving to become aware of.
Another place to pay attention to your breath is in your chest and neck.
• Take a few deep breaths in your chest.
- What are your thoughts? It's most likely something similar to your abdominal breathing, but a little more widespread.
- Do you feel your shoulders heaving slightly when you engage in the action? Remember that everyone's experience with mindfulness will be different, therefore you can't feel the breath wrongly.
Now pay attention to your nostrils:
• Close your eyes and take a few deep breaths through your nostrils.
What do you think you've noticed?
- As the air rushes in and out, you could get a sense of cold or warmth. Maybe you're getting a tickle on the top of your lip. Perhaps you're aware of a little movement in your nose.
- Finally, as your mindfulness meditation practice progresses, you'll want to identify one area to focus on that will serve as your own personal anchor.
- Although your breath is your anchor, it might be beneficial to focus your attention on a specific place of your body where you feel your breath.
- Choose your belly, chest, or nose as your anchor for sensing the breath once you've investigated these three distinct anchor sites.
Select a location depending on what is most obvious, simplest, or most fascinating to you. If you're having trouble deciding, simply select one—they'll all function just as well. What matters is that you are at ease in your surroundings.
Alternatively, some people may feel the breath most vividly as it moves through their entire body, which can also serve as a general anchor.
It may take some time to find your place, so try out a few different ones at the start of your meditation practice until you find one that works for you.
You may also want to read more about Mindfulness Meditation and Healing here.
