“Anapanasati” which means “mindfulness of the breath” or breathing meditation is at the heart of Buddhist contemplative practice. Breathing meditation practice is one way to build awareness and concentration by relaxing and calming the body, feelings, and mind. According to Buddhism, the ultimate goal of meditation is to attain nirvana or the cessation of suffering. Apart from Buddhists, many people practice breathing meditation for other benefits, such as to establish connection with body and mind, practice being aware of the present, and enjoying the beauty of silence.
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Part 1 of 4: Preparing to Meditate
Step 1. Find a quiet place to meditate
Find a quiet place where you can contemplate. Breathing meditation is done by focusing on the rhythm of the breath that is so subtle that it is easy to interrupt if a distracting sound appears. According to the instructions in the Buddhist scriptures, it is recommended that you meditate in an unvisited building, in a forest, or under a tree, but to be more practical, you may practice in a quiet and distraction-free place. Get in the habit of practicing in the same place every day until you can easily get into a meditative state.
Step 2. Maintain correct posture
According to Buddhism, breathing meditation should be done while sitting with your back straight. This exercise aims to relax the body, feel happiness, and calm the mind. So, the more comfortable your posture is, the better.
- The commonly used sitting position is cross-legged by placing the sole of the right foot on the left thigh and the sole of the left foot on the right thigh. If it's not comfortable, you can cross-legged as usual or sit on a chair.
- Sit up straight with your back straight and your head well supported. If necessary, sit back gently and mindfully against a chair, wall, or tree trunk. Bring your chin slightly closer to your chest if that feels more comfortable.
- Place your palm as desired. Usually, the palms are placed on the lap in an open up position and then place the back of the right palm on top of the left palm.
Step 3. Relax
Once you have chosen a certain posture, begin to relax consciously while inhaling and exhaling through your nose several times. Observe the body part that feels tense and ignore it. Relaxing mindfully will make you feel more comfortable faster. Continue to observe the positive feedback so that your thoughts and feelings enter further into the present, calm, and peaceful.
Allow your eyes to slowly close on their own during relaxation. If necessary, you can gently close your eyes before starting to meditate
Step 4. Focus on the breath
Once your mind is calm and under control, direct your attention to a specific part of your body to make it easier for you to feel your breath and concentrate, for example: the tip of your nose or the center of your upper lip because you can feel the air flow in that part of your body. Some people prefer the nasal cavity, back of the mouth, chest, or stomach.
Part 2 of 4: Meditate
Step 1. Count your breaths as a guide as you start practicing
For beginners, this method is very helpful in controlling the mind. Focus on paying attention to the body part that you have determined, the tip of the nose, for example. Count your breaths according to the following pattern: 1 (inhale), 1 (exhale), 2 (inhale), 2 (exhale), and so on until 10. After that, start again from 1.
There are several ways of counting that are used in meditation, for example counting to 5 or 8. There are also those who count to 5 with each inhale and exhale with the number 5 at the end of the inhalation or exhalation
Step 2. Observe the breath with the mind
When you can focus your mind on your breath, stop counting. Breathe normally while observing the changes that occur in the rhythm of the breath and its characteristics. Realize that your breath is long when you take a deep breath. Realize that your breath is short if you breathe short. Notice and feel all the characteristics of your breath (length, speed, and pressure) while observing it from beginning to end. This step will train you to become more aware of the natural transitions and relaxation that comes with breathing during meditation. This embodies what the Buddha described as “realizing the existence of the body (through the breath)”.
- Keep the focus on a specific body part. Observe the breath (beginning, middle, and end) as the airflow changes in the area, rather than following the airflow through it.
- Although this step may seem easy, many people spend years at this stage improving their ability to focus their mind. However, the achievement of each stage cannot be determined how long it will take.
Step 3. Direct the mind to the part of the body affected by the breath
As you continue to be aware of the rhythm of your breath, your breath will become softer and smoother, your body will relax more and more. In addition, the flow of breath will become increasingly difficult to detect, which can sometimes startle or distract. Practice focusing your mind on the part of your body that is affected by the breath calmly. This can be achieved if you are able to notice the reduced air flowing in the nasal cavity or touching the lips. If successful, this stage will free your mind from distractions so that you feel calm and happy.
Step 4. Direct your attention to mental signals
During the observing stage of breath flow, many people "see" mental images or signals, for example: bright light, fog, or wheels. At first, the visible signal is usually unstable and flickering indicating the learning process. Once you are able to pick up a signal, focus on the signal while continuing to breathe. The first visible signal may be less clear and unstable, but it will become clearer the longer you focus. Only experienced meditation practitioners can reach this stage as it requires deep concentration and can last for several hours.
- Attempting to divert attention from the breath to the mental image often makes the object disappear. By being aware of your breath, you can stabilize your mental image and keep your mind focused without effort.
- This step will occur naturally with parallel transitions. The techniques of “touch” and “observation” are techniques for entering into a state which in Buddhism is called “the cessation of bodily pleasures”.
Step 5. Observe the joy you experience
This hard-to-reach stage gives you the opportunity to get to know yourself deeply and see aspects of yourself that you haven't yet discovered. In Buddhism, this stage consists of three aspects: experiencing joy (piti), experiencing happiness (sukha), and experiencing one-pointedness of mind (citta ekagatta). By doing the steps above regularly, you will enter into a mental state that can trigger feelings of joy and inner happiness. There are many teachings and writings dealing with the various states of mind (jhana) in this stage. Here are some ways to observe yourself:
- Recognizing how inner joy and happiness triggers pleasant thoughts that bring calm and peace.
- Observing how the serenity that arises from inner bliss gives rise to different states of mind, namely thoughts of liberation and sufficiency.
Step 6. Change negative emotions
Let go of greed, pride, and other emotions that hinder progress. In Buddhism these are called defilements (kilesa). The following techniques will help you as you experience the final 4 stages of breathing meditation if practiced with a calm and discreet heart:
- Contemplating temporary. Understand the deepest implications of temporary suffering.
- Contemplating the disappearance of lust.
- Contemplating cessation.
- Contemplating release. Realizing that letting go of the habit of seeking pleasure and happiness makes you more empowered and feel safe inside.
Step 7. Purify yourself of negative emotions
Replace negative emotions with virtues. One way to purify oneself is to do renunciation (viraga) by freeing the mind from problems, regrets about the past, and worries about the future.
Remember that this stage cannot be reached easily in a short time because the process of self-purification requires intensive and consistent practice
Step 8. Remember things that have happened and are happening
After completing all the stages of anapanasati, end the meditation by contemplating that mindfulness of the breath enables you to eliminate negative emotions and form a new perspective. Realize that self-control by regulating the rhythm of your breath slowly calms your body, feelings, emotions, and mind. This condition can be achieved because of the temporary existence in the universe (anicca).
Part 3 of 4: Doing Mindful Breathing Exercises
Step 1. Do breathing exercises regularly
Once you are able to focus, focus on an object or mental image to improve your ability to concentrate. You can practice focusing your mind on the breath and its various aspects if you become proficient in meditating. The following exercises will help you improve your ability to control your mind to stay focused on your breath while you meditate.
- Observe the full flow of breath from a certain point. As an apt analogy, imagine a saw to cut a piece of wood. You just have to pay attention to the point where the saw and the log meet as the saw moves back and forth without following its every move because you don't know how deep you've cut the wood.
- Take advantage of the energy flow that forms when you breathe. Experienced meditation practitioners are able to channel energy throughout the body to relieve pain and refresh themselves so that he feels comfortable.
- Use the breath to relax the body and mind and increase awareness through progressively smoother breaths.
- Know that the flow of the breath is affected by the state of the mind. A tense mind makes your breath tense. The state of mind is usually reflected through the breath. The breath will become softer and calmer by changing negative thoughts into positive thoughts so that the body and mind become relaxed. For example: think good intentions when angry, be grateful when sad.
- Realize that the state of mind is shaped by the flow of the breath and the state of the airway. We rarely breathe through both nostrils at the same time because one of the nostrils is usually blocked. The flow of breath that enters through the left nostril will activate the right brain and the right nostril will activate the left brain.
- Observe the mental intention that directs the process of inhaling and exhaling while contemplating nothingness or emptiness (anatta). The process of breathing physically and mentally does not stop when we take our attention away from the breath.
- Observe the temporary or natural changes of mind and body. Just as the breath is always changing so that there is never the same breath, the practice of meditation is also always different so that you never experience two periods of meditation the same.
- Observe the change in your breath as you shift your attention to a different object, such as a distraction, thought, feeling, or sensation in your body.
Step 2. Improve your ability to maintain focus
Once the meditative state is reached, try to keep it from becoming more or less intense so that your attention stays focused. As a simple analogy, we use how to find the right volume. Too much effort means increasing the volume, less effort means lowering the volume. Too much effort makes the mind depressed and breathing irregular, but too little effort weakens the breath and mind.
Step 3. Keep your breath awareness consistent
Meditation will relax the body so that the need for oxygen is reduced and the breath flow is smoother, even like not breathing at all. As you practice, maintain consistent awareness as you will return to your normal breathing. However, concentration will be lost if your attention is distracted.
- To improve your ability to concentrate, maintain focus until you get evidence of a particular object and feel the pleasure known as joy. If you don't feel joy yet, it will be difficult for you to concentrate more deeply.
- The objects that appear will be different for each person, for example: changes in physical sensations, mental images, something moving, etc. However, meditation practitioners rarely experience this because it is strongly influenced by many aspects, for example: temperament, meditation experience and skills, location, distraction, or priority being thought of. If a certain object appears, focus your attention on that object without analyzing its color, characteristics, etc. because objects will easily disappear if you are not calm and focused. Practice diligently because building awareness of the breath is not easy.
Part 4 of 4: Improving Meditation Ability
Step 1. Stretch regularly
Get in the habit of stretching as part of your daily routine, for example by practicing yoga because yoga uses the same breathing techniques. You can do yoga as an exercise routine or as part of an active lifestyle. When practicing stretching, make sure your back is always comfortable and straight, allowing your tailbone and abdominal muscles to relax. Start the practice while sitting in the lotus posture, instead of the usual cross-legged meditation.
Step 2. Practice consistently
Meditate the same way in the same place to introduce the mind to the ability to focus consistently. As per experts, beginners should practice a few hours per day for a week or more without engaging in any activity, such as going on a retreat. Many people take a few days to several months until they manage to free the mind from tension and problems to get rid of the mental distractions that bring enlightenment.
Step 3. Don't meditate when your stomach is hungry or too full
While meditating, our body needs energy, but the food we just consumed triggers drowsiness and distracts us. You need to stay awake and focused, not thinking about food.
