66 - Buddhist Mindfulness of Breathing Meditation

Learn Buddhism with Alan Peto

Learn Buddhist Mindfulness Breathing! Want to do breathing meditation like the Buddha? It's known as Ānāpānasati / Ānāpānasmṛti but is commonly referred to as "mindfulness of breathing". And it can be as straightforward as that.

(Jump to 17:20 minutes in this episode for the meditation session; view all the chapters below) You are observing the breath without control, force, judgement, etc. While this sounds easy, your body has another agenda. You'll have thoughts, an itch, muscle aches, etc., to distract you. With practice, you will also observe these things, and just "let them go". While there are many different ways (and levels) to mindfulness of breathing, I'll give you a short and simple version here. Don't worry about trying to cover all these steps - just work on focusing on one spot on your body (such as the inside of your nostrils) and observe the breath going in and out, and your counting. That's it! With practice, and under the proper guidance of a teacher, this breathing meditation has many benefits to the development of meditative concentration, insight into conditioned phenomena, and much more!

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction

00:53 Purpose

01:15 Why Practice

03:30 How to Practice

05:29 Where to Focus

06:14 Think Like an Observer

07:35 Length of Practice

08:01 Distractions

08:58 Calming & Insight

09:30 Go Easy on Yourself

10:30 How to Breathe

11:25 How it Changes You

12:55 Pre-Meditation Tips

17:20 Meditation Session (Follow Along)

23:00 End of Meditation Session

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