Mindfulness & Following the Breath

This blog accompanies the Whole Health programme 30 Days of Meditation - click here for more details and to sign up 

The audio at the top of this blog is the 15 minute meditation from Leonie Taylor on Day 5 of that programme: Following the Breath to support the content below. 

Mindfulness of Breathing 

Mindfulness is the dedicated practice of experiencing the present moment; as it is, without interpretation or judgement. 

Mindfulness is used regularly as a route into meditation as starting with present moment experience helps us move away from impressions and projections we bring from the mind and past associations. As our breath is a constant, rhythmic presence in our lives, it provides us with both a cycle to follow and a guide to the state of our nervous system at any given time. Conscious attention on the breath, and particularly the soothing exhalation when stress speeds up our whole system, can also help bring us down from overwhelm, agitation and anxiety. 

Mindfulness of breathing is rooted in the Buddhist practice Ānāpānasati, recognising that awareness of the sensory experience of the breath is (for most people) the most accessible route into interoception - sensing our internal landscape. 

You can always access your breathing in the here and now, wherever you are. Simply observe your breath like a tide, naturally flowing in and out with no expectation or imposition, right to the end. Be aware of every subtlety of effect with all of your senses in every single moment, trusting your breath, not looking for anything particular to happen and accepting any feelings as they arise.

Mindfulness takes many forms and is not limited to any one way of thinking or any one specific physical practice or position. The curious enquiry (without grasping at any answers) is; what is the difference between breathing with awareness — consciously, deliberately, attentively, intently — and the breathing that occurs automatically at all times? We don't need to be moving towards over-controlling the breath; simply noticing and relating to the gathering of the inhale and the release of the exhale allows the nervous system to regulate us back towards equilibrium when needed. To notice tendencies to breathe in over the end of the exhalation can help us notice if we are tending to keep up stress patterns by habitually inhaling over the end of the exhale. 

Mindful breathing means knowing that you are breathing, not in an abstract or conceptual way, but immediately, viscerally, and uninterruptedly — moment by micro-moment. Bringing the breath into conscious awareness allows us to play a part in the quality of our lives.  

“The practice of mindfulness….is living your life as if it really mattered from moment to moment. The real practice is life itself.” Jon Kabat-Zinn

Simple Mindfulness of Breathing practices 

This simple variation of the Buddhist meditation ‘Mindfulness of Breathing’ helps train awareness of the breath and can be used as a guide into stillness any time. It can be a helpful lead into a meditation practice to focus the mind, and to pick up this thread again whenever the mind gets distracted, preoccupied or wanders:

• Begin counting ‘1’ on the inhalation, ‘1’ on the exhalation.
• Continue counting the full breath cycle like this up to 10, then start again.
• If your mind wanders or you lose count, simply start again at 1.

For a longer practice, you can move through the fours stages below. Starting with 3-5 minutes for each can be a good period of practice, but vary as you need and expand as you feel able to progress.

1. In the first stage you use counting to stay focused on the breath. After the out-breath you count one, then you breathe in and out and count two, and so on up to ten, and then you start again at one.

2. In the second stage you subtly shift where you breathe, counting before the in-breath, anticipating the breath that is coming, but still counting from one to ten, and then starting again at one.

3. In the third stage you drop the counting and just watch the breath as it comes in and goes out.

4. In the final stage the focus of concentration narrows and sharpens, so you pay attention to the subtle sensation on the tip of the nose where the breath first enters and last leaves the body.

Foundations of Ānāpānasati practice

Taken from Charlotte's book, Yoga and Somatics for Immune and Respiratory Health.

The Buddhist meditation of Mindfulness of Breathing (Ānāpānasati) consists of sixteen formal stages or contemplations, divided into four steps. These show us how we can take awareness of our breath into relating with all aspects of being; moment-to-moment. The focus of each stage outlined below helps us to practically meet all aspects of what it is to be human, with curiosity rather than judgement. We can feel, experience and work with these within both still and moving practices:

1.  Mindfulness of the body and breath

The first stage focuses on conditioning the body through the breath. Truly being ‘where we are’ (grounding, orientation) drops us beneath illusion and plants us into a place from where we can grow into the true, present experience. We can come back to body and breath – placing hands on our own body, making audible breaths and coming back to the breath at the midline.

2.  Mindfulness of sensation, feeling, perception, proprioception – being ‘inside’, being the pose, not doing

The second stage brings attention to the mind conditioning of feelings. In a world of external sensory overload, Somatics and mindful attention and can help us step away from the reactivity born of high expectation and imposition of ideals and ‘shoulds’. This supports interoceptive processing (how we sense inwardly), helping to address many modern chronic conditions. We become able to attune more quickly and directly to the needs and true experience of another; beneath what they may be presenting as a coping strategy.

3. Mindfulness of thoughts and memories - autobiographical self – thoughts tied to sensations

This third stage brings attention to the mind itself. Not ‘clearing the mind’ or forcefully pushing away thought and musing that arises, rather coming back again and again to ‘what is’ here; it’s winds, directions, energies – without it taking over our sense of self, we can begin to recognise that ‘our thoughts are not us’. 

4.  Mindfulness of events and outer circumstances

This fourth stage focusses on mental qualities, where practice ‘on the mat’ translates into our lives beyond – observing how we relate to others, react to difficulty and disagreement and how we navigate life. As a teacher, the atmosphere in a studio, outside noise and relations with others can take us out of mindful attention and meeting of another – come back to our own body and breath.

“He abides contemplating in feelings their nature of arising, or he abides contemplating in feelings their nature of vanishing, or he abides contemplating in feelings their nature of both arising and vanishing. Or else mindfulness that ‘there is feeling’ is simply established in him to the extent necessary for bare knowledge and mindfulness. And he abides independent, not clinging to anything in the world. That is how a bhikkhu abides contemplating feelings as feelings.” - The Middle Length Discourses of the Buddha

Mindfulness of Breathing within our physical practice

The first two stages above can be felt within the experience of a moving practice, particularly when that is less concerned with how much we can do or how far we can get, but rather dropping beneath such goal-oriented behaviour and towards listening in to the nuances and shifts as shown by the breath. We might tune into this particularly within spine undulations where we open the front body on the inhale and curl around that (to open the back body) as we exhale. 

Awareness and compassion

Mindfulness draws together two key aspects; awareness and compassion. Awareness is the quality of attention we bring, breath-by-breath, moment-to-moment. Compassion is the act of bringing kindness into that awareness, without it, we can simply be vigilant and come from a fear-based rather than expansive viewpoint. Compassion without awareness can mean that we don’t necessarily meet the more difficult aspects of the practice; experiencing the present often means looking at thoughts or feelings that can feel downright icky or scary. Bringing these two together helps allow vulnerability, a brave step that takes steadiness and kindness for us to hold - coming back to the breath is always a good start.

This blog accompanies the Whole Health programme 30 Days of Meditation - click here for more details and to sign up