Meditating on breath

[Waverider]

When i focus on my breath it changes rhythm. It’s no longer natural/automatic but becomes mechanical. What should i do?

[Lenthil]

Since my first i started meditating i have been brithing through my nose and with my stomach. At first it takes a wille to get use to but when you get use to it you can concentrate on whats beyond.

[Starman]

Some people focus too intensely on their breathing while doing meditation and this can take on a
quality of control, or grabbing a hold of our breathe, which can change our breathing rhythm. I might
suggest two things, one is to lightly focus on your breath, do not grab it with your attention,
and the second thing is to try some other techniques besides focusing on your breath.

Put a picture on the wall and practice concentrating on that picture, don't think about the picture,
just keep bringing your attention back to the feeling of your eyes staring at that picture. Some people
do this with a candle or other object. The concentration of your attention should be inside of you
and really not on anything that is on the outside of you.

Concentrating on your breath is a kin to using your breath as a vehicle to go inside. Once you learn
how to feel your own concentration within, how to feel your own inner focus, it will become easier to
apply your attention without projecting it. Learning how to meditate is a journey, a process, just like
everything else in life. Hang-in there.

[Gem]

The basic idea is to just be aware of the breath moving without controlling it. One has to be specific in that the breath is a felt sensation, and place attention on what it actually feels like. The best method, I think, is to feel the air coming into the nose and out again - because that is a subtle feeling that requires close attention to detect, especially when the breathing is very light.


At first one isn't accustomed to it so the 'controlling mind' wants to take over and control the breathing, but it doesn't really matter if that happens - you just feel the sensation of air coming in and going out of the nose, and eventually you can just relax and let breathing happen all by itself.


As relaxation sets in the breathing will become lighter, and you need even closer attention to detect the feeling of it, and this hones the mind into a sharply perceptive instrument. It doesn't matter what sort of progress anyone makes, and we need to be conscious of the ego getting caught up in that sort of desire, and simply return to merely feeling the air coming in, going out, just as it is.

[lomax]

Originally Posted by Waverider

When i focus on my breath it changes rhythm. It’s no longer natural/automatic but becomes mechanical. What should i do?

That's why i never used that teqnique.

If you like to stick with it,pretend that 'someone else' is breathing,and you just watching the whole thing.In simple words,dissidentify from the one who breathes.Then automaticaly you'll become the observer.

[lomax]

Originally Posted by Starman

Some people focus too intensely on their breathing while doing meditation and this can take on a
quality of control, or grabbing a hold of our breathe, which can change our breathing rhythm. I might
suggest two things, one is to lightly focus on your breath, do not grab it with your attention,
and the second thing is to try some other techniques besides focusing on your breath.

Put a picture on the wall and practice concentrating on that picture, don't think about the picture,
just keep bringing your attention back to the feeling of your eyes staring at that picture. Some people
do this with a candle or other object. The concentration of your attention should be inside of you
and really not on anything that is on the outside of you.

Concentrating on your breath is a kin to using your breath as a vehicle to go inside. Once you learn
how to feel your own concentration within, how to feel your own inner focus, it will become easier to
apply your attention without projecting it. Learning how to meditate is a journey, a process, just like
everything else in life. Hang-in there.

good post............

[lomax]

If you want to learn how to utlize your breath,i think it's better to learn 'pore breathing' instead of this teqnique.

[Starman]

Breathing is essential to human life but most people do not use their full lung capacity when breathing,
they only use the top third of their lungs, or at most the top two thirds of their lungs. The full yogic
breath can help a person expand their lung capacity.

But the quality of the air around you is also important. Going near the ocean, listening to the waves,
and meditating on your breath can be a wonderful experience. Also concentrating on your breathing
while meditating up in the mountains, that is and incredible experience; clean mountain air, etc.

It seems these places enhance a person's meditation experience, but also going into a church,
synagogue, or temple, and doing meditation may do that as well. If you meditate at home, in the
same spot everyday, the meditation experience will build in that spot and make it easier for you to
slip into meditation when you go to that physical spot.

It's like a church, a synagogue, or temple, people go to on a regular basis to pray and worship,
and those places become serene with a buildup of prayerful energy, you can create that same
ambiance in your own home, and when someone comes into your home they may also feel
that serenity.

[thespiritual1]

This is very helpful for beginners of breathing meditation like me.

[thespiritual1]

Originally Posted by Gem

The basic idea is to just be aware of the breath moving without controlling it. One has to be specific in that the breath is a felt sensation, and place attention on what it actually feels like. The best method, I think, is to feel the air coming into the nose and out again - because that is a subtle feeling that requires close attention to detect, especially when the breathing is very light.


At first one isn't accustomed to it so the 'controlling mind' wants to take over and control the breathing, but it doesn't really matter if that happens - you just feel the sensation of air coming in and going out of the nose, and eventually you can just relax and let breathing happen all by itself.


As relaxation sets in the breathing will become lighter, and you need even closer attention to detect the feeling of it, and this hones the mind into a sharply perceptive instrument. It doesn't matter what sort of progress anyone makes, and we need to be conscious of the ego getting caught up in that sort of desire, and simply return to merely feeling the air coming in, going out, just as it is.

I forgot to quote it. I am talking about this.