Mindful breathing centres around “Awareness of Breath”. It is to the mindfulness training world what the free-style stroke is to swimming. It is a very easy and popular technique to start with to allow a sense of calm & relaxation. I also like that it is very accessible; anyone can do it. You can do this in your airplane seat or while waiting in the grocery line. You do not need any special equipment or scented candles.
Not a Breathing Exercise
Firstly, this is NOT a breathing exercise. If you have learnt breathing exercises elsewhere, please suspend them when cultivating mindfulness. The objective is to merely observe our breath as it is. We will not be trying to control or regulate our breath. By resting on the awareness of our own breath, we are inviting parasympathetic activation, that part of our nervous system that promotes rest & healing.
Breath Anchor, Timer
To get started, you will need to locate your “breath anchor”. This is simply a shorthand for an obvious pattern of sensations on your body that matches the rising and falling of your own breath. Most of my students identify either the areas around their nose, chest or stomach. Some feel their whole back shifting with every breath. Pick a spot where sensations are the most obvious. To help you, here’s a Netgeo video I enjoyed about the miracle of breathing.
Set a timer for keep track of progress. Start with a minute. Start the timer as you begin each round. Stop when your timer is up. As you feel a sense of ease, extend the duration. The target is to reach 20-45 minutes.
Technique #1
Start by paying attention to your “breath anchor”, wherever you have selected it to be. Simply watch your breath coming and going – as you feel it directly at the “breath anchor”.
Before long, you will likely discover that you have been distracted. Instead of paying attention at your “breath anchor”, your mind has wandered off. When you realise this, gently bring your attention back to the “breath anchor” and start again. The technique cycles through focusing, realising distraction, and focusing back.
Technique #2
Instead of passively watching your “breath anchor”, you can labeling your experience. For simplicity, use “In” for inhalation, and “Out” for exhalation. As you take a breath in, silently label the experience “In”. Likewise as you exhale, describe the experience as “Out”. You end up with a rhythmic In-Out-In-Out-… tempo. Like technique #1, you can be lulled into distraction. When you realised you are distracted, start the labeling effort again at the next inhalation.
Technique #3
Another variation of the breath labeling exercise is counting the breath. Each time a sequence of inhalation and exhalation completes, consider that as one unit of breath. For beginners, start from 1 and count up to 5. After your fifth breath, restart counting back at 1 again. Repeat the process until the timer ends. Whenever you lose count due to distraction, simply start back at 1.
Next steps: These instructions are meant to be educational. Seek out a mindfulness teacher if you are experiencing difficulties, or to refine your practice. Experience first-hand by attending a public class, arrange for a private session, or plan for a corporate workshop.
