3 Breath Meditation

[Patricia]

Psychologicalstress has a devastating effect on health. Research shows that people with heart disease do worse over time if they don't control stress, and stress seems to be associated with a higher risk for cancer. Stress is strongly associated with poorer memory and more aches and pains. However, reducing stress helps you sleep more restfully and control high blood pressure.

One of the easiest ways to reduce stress is to simply focus your attention on your breath. It's a form of "entry level" meditation that anyone can do. You'll notice an immediate sense of relaxation that could help protect your health over time.

If you enjoy it, breath meditation can be a gateway to a broader practice of "mindfulness," in which you learn to accept and appreciate what comes in life and stop fighting your own thoughts and feelings. "Many people take up mindfulness practices thinking they'd like to relax more, but where it leads is a very different approach to life and its inevitable challenges," says Dr. Ronald D. Siegel, assistant clinical professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School.

The mind can be a noisy, busy place. As you try to focus your attention, thoughts will often arise. The key is to not get annoyed or impatient with your unquiet mind. Acknowledge the thoughts and let your attention slip from them. "Learning to focus attention and relax is a skill," Dr. Siegel says. "As with any skill, your ability to focus and relax will improve with practice."

Many people find it helpful to start by focusing on their breath, and silently count inhalations and exhalations: In (one), out (two), in (three), and so on. This gives you something to focus on besides intrusive thoughts.

It also helps to create a meditation practice by doing it at the same time every day. To start, try for 10 minutes in the morning and evening; then gradually increase to 20 or 30 minutes. Of course, you are also free to initiate a session of breath meditation any time you feel stressed out.

"It is intended to help us come to a healthy relationship with the inevitabilities of the difficulties of life, which is much more profound than relaxation training," Dr. Siegel says. "These practices are designed to train the brain and the mind to embrace life as it actually is. When we can do that, we wind up being much less stressed. Ultimately, most of our stress comes from fighting reality."

Emily Cronkleton is a certified yoga teacher and has studied yoga in the United States, India, and Thailand. Her passion for yoga has laid the foundation for a healthy and inspired life, while her teachers and practice have helped shape her life experience in many ways.

Crystal Hoshaw is a mother, writer, and longtime yoga practitioner, and currently the Editor for the Bezzy Breast Cancer and Migraine communities. Crystal shares mindful strategies for self-care through yoga classes and online courses at Embody Ayurveda. You can find her on Instagram.

Beth Ann Mayer is a New York-based freelance writer and content strategist who specializes in health and parenting writing. Her work has been published in Parents, Shape, and Inside Lacrosse. She is a co-founder of digital content agency Lemonseed Creative and is a graduate of Syracuse University. You can connect with her on LinkedIn.

Breathing is something we constantly do, often without paying any attention to it. However, this simple action can be used as a tool to improve your mental and physical health. Breathwork meditation involves consciously and mindfully changing your breathing patterns to improve relaxation.

Alternate nostril breathing involves covering one nostril and alternating on each inhale and exhale. A popular alternate nostril breathing practice is Anulom Vilom, which is a specific type of pranayama (controlled breathing) in yoga.

Also called bumblebee breath, Bhramari Pranayama involves breathing deeply and making a high-pitched humming sound while you exhale. Breathwork teachers typically advise you to place your index fingers over your ear while you hum.

This breathing technique was developed by a Ukrainian doctor, Konstantin Buteyko, in the 1950s. The technique, which is taught by accredited teachers, teaches you to breathe more gently and slowly by doing exercises that require you to hold your breath for long periods of time.

To learn the Buteyko breathing technique, the Buteyko Breathing Association recommends attending at least 5 hours of in-person training and practicing the exercises for 15 to 20 minutes, 3 times a day, for at least 6 weeks.

Both breathwork and meditation incorporate elements of mindfulness, which is paying attention to internal and external sensations and focusing on the present instead of getting caught up in racing thoughts of the past or future.

Derivations of anāpānasati are a core meditation practice in Theravada, Tiantai, and Chan traditions of Buddhism as well as a part of Western-based mindfulness programs. According to Anālayo, in both ancient and modern times anāpānasati by itself is likely the most widely used Buddhist method for contemplating bodily phenomena.[2]

Breathing in long, he discerns, 'I am breathing in long'; or breathing out long, he discerns, 'I am breathing out long.' Or breathing in short, he discerns, 'I am breathing in short'; or breathing out short, he discerns, 'I am breathing out short.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in sensitive to the entire body.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out sensitive to the entire body.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication.' He trains himself, 'I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.'[4]

Counting the breath is attributed by the Theravada tradition to Buddhaghosa's commentary the Visuddhimagga,[5] but Vasubandhu's Abhidharmakośakārikā also teaches the counting of breaths to ten. The dhyāna sutras, based on Sarvastivada practices and translated into Chinese by An Shigao, also recommends counting the breath, and forms the basis of Zen practices.[6] In the dhyana sutras his[ambiguous] is organized into a teaching called "the six aspects" or "the six means" in which, according to Florin Deleanu:

The practice starts with "counting" (ganana), which consists in counting breathing from one to ten. When this is accomplished without any counting failure (dosha), the practitioner advances to the second step, i.e., "pursuing" (anugama), which means intently following the inhalation as it enters the body and moves from the throat, through the heart, the navel, the kidneys, the thighs to the toes and then the reverse movement of the exhalation until it leaves the body. Next comes "concentration" (sthapana) which denotes focusing one's attention on some part of the body from the tip of the nose to the big toe. In the fourth step, called" observation" (upalaksana), the practitioner discerns that the air breathed in and out as well as form (rupa), mind (citta), and mental functions (caitta) ultimately consists of the four great elements. He thus analyzes all the five aggregates. Next follows "the turning away" (vivarta) which consists of changing the object of observation from the air breathed in and out to "the wholesome roots" of purity (kusalamula) and ultimately to "the highest mundane dharma". The last step is called "purification" (parisuddhi) and it marks entering the stage of "realization of the Way", which in Abhidharma literature denotes the stage of "the stream entry" (Sotāpanna) that will inevitably lead the adept to Nirvana in no more than seven lives.[6]

Traditional anāpānasati teaches to observe inhalation and exhalation by focusing on the air coming in and out the nostrils, but followers of the Burmese Vipassana movement instead recommend focusing on the abdomen's movement during the act of breathing.[7] Other Buddhist schools also teach that as an alternative point of focus.[8]

According to John Dunne, for the practice to be successful, one should dedicate to the practice, and set out the goal of the meditation session.[9] According to Philip Kapleau, in Zen practice one may decide to either practice anāpānasati while seated or standing or lying down or walking, or while alternating seated, standing, lying down, and walking meditation.[10] Then one may concentrate on the breath going through one's nose: the pressure in the nostrils on each inhalation, and the feeling of the breath moving along the upper lip on each exhalation.[10] Other times practitioners are advised to attend to the breath at the tanden, a point slightly below the navel and beneath the surface of the body.[10] Practitioners may choose to count each inhalation, "1, 2, 3,..." and so on, up to 10, and then begin from 1 again. Alternatively people sometimes also count the exhalation: "1, 2, 3,...", on both the inhalation and exhalation.[10] If the count is lost then one should start again from the beginning.

The type of practice recommended in The Three Pillars of Zen is for one to count "1, 2, 3,..." on the inhalation for a while, then to eventually switch to counting on the exhalation, then eventually, once one has more consistent success in keeping track of the count, to begin to pay attention to the breath without counting. There are practitioners who count the breath all their lives as well.[11] Beginning students are often advised to keep a brief daily practice of around 10 or 15 minutes a day. Also, a teacher or guide of some sort is often considered to be essential in Buddhist practice, as well as the sangha, or community of Buddhists, for support.

In the throat singing prevalent amongst the Buddhist monks of Tibet and Mongolia,[13] the long and slow outbreath during chanting is the core of the practice. The sound of the chant also serves to focus the mind in one-pointed concentration (samadhi), while the sense of self dissolves as awareness becomes absorbed into a realm of pure sound.

In some Japanese Zen meditation, the emphasis is upon maintaining "strength in the abdominal area"[14] (Chinese: dantian; Japanese: tanden) and slow deep breathing during the long outbreath, again to assist the attainment of a mental state of one-pointed concentration. There is also a "bamboo method", during which time one inhales and exhales in punctuated bits, as if running one's hand along the stalk of a bamboo tree.[11]

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