During breathing meditation, the practitioner focuses on the movement of the abdomen during inhalation and exhalation. It is important that meditation breathing is not altered or intentional, but remains simple and fluid. The end of each exhalation must, in a very natural way, imply a slight pause. It is important not to block the pause after exhalation, but to leave it floating to prevent the abdomen from tightening and ending up causing wheezing. Furthermore, the practitioner must take care not to let himself sink into a state of subtle lethargy during the pause that follows the exhalation.
Usually, during the pause after exhalation, one feels a certain tranquility that resounds in the mind; in inspiration itself, thoughts tend to become agitated again. You must learn to take advantage of this little respite of the mind in the pause that follows the expiration and not allow it to resume its agitated movement during the next inspiration.
Let’s try to breathe naturally, through the nostrils; the goal is to become aware of the sensation of our breath as it enters and leaves the nostrils. This feeling is the object of meditation. The goal is to focus completely on it, excluding everything else. At the beginning, our mind will be restless and engaged by different thoughts. This is because we are becoming more aware of how stressed our mind is.
We will be tempted to follow the thoughts that arise unconsciously, but it is important to resist, letting them go, returning to focus on the sensation of the breath. If we realize that our mind has moved away and is following those thoughts, we must immediately go back to focusing on the breath. By doing even 10-15 minutes a day of breathing meditation, we will be able to greatly reduce our stress level.
Breathing meditation is an easy to practice but deeply effective tool to relax and bring our attention back to the present moment, something we all need in our stressful daily lives.