photo credit: Salva [Om Qui Voyage]

I get a lot of emails from people who want to learn how to meditate. And while I am by no means an expert on these matters, I have had the fortune to attend many teachings on meditation and thus might have some pointers to pass on. In this post I want to show you how to do a simple breathing meditation. It is easy to do but brings some truly amazing benefits to your life.

Why breathing meditation?

A meditation teacher will almost always tell their new students to start with a meditation on the breath. It has been this way for thousands of years. Shakyamuni Buddha himself told his students to start their meditation journey with (Shamatha) breathing meditation. But why?

• It is easy
  Breathing meditation requires almost no prior study unlike some of the more advanced meditations which need months and years of preparatory work to carry out effectively. You can basically just jump in and start with only a tiny amount of knowledge.
• It is safe
  Some of the expert yogic meditations from Tibet can be extremely dangerous for your health if done incorrectly. Breathing meditation, on the other hand, is very safe and there is nothing that can go wrong.
• It is effective
  The most important thing about breathing meditation is that it works. It is effective. It has worked for thousands of years and it continues to work today. Every single person on the planet can derive some benefit from this simple practice.

I am not a meditation teacher by any stretch of the imagination. I am still a long way from mastering my own mind, let alone helping other people with their mind! But seeing as so many people have emailed me I thought it might be a good idea to show you how to do this basic breathing meditation. I feel confident in showing you how to do breathing meditation because it is so simple and effective. Really, anyone can do it.

The benefits of breathing meditation

Before I show you how to do a breathing meditation I want to share with you some of the benefits that you might experience. This should act as a bit of inspiration and motivate you to stick at it even when it might not be going as well as you had hoped.

• It calms you down
  Here at The Daily Mind we talk a lot about stress, anxiety and panic attacks. Well you will be happy to know that meditating on the breath will help to calm you down. A lot. It calms you down in the short term and the long term. So, if you are having a panic attack or feel one coming on a simple meditation on the breath might help you avoid it. And, if you meditate on the breath regularly, you might find that your panic attacks just don’t come about anymore.
• It can solve minor health issues
  A great meditation master in India once told me that breathing meditation can solve some minor health problems. It helps to get your internal energy system regulated and clears away a lot of blockages that you have in your system. It is a great meditation for someone who suffers from regular colds, headaches, gut problems and other minor ailments.
• It helps with depression
  One of the major benefits that I have personally noticed about breathing meditation is that it helps with depression. When you meditate on the breath regularly you come to know a deeper part of yourself that is more calm, strong and centered. This part of yourself is a good part to get to know when you are feeling depressed. The more you familiarize yourself with it the less your depression will affect you. After a while you just start to see depression as waves on top of a calm ocean.
• It improves concentration
  The main goal of breathing meditation is to develop concentration. The Buddha called breathing meditation Shamatha which roughly translates as “calm abiding”. The goal of this type of meditation is to calm your mind down enough that other insights might be possible. Through Shamatha meditation one is able to (theoretically at least) attain a state called single pointed concentration whereby you can concentrate on a given object for any amount of time without losing focus. So, if you decide to focus on a flower you will be able to meditate on the flower for as long as you like without any disturbing thoughts arising.

These are only some of the more basic benefits of breathing meditation. You will find, in time, that this practice enriches and enhances many different aspects of you life – often in very unexpected ways.

How to do a simple breathing meditation

Now that we are done with the preliminary gossip I would like to get into the “meat” of the article. Here are some step by step instructions on how to do a simple breathing (Shamatha) meditation.

1. Find a quiet place to sit

photo credit: Ed-meister

The first thing you need to do is find a quiet place to begin your meditation. As beginners, we really need a space that is conducive to meditation practice. A busy city street might be okay for advanced yogis, but the rest of us need a quit room or park in order to sit and work on our concentration.

The place you choose should be quiet and peaceful without too much external stimulation. My favorite place to meditate is on top of a hill with a big view but other people prefer being indoors. One of my Tibetan Lama friends told me that a view distracts him so he likes to sit in a small dark room. It is different for everybody. Choose a place that works for you.

2. Get a comfortable seat
The meditation seat is your life force. It is the all important factor that many people overlook. If your seat is uncomfortable your meditation will be upset. The ancient Tibetan meditation texts tell us that a bad seat can upset your internal energies and thus destroy your meditation practice. Let me give you an example that illustrates the importance of a good meditation seat.

Once I was attending a Lama’s teachings with an old yogi friend of mine (the same yogi from this post) who had spent about six years in solitary meditation retreat. He had left retreat especially to receive these teachings and we got a chance to see each other again. At the end of the day the Lama had a question and answer session and my yogi friend asked him about some serious obstacles that he was having in retreat. Almost before he had finished asking the question the Lama yelled out “Your seat is wrong idiot! Get a real seat and stop sitting on your jumper!” Now my yogi friend hadn’t told him about the jumper, the Lama just knew. So my friend went back to his retreat place with a brand new meditation cushion and the obstacles disappeared in about a week.

Your seat should be firm but not too firm. The cushion should be a few inches off the ground and you should position something (another cushion or blanket) under your buttocks so your buttocks is slightly higher than your legs. This will help keep your back straight.

3. Sit in the 7-Point Posture

The Buddha often said that if you get the meditation posture right you would be half way there. It is true. Sitting in the right position balances your internal energies and helps get your mind on track. It also stops internal obstacles from arising.

The main Buddhist meditation posture is called the 7-Points of Vairochana. It was taught by the Buddha himself and has been passed down to all the monks and yogis of the meditation tradition. They used it successfully and so should we. The 7-Points are:

• Legs
  Your legs should be in the Full Lotus position if possible. However, I have been meditating and practicing yoga for years and I still can’t do this comfortably. The second option is the Half Lotus where you have one leg on top of the other. Everyone can do this with a bit of simple stretching. The Half Lotus is demonstrated in the picture above.

  If you still cannot do that then it is okay to sit in a regular crossed legged position. If you are going to be meditating a lot in the future it is a good idea to work up to this Half Lotus posture because it really helps to keep your back straight.

• Eyes
  The second point of the posture is your eyes. They should be neither fully opened or fully closed and your gaze should be slightly downward. Pick a point on the ground about four or five feet in front of you. The eyes are important as they stop your mind from running away with thoughts. You can also use your eyes to solve certain meditation problems. For example, if you are really sleepy you should make your gaze slightly higher. If you are really agitated you should make your gaze lower.
• Back
  The third point is your back or spine. It should be straight as an arrow. A good friend of mine once gave the analogy of a pile of coins stacked on top of each other. Any movements and the whole pile would fall over. Make sure your back is straight. This is probably the most important point of all when it comes to meditation posture.
• Shoulders
  The next point is the shoulders. You must position your shoulders like a bird about to take flight. This means they are not hunched forward but slightly back and pulled out to the side. You can do this by slightly lifting your chest. Your arms should also not be pressing against your side.

  I have a funny story to tell you about this one. I heard it in India a few years ago from a great meditation teacher called Mingyur Rinpoche. Rinpoche was teaching us about this very posture and he told a story of when he was walking through a park in Paris. He came upon a man who seemed to be meditating.

  The man was sitting under a tree with his legs crossed and his eyes gazing downwards. But he was doing something very strange with his arms. Rinpoche approached the man and inquired about what he was doing.

  “I’m meditating,” replied the man.

  “Oh, right.” said Rinpoche. “What are your arms doing?”

  “Well,” replied the man. “This Buddhist textbook I bought said that your arms and shoulders should be like a bird about to take flight.”

  So the man was sitting there flapping his arms! I will never forget hearing this story. The entire audience of people listening to Rinpoche was crying with laughter and even the high Lamas who were attending were struggling to control themselves as Rinpoche reenacted the movements. The man thought that the point about the bird about to take flight meant that you had to flap your arms. For some reason I found this hilarious.

• Chin
  The next point is that the chin should be slightly downward and brought inward towards the throat. This actually helps to keep your neck straight so it matches your straight spine. It allows the energy to flow up your spine without hindrance.
• Mouth
  The sixth point is that the mouth should be relaxed and slightly open. Your teeth should not be clenched and your lips should be slightly apart such that you could breath through them if you needed to.
• Tongue
  The final point is that of the tongue. Your tongue should be touching the top of your palate. The ancient texts tell us that this completes the “energy flow” which starts at your nose and goes down your front and circles up around your back. You don’t need to press your tongue, just touch it to the roof of your mouth gently.

So what do you do with your hands? Well, it is commonly taught that the best place to put your hands is in your lap about an inch below your belly button. The right hand should be placed in the palm of your left hand and your thumb tips should be slightly touching together. This is the best way for this type of meditation.

3. Set your motivation
Now that you are sitting down and comfortable it is important to set your motivation. Why are you doing this? Are you doing it to become a better person? Are you doing it to try and get your stress under control? If you set your motivation at the start you will be able to push through difficulties with ease.

The best motivation is that you are doing this meditation in order to help as many people as possible. By calming your mind down and developing inner strength you will be better equipped to help people with their daily struggles. This is the motivation that really gets you through hardships. The motivation to help others.

4. Begin the breathing meditation
Now it is time to begin the actual meditation. All you are going to do is begin breathing through your nose. Don’t try to control it or alter it, just breathe. In and out. In and out.

Now, once you have been doing this for a while you need to slowly bring your awareness to the breath. Focus in on the feeling of the breath going in and out of your nose. Is there a tickle? Is there a relaxing feeling? Can you feel the air going in and out? Bring your awareness to the breath and start counting up to ten rounds of breath.

A round of breath is simply an inhale and an exhale. The goal is to count ten rounds without losing your train of thought. If you mind starts to wander away from the breath simple bring it back. Don’t get angry or curse yourself for losing track, just bring it back. If you lose count, start again.

Once you have counted ten rounds of breath take a brief pause from the meditation and start again. Perhaps you could refresh your motivation and remind yourself why you are doing this. Keep this going for as long as you can handle.

Over time your concentration and powers of awareness will increase. You will find counting to ten becomes a walk in a park and you might want to pick a higher number. Don’t go too high, however, this type of meditation is best done in short bursts, again and again.

5. Conclude the session and dedicate the merit

photo credit: dirkoneill

The final step in this meditation practice is to dedicate the merit that you accumulate during the practice. This might be a foreign concept to some people so I will explain it a little bit.

The Dalai Lama and the other great masters around the world are continually telling us that meditation practice has an enormously positive impact on one’s mind. It is a very meritorious act. It is very important, therefore, to dedicate that merit to some particular goal. The masters tell us that this act of dedication “seals” the session and stops us from losing the positive qualities that we have developed.

If you go to a Buddhist monastery in the Himalayas you will notice that the monks dedicate the merit very seriously towards something called “great enlightenment”. At the end of every practice the monks close their eyes and join their palms together and say something like:

“By the merit of this practice may every single sentient being throughout space be happy. May all beings be free from fear and suffering. By this merit may I attain enlightenment and lead every single sentient being to enlightenment. May I never give up.”

When you conclude your practice in this way you plant a very positive seed in your mind. This seed will soon start to sprout and you will notice that the simple breathing meditation has become a catalyst for you to be a better person in the world. Make sure you dedicate your practice to something positive – this will help it bear fruit.

Conclusion

I am so pleased that so many of my readers are interested in meditation. I truly believe that meditations such as this one can bring about peace and happiness in your daily life. A few minutes of breathing meditation everyday will go a long way towards defeating your stresses and anxieties and helping you become a better and more productive person.

If anyone has any questions or experiences to share I would love to hear them. Please drop a comment below and I’ll respond.

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