Focusing on the breath can be a truly amazing experience. Ordinarily, of course, the breath works in the automatic mode. Thank goodness for that! If your breathing needed your constant attention, you wouldn’t have time for other adventures.

As an intentional practice, for short periods of time, giving your full attention to your breathing can be a very powerful, simple, brief meditation. A “short period of time” might be measured by numbers of breaths, like, 3 in-breaths and 3 out-breaths. Or the time might be in minutes, like 1 minute or 2 or 3. Or the time might be viewed through or measured by an event, like sitting at a traffic stop light.

Choose whatever means of measurement you want, and then practice focused, intentional breathing many times through the day. This practice will keep you balanced, filled with some good oxygen, and help you to maintain greater stamina.

One dynamic to be cognizant of is the actual shift out of automatic into intentional breathing, in other words, notice the actual transition from unconscious to conscious breathing. The breath becomes different when you’re giving your full attention to it.

I have read that we use different muscles when we are breathing in these two different ways — automatically or intentionally. My own personal opinion is that we use the same muscles, but we use them differently. This is similar to the difference between using your glutemus maximus muscles to walk down a hill as compared to walking up a hill.

Another dynamic to pay attention to is finding the pace or rhythm of the breath. There are many aspects of the breath that you can give your attention to. The rhythm of the breath is only one. It’s one I particularly like because it has a discernible resonance.

I like to help people to find the rhythm of their breath because it helps them to attune to other rhythms and movement.

Copyright © 2005 Marshall House. All rights reserved. You may save this article, send it to a friend, or reprint it in your online publications, provided the article remains complete and this information is attached. Voice of Jeanie Marshall http://www.jmvoice.com and JMviews Empowerment http://www.jmviews.com

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