Mindfulness of Breathing

16 stages/ approaches to mindful breathing 

https://www.mindfulnessbell.org/archive/tag/16+exercises+for+mindful+breathing

Day 1

Basics of mindfulness meditation.

breathing is one of the core practices of Buddhist meditation practice.

Two ways street - as the world around us changes (mood, intention, mind), our breathing changes, as breathing changes, our relationship to the world changes.  As we got trapped in our thoughts, our breathing changes.  As we relax our body, our breathing changes.

Breathing sitting in the crossroad of all aspects of our life.  Fight/flight mode, breathing changes. When we change our breathing and relax, fight/flight response changes.

Sitting there in breathing and watches the world goes on.

Easy breath - be in touch with the breathing.  how your breathing changes is related to how your mood/ mind is changing.

Area of control - the front part of the body.  focus on the back of the body is easier.

not to be concern of a controlled breath. just be very content and mindful of the breathing.  just be aware of breathing as it is.  

Day 2

To stay at the present moment which we all have that capacity, but it is very important for some activities such as conducting a surgery.  When a person do such work, playing tennis, watching exciting game, they do not engage in fear, desire, they developed the nature capacity to provide the continuous awareness.  This continuity of breathing and attention has several quality.  1) soft relaxed continuity of present moment - relaxed mind.  As relaxation kicks in, mind does not wander as much.  2) dedication, intentionally engaged - with some sense of purpose, with anchor - to keep us focused, in present. 3) heighten alertness when we noticed that mind is wondering off.  Thus, one of the way to develop the capability to focus is to stay with the breathing.  register the experience of staying present with the breathing.  Heighten the alertness to know what does it like and noticed when the mind wanders off.  Lovingly recognized what happened, nicely come back here, stay inside.  You can do counting as a technique so that the thinking mind has something to do, rather than wandering off.  Another technique is to note: in as breathing in, out as breathing out... Continuous practicing, with a lot of generosity to yourself, non-judgment, non-striving. Keep doing it.  Mindfulness breathing continues the development of continuous attention, our capacity to stay present.

Day 3

Don't hold your breathing, don't hold your breath.  How do we turn to easeful breath?  If we stay close to it, we learn to stay free, not be caught by this.  sometimes we do get stuck due to strong emotions, breath with it, to accompany the strong emotion.  When you have tension in the body, breath into it, less likely be caught wth it.  Breath through the emotion in the body.  The freedom, the ease, the fluidity of breathing is enjoyable.  The attention, the awareness that is able to stay relax, not react to the stories, emotions. Trust the breathing.  The breathing itself can help the mindfuless practice.  Just relax and trust the  breathing to decouple the breathing from the object attached.  Breathing can be the boat that carries you through the rapid, river of life.

Day 4

ability to show up fresh for each breath.  For each breath, support us to have a foundation of simple kind regard to others and openness of the space for others to exist, breath and perhaps to meet them with appreciation andvalues, and open to experience the depth that they are.  Each person we met have a history of depth and fullness.  May all beings be free, find peace, have a space in the safety, to be happy.  May all beings be happy. May all beings be peaceful. May all beings be free.

Breathing sometimes functions as a mirror to help us to see ourselves. Attentive to the full cycle of the breathing.  There often is a pattern that the mind wander off in thoughts.  It could be at the end of the inbreath, or boredom, or at the end of the outbreath. not wanting to give up control, subtle movement to control and quickly get to the inbreath.  at the end of the breathout, does not want to do the work to breath in.  There can be atttitudes that come along with the breathing process.  Breathing through it, let it settle, gently quietly breathing through it.  breathing comes with support to find the freedom to get through it.  Be more attentive, to see if you can recognize the pattern of the thought and breathing.

Day 5

The amazing process of breathing. Meditate to discover the magic of breathing.  Just the flowers and leaves, no one breathing is the same.  To sit down and pratice breathing.  Breathing becomes settling, get out of our own way, not to be so busy actively involved in doing, fantasy, memories, that closely connected to our emotions that aroused/activated our physical bodies.  Meditation allows the body to settle, not activated.  To interupt the continuity of the descriptive mind - not too hypersensitive - by taking a moment to land in the descriptive of breathing - lessen the pull of descriptive thinking.  Easier to stay present.

Relax simple way.  At some point, leaving ourselves alone, we are not trying to accomplish something.  We are just hanging out there, like sitting by the riverbed watching the river, leaving ourselves alone.   that kind of peacefulness.  Mindfulness breathing is learning how to relax.  Relaxing into attention, relaxing into awareness, relaxing into mindfulness breathing.  Awareness is a natural inquisite of mind.  If you are conscious, it comes naturally - the natural capacity of awareness.  It is like putting a little stick into the current of life, then you see how busy our minds is, pulling to emotions... to be able to see it more clearly because we have a reference point of breathing.  It is hard to stay with breathing is also because the mind kept wandering, but then you can see it more clearly of what's happening to you... so, mindfulness breathing works... mindfulness breathing works if it does not work.  

There is a movement towards freedom.  The more you stay with breathing, the more your mind tends to let go and softening.  Sometimes it can be felt with exhale.  sometimes you get a small little taste of freedom to let it go, in relaxing and trusting the breathes.  On exhale, gentle soft to let it go.  Breathing, let it go, freedom... more to come tomorrow.  Appreciation of breathing even though it may be difficult for you.

Day 6

Letting it go.  When you let things go, you have more capacity to see and experience what's there.  Exhale to relax and let go, you have room to inhale.  To learn to have an easeful breath, the more easeful and relax the breath is, the more we notice of the shift of our concern to connect the breathing with letting it go.  letting go is not an end of itself.  it is to be available to see things as it arises.  Things are constantly changing, much more than what is meeting the eyes, the thoughts.  because our thoughts are always occupied, we add things in between to smooth the images.  The more we relax and ease our minds, the more we can see how things are constantly changing.  Often we met our friend and assume our friend's past as present, without asking, learning the present state of our friend.  

Letting go, allowing things to go... things don't want to stay unless they hold on, cling to it.  it is generous to let things go.  Your breathing is your companion and friend in this regard.  Your breathing keep changing, but you keep come back to this easeful breath to let go.  You develop this healthy habit of easeful, destressing relaxed breath.  Breathing is a powerful practice.  Well worth the time to practice.  Experiment to let go of anything that you are holding.  We are not letting go of things, we are letting go of the holding of things.  It does not require things to disappear, but it requires the hands to open.  The things will go, or leave in your hands, but your hands are open for more to come.