Guided Meditations

Breath Meditation

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Here is a meditation that every Tibetan does for a few minutes before going into their main meditation. It is the very simple exercise of watching the breath. Now just sitting down and watching our breath for hours on end is not going to lead us to see emptiness directly—there is not much to be gained by doing that. We use it mainly to put the mind in a neutral space—an intermediate state between our outer life and our inner one—an exercise that prepares the mind for going into a deeper state.

Breath meditation is also a good barometer for us. We can use it to check each day where our mind is. It is interesting to note a correlation between how well you watch your breath in the morning and how well the rest of your day goes. Even more interesting is the correlation between how well you watch your breath and how you behaved towards others the day before.

If you pay close enough attention, you can figure out exactly what agitates the mind, and what makes it still. Then getting to single-pointed concentration will be easy.

• Get into a comfortable position, close your eyes, and then let your body fall still and silent.
• Focus now at the tip of your nose, watching the air as it first flows out, and then back into the body.
• Begin to count the breaths as you watch: the exhale is the first half of the breath, and then the inhale is the second half, making one whole breath.
• Try to keep your mind fixed on that single object of watching your breath at the tip of your nose, for a total of ten breaths.
• If you lose your focus or your mind jumps to something else for a minute, start the count over at one.
• As you practice this day by day, see if you can steadily increase your focus until you really can get up to the ten breaths without a single other thought interrupting
• Part 2
• Place all your focus on hearing the sound of the breath as it exits and then enters the body. Listen for ten breaths. Don’t try to make the breath any louder; instead make your focus sharper.
• Now switch your focus a little bit: instead of hearing the breath, just try to feel it. Focus on the feeling at that same point at the tip of the nose as it exits and enters the body. Feel how it is warm going out and cool coming in. See if you can just feel the breath without visualizing anything, as you feel another ten breaths.
• Return to visualizing the breath, but this time incorporate hearing it and feeling it as well. Focus on all three together for ten more breaths.
• Which one was easiest for you to focus on? It is different for everyone. But one thing to remember: when someone tells you to focus on an object, it doesn’t just mean a visual image. Try to incorporate as many senses into the meditation as you can—bring it to life.