Breath meditation means resting gentle attention on the breath as it already moves, and letting that be interesting. You notice where you can feel it, you stay curious, and when the mind wanders you come back with a smile. It is the gateway I use in the very first guided practice of our course.
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What is breath meditation?
Breath meditation is resting your attention on the breath you already have. The breath is 1 of the gateways into meditation, and it is the one you carry everywhere. In the first lesson of our course I name it alongside a mantra, a prayer, a picture, and the flickering flame of a candle. New to this approach? Begin with What Is Effortless Meditation?
Think about a movie in a movie theater. Lights go down. All attention is on the screen. The first scene comes in, and it grips you. You do not have to exert an effort to concentrate. You allow your concentration to be pulled. We let the breath be interesting in exactly that way.
How do you meditate on the breath?
Rest gentle attention where you feel the breath at the tip of the nose, stay curious, and come back with a smile when the mind wanders. Here is the practice from Lesson 1.
- Make your body comfortable and supported. Sit or lie down. Let something hold you.
- Take a big breath in and let it out with a sigh.
- Notice the whole body, part by part, all the way up to the top of your head.
- Notice the breath as it moves in and out of the nose. Rest your gentle attention on the place where you first feel the breath, and the place where you last feel it moving out.
- Be curious, just as you would be if you were reading a book. When you notice the mind on a chain of thoughts about the past, the future or some imagination, smile to yourself, and with the gentlest touch, come back to the tip of the nose.
- After a few minutes, breathe in and let it out with a sigh, and let go even of this technique. Let yourself feel whatever is here.
Do I need to control my breathing?
No. Let your breathing flow naturally. There is no need to control anything. The mind may be calm, the mind may be busy, and either way the breath keeps moving on its own.
When we are feeling, we are not thinking. So we keep coming back to how good it feels to be breathed by the breath.
If you want something to follow, follow the pathway of the breath. It comes in through the nose, turns the corner, and moves down through the throat into the chest and the belly. Then it rises and moves out into the space around you. A minute or 2 of following that pathway is a whole practice.
What is the pause between breaths?
The pause is the turn of the breath: the moment after the in-breath arrives and before it flows out, and again before the next breath comes in.
The Vijnana Bhairava Tantra, the ancient text behind the Radiance Sutras, offers 112 gateways into meditation, and several of them are about the breath. 1 of them places your attention right at that turn. In Lorin Roche's rendering: 'After breath comes in / and just before flowing out.'
Try it for a few breaths. Let the in-breath arrive, and notice the moment it turns. Let the out-breath leave, and notice the moment before the next one comes. The turn is already happening, and you are simply noticing it.
Lorin taught that the sensations we were told to set aside are doorways themselves. The turn of the breath is 1 of the smallest and closest of them.
- The breath comes inThrough the nose, down through the throat into the chest and the belly.
- The turnThe moment the in-breath arrives, before it flows out.
- The breath goes outIt rises and moves out into the space around you.
- The turnThe moment before the next breath comes in.
Breathwork, such as box breathing (in for 4, hold for 4, out for 4, hold out for 4), changes the breath on purpose. Breath meditation lets it be.
Is breath meditation the same as breathwork?
No. Breathwork changes the breath on purpose. Breath meditation lets the breath be. In our practice the 2 work together.
In Lesson 4 of the Effortless Meditation Course I teach 3 breathing practices, and I call them the swiftest way to shift your energy. Box breathing is even: breathe in for 4, hold for 4, breathe out for 4, hold out for 4, at whatever pace of 4 feels comfortable. Alternate nostril breathing is an energy balancing practice, where you breathe through 1 nostril and then the other, back and forth for a few minutes. Bellows breath is a vigorous practice. Sometimes we need a little fire to burn off excess energy, and I teach bellows breath with its cautions.
Other breaths have their own jobs. The 4-7-8 breath, for example, is a soothing, calming breath.
Then comes the step that turns breathwork into meditation. Finish the breath, return to normal breathing, and let yourself relax completely, with nothing else to do. A practice like alternate nostril breathing is a beautiful preparation for 5, 10 or 15 minutes of meditation, where you welcome whatever arises and let it move away when its time is complete.
So let the lights go down, and let the breath be the movie. Then notice how good it feels to be breathed by the breath.
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Common questions about breath meditation
Where should I focus when meditating on the breath?
Rest your attention at the tip of the nose, at the place where you first feel the breath coming in and where you last feel it moving out. Stay curious, the way you would with a good book, and when the mind wanders, smile and gently come back.
What is the pathway of the breath?
It is the route the breath takes through the body. The breath comes in through the nose, turns the corner, moves down through the throat into the chest and the belly, then rises and moves out again. Following that pathway for a minute or 2 is a simple breath meditation.
Does breath meditation work?
Research on meditation is encouraging and still maturing. Effects tend to be small to moderate and show up most for people who practice regularly, and the studies cover many styles of meditation rather than breath meditation alone. The research page sets out what the studies found.
What is box breathing?
Box breathing, also called square breathing, is an even breathing pattern: breathe in for a count of 4, hold for 4, breathe out for 4, and hold out for 4. It is breathwork, a way to change the breath on purpose, and it can lead into a few minutes of breath meditation.
You can meditate. Start with the free guide and video.
- Meditation Mythbusting: 10 common myths, busted (PDF)
- Your First Effortless Meditation, a gentle guided practice (video)
Sources: Christopher's own teaching in the Effortless Meditation course (Lessons 1, 4 and 5) and live office hours, lightly edited from the recordings. The breath verse and the 112 gateways are from Lorin Roche's The Radiance Sutras, his rendering of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra. The research summary follows the Effortless Meditation research page.
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