Counting the Breath
This is an extremely simple exercise, and only takes a few minutes. It's a great beginning meditation for those of you that are just starting out, and works well as a "warmup" for deeper meditation.
Start by getting comfortable and relaxed. Close your eyes and observe your breathing. Do not try to change your breathing or control it in any way. Simply observe it. When you are ready, begin counting backward from fifty. On the exhale, mentally say fifty. On the inhale, mentally say forty-nine. And so on. As you do this, put all of your focus on the counting and the breathing. If your thoughts wander, gently pull them back to focus on the breathing and counting. Do this as many times as you need to. Notice the way breathing feels. Notice where you can feel the breathe. Can you feel it in your fingers? Continue to count. If you lose count, or forget to keep counting, just go back to the last number you remember, and go on from there. When you reach twenty, start counting only on the exhale. On twenty, you exhale. When you inhale, don't count. But on the next exhale, ninteen. Continue this until you reach zero. Once the counting is done, simply continue to observe your breathing. Watch your breath as though you were going to count. Be mindful of your inhale and your exhale, but again, do not try to control it. From here, you may choose to simply rest in the mental quiet and see what comes to you, or you may have another meditation in mind that you want to move into. Both are fine. Enjoy the calm you have created for yourself.
Free Forum Hosting
Important Announcement
