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Guided Meditation: Continuity with Breathing

One of the sayings of the insight meditation movement is that if you want to go from A to B, be fully at A. Fully inhabit the place you're at. And so in meditation, the saying is, if you want to go from where you are now to any kind of deepening of the practice, liberating movements of the practice, there is a kind of directionality. It's onward leading. But the art of it is not so much to press ahead to get somewhere, but to more and more fully be here with what the experience is.

And the primary thing that makes that difficult for many people is the wandering mind, the mind wandering off. So in focusing on breathing, breathing is meant to be a place to ground the attention, to center the attention. The breathing is always continuous in the present moment, and so to be along with the continuity of breathing means we're learning to really be here in the present moment and develop continuity with really being here.

Some of that has to do with learning to relax enough to relax into the breath, to relax the thinking mind, and relax the forces of distraction until we are really here^[1]. But also it involves a relaxed alertness and a kind of turning on of a little heightened sense of alertness so that we'll notice sooner, maybe right away, that the mind is beginning to wander off into thought, that we're getting lost into the world of thought and involved in it, as opposed to settling in more and more with the breathing.

So as we do this sitting, we'll do some relaxation, but relaxation can be overdone. Also, we want to turn the light on in the mind a little bit. Relaxed, open awareness in the mind, alertness that we're attentive to catch when the mind is beginning to go. We're not being tense about it, we're not being forceful about it, but there is a kind of heightened alertness. Maybe as a form of joy, delight, gratitude at the opportunity to be attentive, that heightened awareness to notice the mind begins to wander.

And at that point, as soon as you notice that, do not get involved. Let it all drift away and settle back into the breathing.

So take an alert posture, a way of being in meditation that gives you some ability to stay alert. If you're sitting in a chair or a cushion, sit up a little bit taller, a little bit straighter than you normally would. Just a little bit. And if you're lying down, then perhaps you want to keep your eyes open a little bit. Maybe a little more alertness there. Some people will raise their forearm pointing towards the ceiling with the elbow resting on the bed or the floor, or both arms, as a way of having a little bit more intentionality and alertness.

So gently close your eyes and begin by settling into your body. To be fully here, it's good to see that it really begins with the body. So feel the weight of your body against the surface that's holding it up—chair, floor, cushion. And relax and let go into that surface, feel the support it provides.

And then feel the rest of the torso, especially if you're sitting upright. Feeling the uprightness, the three-dimensionality, the substance of the torso. Perhaps moving the attention up the spine and feeling that the weight of the body maybe rests on each vertebra. Maybe making small adjustments to the vertebrae, the spine, so that it really feels like the weight is centered on the vertebrae, not leaning too far forward, backwards, or sideways.

And as you exhale, relax the muscles of the face. Relax the muscles around the shoulders and shoulder blades. Relax in the chest and around the heart. Relax the belly. It might also be possible to relax the thighs, the tops of the thighs, all the way down to your feet.

And then bring together the body's experience of breathing with your awareness. Maybe like two hands coming together to bow, letting awareness come together with the body that's breathing. And center yourself on that experience of the body breathing.

And in practicing continuity with the breathing, staying with the breath, it's not so much that you have to force yourself—not at all that you force yourself to stay with breathing. A lot of it is a relaxed returning, beginning again. Allowing that coming together of breathing and awareness, re-establishing that contact.

And as a form of relaxation in the mind, but also intentionality, see if you can bring a relaxed, heightened alertness, awareness, which is both intimately aware of breathing, but that will notice if the mind begins to wander off.

And if the mind begins wandering off, if you have any choice about it, don't go along with it. Let go, return to the breathing. It isn't so much that you're focusing on catching your thinking, as it is that you're awake in the mind with a broad enough wakefulness that you'll notice when thinking begins.

And if you want to get some support for staying with your breathing, you can very gently, very softly and quietly in the mind, count each exhale from one to three. When you get to three, start again at one. And sometimes that very gentle numbering, giving a count to the breathing, helps you stay alert to the mind that might wander off in thought. Kind of like you're using the thinking mind to stay present, and therefore you'll notice if you wander off in the counting. It just keeps you closely connected to the breathing, involved in it. One, two, three.

You might take a couple of slightly deeper breaths, longer exhales. Just two of them maybe, to re-establish a stronger connection with your breathing. Remember to stay awake enough to notice if you're wandering off in thought. And really, you have much better things to do right now than to wander off in thought. You can be here and really be present with your body, your awareness here, this place. The meeting place of awareness and breathing, like two hands meeting in reverence for the lived life in the present moment.

Reflections

One of the remarkable recognitions that life has begun is when a newborn person or animal takes its first breath. And one of the remarkable experiences of someone dying is to witness them taking their last breath. And in between, we often take our breathing for granted. But breathing is central to life, to being alive. We need to breathe more than we need to drink or eat. Breathing is at the heart of what it means to be animated, to be alive.

And it's possible to recognize that that's true for others—the miracle of them breathing, the preciousness of life. Any life, person or animal, that breathes, just like you are breathing, needs to breathe. To recognize the preciousness and value of all breathing life, all people. To recognize it through the understanding of our own breathing and the value of our life.

And may it be that as we get more and more centered in meditation, as we're deeply connected to ourselves, more centered on ourselves, and intimate, that it teaches us the tremendous value and preciousness of all beings, of all people. Just as we are precious deep inside, so are others.

And may it be that coming out of meditation, we live that way. May we have the intention to live respecting, revering, and honoring the preciousness of life of all beings. And may we live this day where people feel our presence, our attention, and our care is here to support and help improve the lives of other people, so that all beings may breathe freely, breathe with ease, breathe with happiness and kindness. May it be that what we learn in meditation is taken out into the world for the betterment and happiness of all beings everywhere.