5 Tips on How to Observe Your Breath
During meditation and practicing mindfulness, you are often instructed to concentrate on your breath, feel it, and observe it. You are often also told not to control your breath, but the moment your attention lands on it, you tend to start to manipulate its flow even more. How to stop this cycle?
Imagine your breath like a wave that goes through your body. When you inhale, try to find which body part rises with your breath, it can be your chest, lower ribs (diaphragm), or your belly, but also your shoulders could be lifted up. Find this area and focus on it, see how it moves up and down with each inhale and exhale of yours. Just observe.
Use your hands to help you feel the wave. Place them wherever you feel your breath the most and watch what happens with your palms. Observe their rise and fall. This will help you locate the breathing movements in your body.
Use your sense to notice your breath. Can you hear its sound? Can you feel the air coming in and out through the nostrils? Is it cold or warm? Is it dry or wet? Does it have any smells? Can you feel the sensations on your skin above your upper lip when the air leaves your nose? Notice your breath through your senses.
Assess the speed of your breathing - are you breathing fast or slow? What takes longer, to inhale or to exhale? Are you doing any pauses before taking a new breath in? Is breathing regular? Take a few moments to feel the pace of your breathing.
Accept your breath in any form it is today. Your practice is to observe it, feel it, and take it as it is now. As fast, or as slow, as upper-chested or deep-belly it is. That’s your breath now and that’s all that matters. Be a curious observer of your own body and the messages it’s trying to send you.
