Practice Theme
All of meditation practice can be described as finding balance, the Middle Way. In the case of the breath, we wish to work with it skillfully, maintaining the degree of focus necessary for various purposes.
In the beginning of practice, we first establish self-kindness, openness and concentration, by returning again and again, gently and kindly to the anchor point, to the home in the breath. After our concentration muscles are strong, we can begin playing with degree of focus.
By being deeply intimate with experience of the breath we can stabilize the mind. We sit with experience of breath staying close to experience, but not shutting out other experience. We are with things just as they are.
It is useful to think of the attention as having characteristics of a flashlight. We can set it on narrow beam, tight and bright, or let the beam spread more widely, with less tight focus, though still illuminating. In the beginning, to establish concentration, we use tighter focus, keeping our attention very close to the breath, very interested in subtle experiences in narrow range of attention. But we are also aware of the spaciousness and stillness from which everything else arises.
Instructions
As in the previous segment, decide to be very interested in the experiences at the anchor point - sensations of warmth or coolness, tickling, spaciousness or areas of hardness, firmness, or of flow. Do not try to change or manipulate anything, but instead just feel the experience, "be" one with the breath and the body. Return again and again when attention wanders, kindly staying with the narrow beam of attention.
Sometimes, to steady focus and concentration it is helpful to count the breaths or name in-breath and out-breath, but only if you do so with a small part of your attention, "whispering" the count or the words. The primary focus is on the kinesthetic experience of breath (95% of attention).
If using counting, you may choose to count to five, to 10, or go to 21 (these are standard numbers offered by different teachers). What is important is not which number you use or reaching to the top number, but to realize when you have dropped the count. When you have dropped it, kindly and gently, return to the beginning again. Aim attention back at breath. Make contact with the breath and sustain attention on experience of breath, with very light support of counting.
In fact, if you do not drop the count and you do get to the top, still you start again. The purpose is to help keep aiming attention at the breath, again and again with each new breath.
Think of taking aim at the breath, making contact with the breath and sustaining attention for the duration of the breath - or longer. Then aiming, contacting and sustaining again.
Once you have been sitting awhile, drop the counting and begin to play a little with degree of focus, attending to breath as if you are playing a musical instrument, the body. The music is neither flat nor sharp, the string or drumhead neither too tight, nor too loose. Find a degree of balance that is both alert and relaxed, or play with the extremes of very tight attention and very loose attention.
Guided Meditation - Stabilizing and Finding Balance
An audio version of these instructions is available by clicking here.
This meditation is almost 18 minutes long.
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