How to Do a Breathing Meditation

One of the simplest ways to meditate is to follow one’s breath. Since it doesn’t require  external support this can be done anywhere at anytime.

To begin, practice sitting down with giving this practice your full attention. Find a comfortable place for you to sit for five minutes. Sitting up is preferred to lying down as most of us have trained ourselves to fall asleep when we are horizontal.

Set your phone, alarm, or watch to five minutes. Sit upright, not learning forward or backward and with your head squarely above your shoulders. Plant your feet firmly upon the ground and feel the ground beneath them. Feel your feet upon the ground and the space where the two meet.

Turn your attention inward toward your breath. You are going to follow the breath with your attention, riding the breath like a surfer rides atop a wave. Notice where the breath starts.; it may begin in the mouth or the nose. Follow the movement of your breath to your belly. Notice the movement of your belly is it in and out, up or down, or a combination of the two. This is not a mental exercise of knowing what is happening, this is an energetic practice following attention with breathing. Practice this for five minutes until your alarm goes off.

Daily practice is essential. Commit to a thirty day practice and notice how your life changes with this practice. Begin with five minutes a day for the first week, and each week add an additional five minutes until the fourth week you are following your breath for twenty minutes.

You may choose to say a prayer first and dedicate your breathing practice to a healing of some sort. This step is not necessary and sometimes it feels expansive to me.