Meditation Part 2: Breath Watching & Insight Meditation
This is one of the most popular forms of meditation, and one of the simplest to start practicing. The practitioner sits comfortably in a quiet place and simply focuses on his or her breathing. He or she sits with eyes closed, slowly breathing in and out calmly and regularly, not forcing anything. Breathe in. Breathe out. Feel the air go in and be let out again. Feel the sensations and the path of the air. Feel your chest rising and falling, the lung expanding and contracting. Feel the cool air go in and the warm air come out. Hear the sound of it all. Experience the breathing carefully and consciously, avoiding distractions as much as possible.
For the beginner, that is all there is to it. Take five or ten minutes and try it right now if you are able. You don’t need to sit in any particular position, and you can do it in a chair if you like. The important (and difficult) part in the beginning is to avoid distractions, especially your own distracting thoughts. When you become aware that your mind is wandering, calmly go back to being aware of your breathing and move your mind away from the distraction. You can do breath meditation for five minutes or for hours if you like, but it’s going to be hard to do for more than a few minutes in the beginning.
Breath Meditation Videos:
| Thich Nhat Hanh (annoyingly translated, but not awful): |
| Here’s one you can follow along with yourself: |
| And here’s one that shows many sitting positions, but keep in mind, the whole ‚Äúpositional thing‚Äù is not something you need to worry about at this stage: |
The videos did not show up. There are just (x) in the spaces for the videos.
You probably need the Flash plugin to view them. If you can watch any other YouTube video, these should work. Here are direct links to the videos on Youtube. Check their “Help” pages if you cannot view them there either.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7XJdkL4j3Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfjheL0bqLo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXVeZYHDe1M
Great post, Brian. I couldn’t help but point out that the woman in the last video isn’t really practicing breathing from the diaphragm.
I find breathing meditation to be extremely effective. even if I do for 5mts, my eyes become clear, mind becomes thoughtless and fresh and ready for taking anything.
best regards..aravinda prabhu