Search results for: "The Breath"

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  2. Strength of Conviction
     … In the body, we work with the breath. The breath is the most basic of all the elements in the body; it’s what keeps us alive. And it’s through the breath that we know the other elements of the body. We tend to think of ourselves as being first aware of the hard part of the body, the solid part of the … 
  3. Hindrances to the Heightened Mind
     … So on the one hand, we try to counteract that tendency by making the breath entertaining, getting sensitive to the fact that it’s not just in, out, in, out, but there are lots of ins and outs to the breath, different qualities of breathing, different depths of breathing, different ways of visualizing the breath coming in and going out of the body at … 
  4. True, Beneficial, Timely
     … You have to talk to yourself about what? You talk to yourself about the breath, because if you’re going to settle down with the breath, the breath has to be comfortable. It has to feel right in the body right now. It has to be clear enough for the mind to be able to watch it, but gentle enough so that it feels … 
  5. Reliable Action
     … Give the mind something to keep in mind, like the breath, and give it something to watch, like the breath, so that you can use your mindfulness and your alertness together right here, right where the mind and the body meet at the breath coming in, the breath going out. When you’re with the breath, you know you’re in the present moment … 
  6. Guardian Meditations
     … Get back to the breath. So as you’re dealing with the breath and things don’t seem to be settling down, remind yourself: Sometimes the problem is with the way you’re approaching the breath. But other times there are other issues still gnawing away at the mind that don’t allow you to settle down. They create a sense of a fever … 
  7. The Rivers of Karma
     … The intention here is to stay with the breath, to try to be fully aware of the breath element in the body, throughout the whole body. You want to maintain that intention in the face of all the other intentions that are going to come up in the course of the hour. It’s to be expected. Vagrant thoughts will come into the mind … 
  8. The Governing Principle
     … When we were trying to find a good translation for “mindfulness of breathing” in French, a French Buddhologist objected to the rendering that corresponded to “keeping the breath in mind” on the grounds that “To say that you could keep something in mind is to say that things could actually last, that you could actually conserve them and keep them going, whereas everything arises … 
  9. Beneficial Thinking
     … When you’re thinking about issues surrounding the breath and about the way the breath relates to the mind, the way the mind relates to the breath, and the way the breath and the mind relate to the body, then you’ve got your mind secluded from all kinds of unskillful things. You’re not getting involved. The potential for those unskillful thoughts is … 
  10. Reflect on Your Actions
     … You’re sitting, focused on the breath. Is it going well? Are you actually with the breath? If not, what can you change? You can change either the breath or the way you’re focused. In other words, the changes can be either in the body or in the mind. What are your range of options? Some of these you’ve learned from the … 
  11. Contentment vs. Initiative
     … You keep asking yourself, “Is this as comfortable as I can make the mind right now staying here with the breath? Or can I breathe in a different way? Can I focus in a different way? Can I think about the breath energy in a different way? Would that make it better?” For instance, with the breath energy: If you feel that you’re … 
  12. Effort against the Hindrances
     … You replace it with something skillful, in other words, you just bring it back to the breath. And try to make the breath more comfortable than it was before. Get yourself interested in the breath again. Because that kind of thought can be cured simply by giving yourself something new to think about. It’s simply caused by a lack of mindfulness. Your mindfulness … 
  13. Fully Here
     … Starting right here, right now, you want to give all your attention to the breath, remembering that the breath is not just the air coming in and out of the lungs, but it’s the flow of energy in the body. If you look carefully, you’ll notice that the energy flow has many levels of subtlety and can be felt anywhere on the … 
  14. The Science of Meditation
     … You stay with the breath, which is an aspect of the body. Then if you’re having trouble staying with the breath, you look at what other issues might be involved. Is there something wrong with the feeling that you’re creating with the breath? Can you change that feeling? The Buddha recommends breathing in a way that gives rise to rapture or pleasure … 
  15. The Wisdom of Ardency
     … Like right now, you’re focused on the breath. You’re alert to what the breath is doing, and you’re also alert to what the mind is doing as it tries to stay focused on the breath. The ardency here is to keep at this. If you find yourself wandering off, you come right back to the breath. Mindful means keeping something in … 
  16. Inner Wealth
     … We’re not under a tree right now, but we are sitting here breathing, focusing on the breath, realizing that the breath has a huge role in contributing to our well-being. Of course, if we didn’t breathe, we’d be dead. But more than that, the way you breathe can have an effect on the health of the body and the health … 
  17. Old Movies & New
    One of the best ways to get the mind to stay with the breath is to realize that there’s a lot going on here when you breathe. It’s not just in and out. The energy flow of the whole body is involved. For most of us, it’s terra incognita, a place we don’t know, unexplored jungle. But then as you … 
  18. Focused on Your Duties
     … This is one of the reasons why we work with the breath. Think of the breath energies in the body. How are they flowing right now? You start with the in-and-out breathing, which is easy to see. Then you ask yourself, when you breathe in, how far does the energy go? When you breathe out, how far does it go? Ideally, you … 
  19. Make Yourself Small
     … You’ve learned the right amount of pressure to bring to the breath, the right balance of stillness and questioning to bring to the breath to keep the mind with its one spot in the present moment. Then you can start expanding. You start expanding the breath throughout the body, exploring the different ways that the breath energy moves. And start exploring the other … 
  20. Strategies for Generosity
     … This is why we work with the breath, because the way the mind relates to the body goes through the breath. When mental troubles cause illness, it’s basically the mind’s contact with the energy flow in the body that creates the illness. And the way we know the body is through the breath. So to create a good relationship inside, you work … 
  21. Choosing Freedom
     … You can think of the breath energy coming in. Ajaan Fuang would often talk about there being kind of a line running down through the body, from the middle of the head, down through the middle of the torso, and then down both legs. When the breath energy comes in, it comes into that line. So it’s not just coming into your lungs … 
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