Search results for: "The Breath"

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  2. The Middle Way
     … Where do you feel the energy as the breath comes in, as the breath goes out? Where is the movement most obvious? And also, which parts of the body are most sensitive to that movement? They’re usually in areas around the heart, around the throat, or in the stomach. They’ll tell you: Now the breath is too short, now the breath is … 
  3. For a Routine That Isn’t Routine
     … You have a perception about how the breath comes in, how the breath goes out. You have a perception of where you are in the body in relationship to the breath. So you can ask questions: “How about changing that?” Last night I mentioned one of the drawbacks of the phrase, “Watch your breath,” which is that it assumes that the breath is out … 
  4. Issues of Control
     … We open up our minds as we think of all beings and then we try to bring that same expansive attitude to the breath. All too often, we talk about paying attention to the breath. We say, “Focus on the breath,” and we instinctively tense up around whatever we’re focused on. That makes it uncomfortable. So instead, think of the breath bathing your … 
  5. Adult Education
     … You learn how to watch these things—and again, this practice with the breath is a very good place to watch that, because you notice the way you perceive the breath has a huge impact on how you experience the process of breathing. If you think there are only those two little holes in your nose that the breath can come through, the breathing … 
  6. May I Look After Myself with Ease
     … So you dwell on the breath. Allow the breath to come in and out in a way that feels really good. The breath is the factor that shapes your sensation of the body. If it weren’t for the breath, you wouldn’t even be aware of the body. The way you breathe is going to have a huge effect on how you sense … 
  7. Look Around as You Follow the Trail
     … So focus on the breath. Try to stay focused on the breath. When a sense of well-being comes with the breath, realize that that’s part of why we’re focused here, but it’s not the whole story. We’re also trying to develop our own powers of observation. As the Buddha said, your discernment is what allows you to realize the … 
  8. Creativity & Play
     … If you read his Dhamma talks, you’ll see that he continued exploring the breath all the way up to the end of his life. He was always finding new ways of looking at the breath, new ways of playing with the breath energy, new strategies of conceiving the breath energy, to help the mind settle down quickly and comfortably and have it stay … 
  9. Minding Your Own Business
     … When you’re sitting here in the body, what are you experiencing? You’re actually experiencing the breath energy. If it weren’t for the breath energy, you wouldn’t sense the body at all. Without the breath, this would just be a lifeless piece of flesh. There’d be no sensation at all. With the breath, there is sensation. Not only that, but … 
  10. Staying, Moving, & Neither
     … Now, the breath is subtle. Sometimes we feel that we suck it into little sacks in the body and then squeeze it back out. Well, that’s air. That’s not the breath. The breath is the energy flow, and it doesn’t have any clear edges. There’s no clearly demarcated area where this is the breath, this is not the breath. Breath … 
  11. The Mind When Trained Brings Happiness
     … Notice where you feel the breathing. It might be at the tip of the nose, it might be in the motion of the chest as it rises and falls, or in the abdomen, in the shoulders—anywhere where you have sensations that let you know now the breath is coming in, now it’s going out. Allow the breath to have some freedom. In … 
  12. Sources of Lasting Happiness
     … Even in your arms and legs you can get a sense of how you feel the breathing energy in those parts of the body. In the beginning, though, you may not be able to sense much there. So focus on the areas where you do feel: Now the breath is coming in, now the breath is going out. Try to be broad and expansive … 
  13. Judging Your Meditation
     … And the breath is a good place to do that, because the breath is very intimate with the mind. Of the different processes in your body, the one that’s closest to the functioning of the mind is the breath. Greed arises in the mind, anger, or fear, and it’s going to immediately have an effect on the breath. Then that effect spreads … 
  14. At Home with the Breath
     … As long as the breath is not yet comfortable, try to find ways of changing the rhythm, changing the texture, changing your conception or perception of the breath, the way you label it, the way you have a mental picture of what’s going on in the breathing process. You can change all of these things to see what you find easiest to settle … 
  15. Food, Shelter & Work
     … Now focus your attention on the breath. As you breathe in, take a couple of good, long, deep in-and-out breaths, and notice where you feel the breathing in the body. Think of the breath not so much as the air coming in and out through the nose, but as the movement of energy in the body. Where do you feel that energy … 
  16. How Right Mindfulness Leads to Right Concentration
     … You’re thinking about the breath, you’re evaluating the breath, and you’re focused exclusively on the breath, making it one sensation that permeates the body. It’s the one thing you’re focused on, and also it’s the one sensation filling the body, filling your awareness. You’ve got body, feeling, mind all together right here: the breath filling the body … 
  17. Choosing & Watching Your Choices
    Focus your attention on the breath. Take a couple of good, long in-and-out breaths and notice where you feel the sensation of breathing most clearly. When we talk of the breath, it’s not necessarily the air, although that may be the prime thing you notice first. It’s more the energy in the body, the process of breathing itself. What is … 
  18. Analysis of Qualities
     … As you try to focus on the breath, there will be other thoughts coming into the mind. Now, some of them are actually useful, such as the thoughts that say, “Is the breath comfortable? Could it be made more comfortable?” You’re not just lulling yourself to sleep. You’re trying to figure things out. But then, of course, there are the thoughts that … 
  19. Respect
     … So as we come to the practice of meditation, try to bring an attitude of respect, realizing that there’s a lot to be learned here, even in this simple activity of watching the breath—because you learn both about the breath, and about yourself. On the one hand, you learn to see what the breath can do for you, in terms of calming … 
  20. Goodness Comes from Heedfulness
     … Again, this applies both to the breath and to situations outside. Applied to the breath, it means looking at the way you breathe, understanding the breath in a way that enables the breath to be nourishing throughout the whole body, so that you can give rise to feelings of ease, rapture, serenity throughout the whole body. Think of the breath as a whole-body … 
  21. The Quest for Inner Happiness
     … You try to keep the breath in mind. And you keep in mind the fact that your mind will probably slip away, and you want to be alert to that. As soon as you notice it happening, you bring the mind back to the breath. The more sensitive you are to what’s going on, and the quicker you can come back to the … 
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