Week 1: Mindfulness of Breath

Introduction to Mindfulness Meditation: Mindfulness of Breath (1 of 6)

Please listen to the first weeks audio:
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If you prefer, you may read the audio transcription, available HERE

Advice to help you throughout the week:

Continuity of Attention

Pay particular attention to the very beginning and ending of each inhale and exhale.

  • Notice the very beginning of the in-breath. Staying with the in-breath, pay close attention as it ends.
  • Notice any gap before the next out-breath. If there is a gap, let the attention rest in the area where you experience the breath.
  • Notice the beginning of the out-breath. Staying with the out-breath, pay close attention as it ends.
  • Notice any gap before the next in-breath. If there is a gap, let the attention rest in the area where you experience the breath.

In this manner, you can increase the continuity of attention one half-breath at a time. Many of us tend to let our attention drift during the gaps between the in-breath and out-breath. Try to keep your attention continuous from one breath to the next.

“Every moment is worthy of our attention.”

Mindfulness meditation involves three aspects:  knowing the mind, training the mind, and freeing the mind.   When you first sit down, you want to learn what’s there.  Don’t try to force the mind to be quiet right away.  Allow yourself to be curious, to explore how you are.  If it’s chaotic or unpleasant, there’s no need to judge it.   Gradually, bringing the mind back to the present, over and over again, our mindfulness muscle grows, and our mind begins to be trained.  Training the mind brings calm, alertness and a sense of spaciousness.  A trained mind sees clearly, and has much more choice of how to respond, it’s much freer and less reactive.

“With dripping drops of water, even a water jug is filled.”
Dhammapada 121-122

Meditation Breaks

Commit to taking a couple of  5 minute “meditation breaks” during the day.  Maybe sitting at your desk, sitting in the car before getting out, sitting quietly before eating a meal.

  • Close your eyes, take a couple of deep breaths and let your body relax.
  • Put aside all concerns.
  • Pay attention to the breath, noticing every inhale an exhale. Remain alert and relaxed.

“I like the image of the mind as a mirror. The mirror has the capacity to reflect precisely whatever comes before it without any discrimination.”  - Joseph Goldstein

Counting Breaths

For some people, to help settle the mind and develop concentration, counting breaths can be very helpful.   It serves as feedback to let you know that your mind has drifted.

  • This method can be used for the entire meditation session or just for the first part of the sitting, until the mind calms a bit.
  • Silently count each breath, beginning with one and count up to ten.  Each count includes an entire cycle of inhalation and exhalation.
    • Some people prefer to count at the beginning of the inhalation, and some near the end of the exhalation, either works.
    • Another way is to count during both the inhale and the exhale.  One for the inhale, and one for the exhale; then continue with two and so on…
  • When you get to ten, come back to one and start over.
  • Remember to keep most of your attention on the physical sensations of breathing.
  • If you get distracted at any point, start over again at one.  It doesn’t matter how far you get, just start again.  You are training the mind, not trying to accomplish getting to 10.  The starting over is an essential part of the training.  Any time you are starting over at one, you are being mindful.
  • Even if you only notice 2 breaths in a row, just by coming back and starting again, you are accomplishing the practice.
  • Sometimes our attention can drift and we might not notice until we have counted up to 20 or 30!  It doesn’t matter, back to one.

More Complex Counting: For some people, adding a level of complexity to the counting is helpful.  You can count up to ten, just like above, but when you reach 10, you begin to count back down to one.  Then start over again from 1 to 10 and 10 to 1.

“If you don’t fail at least 90 percent of the time, you’re not aiming high enough.” - Alan Kay

Washing Dishes

By now, you may have picked one routine physical activity to be mindful of each day, if not please do so.  When you do this activity, pay close attention to your posture.  Is your abdomen relaxed?  Are your shoulders relaxed? Your face? Are you slouching or erect?  Encourage the mind to stay in the present, to not race ahead as to what is next, to not fret about the past.

Feel free to pick a second activity to be mindful of.  At first it’s helpful to pick simple activities that you might do alone, such as brushing your teeth, getting up from a chair, washing dishes…  Eventually, as our ability to be mindful increases, we can broaden our practice to activities that are more difficult to stay mindful in, such as working at the computer or having a conversation.

“While washing dishes, wash each piece relaxingly, as though each bowl is an object of contemplation.  Consider each plate as sacred.  Follow your breath to prevent your mind from straying.  Do not try to hurry to get the job over with.  Consider washing the dishes the most important thing in life.   Washing the dishes is meditation.  If you cannot wash the dishes in mindfulness, neither can you meditate while sitting in silence.”   - Thich Nhat Hanh

More than a thousand years ago a Chinese Zen-master wrote:

Magical power,
marvelous action!
Chopping wood,
carrying water…