MINDFUL BREATHING

Mark Sisti, PhD

The purpose of breathing exercises done mindfully should not be on feeling less of something, e.g., feeling less anxious and not on distracting yourself. Three things to keep in mind with mindfulness exercises, 1) Mindfulness and mindful breathing exercises are ways to actually practice, acceptance of the present moment. 2) mindfulness is a way to practice seeing the difference between your immediate experience (e.g., your sensations or feelings) and your thoughts which evaluate that experience. This may help you to see your thoughts as not necessarily true, but to see your thoughts and feelings more just as thoughts, not facts. eeing and reacting in to emotions and thoughts in new ways may help you to act in more flexible and adapti!e ways. The control paradox; ometimes trying too hard to breath your way to relaxing, is li"e trying too hard to pull your finger out of #hinese finger$ cuffs, your finger only gets more tightly stuc"% &f you happen to feel relaxed as a side benefit of these exercises, great, welcome it. 'ut don(t use your feeling of breathing to relax as a measure of whether you are doing it right or wrong. o during these exercises, put the emphasis on the other goals mentioned abo!e. T)*+ ,- M&./-01 '2+3T4&.5 +6+2#& + 3 good way to de!elop mindfulness is to start with the 7 8. 'asic Mindful 'reathing exercise below. Thin" of the breath in these exercises as an anchor or as a home base from which to learn to see from an objecti!e or impartial obser!er perspecti!e. 2emember to obser!e your mind reaching for what & call The control trap9 wanting these exercises to force the anxiety away. Trying too hard to relax bac"fires9 the more you are not willing to ha!e a feeling, the more you end up with it. &nstead use mindful breathing as a way to let go of the tug of war with anxious feelings. )ou can and should practice mindfulness anytime, anywhere, while doing anything, not the least of which is during times and in places when

you re not anxious. )ou can try to be mindful for a few seconds or minutes here and there throughout your day. 'ut, in order to de!elop the s"ill, ma"e a minimum of a once per day commitment for 8: minutes. 'elow you will find some basic mindful breathing exercises, followed by se!eral more ad!anced mindfulness exercises. 8) '3 &# M&./-01 '2+3T4; *lace all of your attention on your breath, inhale at a natural pace, or at a slightly slower pace than normal for the inhale only <2 or = seconds). Then exhale, with all of your attention on letting go of the breath, loo" for a natural *30 + after the exhale, a >uiet rest between the breaths, but don(t force it <diagram below), then finally put all attention on the next urge to naturally inhale. &t(s ,? to !ary the pace, some breaths can be a little shorter, some a little longer. &n through the nose, out through the nose. 0se each exhale as a reminder to let go. 1et go of anything you are holding onto, muscle tension, thoughts, etc., all of your attention is on each new moments inhale and exhale. 2epeat for a minimum of fi!e minutes, preferably 8: minutes. T4+ M&./-01 '2+3T4 &.431+ <natural pace or slightly slowed, e.g., 2 to = seconds) <through the nose) 'egin next inhale +6431+ <.atural pace or slightly slower) <through the nose or mouth) 2) '+11) '2+3T4&.5 </&3*2423M3T&# '2+3T4&.5) @hen you ha!e gotten familiar with basic mindful breathing abo!e, you can deepen it by breathing from your diaphragm. This will ma"e your breath not only paced, but deeper and full. 3s a beginner it is better to practice belly breathing with loose clothes and lying down, lay you hand loosely o!er your belly button, and with each paced inhale, feel your .atural *30 + after exhale

belly fill up with air. @ith each slow exhale, feel it slowly empty of air while you(re your belly drops bac" down. &n through the nose, out through nose. 2epeat for a minimum of fi!e to fifteen minutes.

=) T4+ 8A #,0.T '2+3T4; 3fter getting familiar with and combining the basic and the belly$ breath, the 8A count is simply practicing it in sets of 8A. This is an aid to staying focused or centered. @hen you are !ery scattered and your mind is particularly busy and restless, breath counting is a particularly helpful type of mindful concentration. This is a extra challenge to you(re your concentration since is simultaneous or what attention trainers call dichotomiBed attention. 4ere your attention is split or shared simultaneously between being on each breath, but also on counting. )our attention will definitely wander, <which can be both fun or annoying, but entirely to be expected) each time it does wander, gently bring your mind back to your focused count with each inhale and exhale, refocusing and re$centering your attention on each new moment. #ount 8 as the inhale, then 2 on the exhale, then = inhale, C exhale, : inhale, D exhale, E inhale, F exhale, G inhale, 8A exhale. @hen you notice that your mind gets swept away into other thoughts, just come bac" to the ten count and resume where you left off. 2epeat for 8A minutes. C) -2++ T)1+ M&./-01.+ <&M*32T&31 ,' +2H&.5) @hen you ha!e gotten familiar with some of the abo!e breathing exercises you can try what & call freestyle mindfulness. ,f the many types of meditation exercises, this is one of the most ad!anced and challenging. &n this exercise use a !ery natural breath, don(t try to pace it, let each breath be at whate!er pace it wants, some deeper some, shallower etc. ?eep your focus on each inhale and exhale, and do use the breath as an anchor s"ill you de!eloped, but not necessarily as the only focus. 0nli"e the pre!ious breathing exercises, basic breathing focus here is used only as an intermittent home base. 4ere the main and simultaneous focus is on what else happens in your attention, from each immediate moment to moment. ,n any gi!en moment, your attention may not be only on your breath, but also on noticing your mind. The hardest thing to focus on is impartially watching you mind. -,#0 , @3T#4 3./ '+ 3@32+ ,- ),02 M&./ -2,M M,M+.T T, M,M+.T. 'e aware of the e!asi!e and subtle mo!ing

target of your mind dancing around. This is pure practice in being mindful of watching your stream of consciousness. &t is practice in watching the mind as if it were a stream carrying objects <your thoughts, feeling, sensations, memories, urges) or li"e watching characters in a passing parade <another watching your thoughts drift by exercise is also a!ailable on this site). 'ut, the challenge is to not join the characters in the parade. @hen you do notice you(!e gotten attached to objects in the stream or parade, come bac" to your paced breath, exhale and let the objects float away. Ta"e a few paced breaths, come bac" to the immediate present moment and then start obser!ing again. This type of mindfulness exercise is sometimes referred to as de!eloping a impartial or neutral obser!er perspecti!e. Try and watch and accept each passing moment without intentionally ma"ing judgments, e.g., & am doing this badly, this is wrong, etc. 'e mindful of9 noticing, thoughts, sensations, emotions, memories, urges, without immediately acting on or judging any of it. 3fter being carried away by thoughts again, intermittently come bac" to se!eral paced breaths again, then let go again and just obser!e, then breath, then obser!e again, then breath and so on for 8: minutes. '23#?+T&.5 ,2 ',,?+./&.59 )ou might want to start and end this 8: minutes of freestyle mindfulness by first getting centered with two or more 8A centering counts. 5et comfortable, get settled into the present moment with the 8A counts, then begin your 8: minutes of freestyle mindfulness. 3t the end of 8: minutes, end again with a 8A count. Then try to carry your mindful attitude into your next few moments, and into the rest of your day. M,H&.5 M&./-01.+ -or some people, at some times, sitting still can seem li"e an almost impossibly difficult thing to do. 3ny of these mindfulness exercises can therefore also done while mo!ing. Mindful breathing can wor" as an excellent combination with !arious types of mo!ement. )ou can and should also practice mindfulness exercises while engaged in regular daily acti!ities. Try using mindful breathing for a short sustained period of time while9 wal"ing, washing dishes, dri!ing, eating, showering, etc. 5et into the habit of being mindful e!en when not formally sitting down to practice mindfulness.

0MM32) 2+H&+@ ,- = M3&. M&./-01 *,&.T ; 8) 3 way to more fully experience and accept li!ing in the present, immediate moment. 2) 3 way to experience life and yourself more directly, not just through9 thoughts, e!aluations, words and descriptions. To help experience thoughts for what they really are, not what they say they are. /e!elop a perspecti!e of objecti!e or impartial obser!ation. 1earn to separate your self as context and your thoughts and feelings as content. =) 3 way to really practice, reacting differently to thoughtsIfeelings, urges, memories, or other hot buttons in your life and therefore being better prepared for new purposeful actions in your life.