In today’s fast-paced society where we’re constantly moving at 100 miles an hour, it’s never been more important to take a few minutes out of the day to reconnect with your breath. Known since ancient times as one of the key principles for living mindfully, the benefits of breathing exercises are endless and include improved sleep and reduced anxiety.
Unfortunately, it’s not always as simple as it sounds which is why meditation teacher Dr Danny Penman is on hand to help. In his new book, The Art of Breathing, Dr Danny will teach you how to find peace in a frantic world – and we could all do with a bit of that.
Mindfulness
The art of breathing lies in paying attention to your breath in a very special way. It’s the heart of mindfulness and as old as meditation itself. You can learn the basics in just a few minutes but mastering the art of breathing takes somewhat longer. Breathing meditations are very simple but people often make them difficult and complicated.
Firstly, meditating in the lotus position is very uncomfortable. You can’t meditate if you’re not comfortable. Take a deep breath and ask why the chair was invented.
Secondly, you don’t need any equipment, mantras, incense, fancy bells, apps, or even a quiet room. In fact, all you need is: a chair, a body, some Air and your Mind. That’s it.
Sit on a straight-backed chair. Place your feet flat on the floor (with your spine 2-3cm from the back of the chair). Be comfortable (with a relaxed but straight back). Place your hands loosely in your lap.
Close your eyes.
Focus your mind on your breath as it flows in and out. Feel the sensations the air makes as it flows in through your mouth or nose and into your lungs. Feel the rising and falling of your chest and stomach
Where are the strongest feelings? Nose, mouth, throat, stomach, chest, shoulders? Pay attention and explore the feelings, especially the way they rise and fall. Don’t try to alter them in any way or expect anything special to happen.
When your mind wanders, bring it back to your breath. Be kind to yourself. Minds wander. It’s what they do. Realising that your mind has wandered and bringing it back to your breath is the meditation. It’s a little moment of mindfulness.
Your mind may eventually become calm for a little while, or filled with thoughts or feelings such as anger, stress, or love. These may be fleeting. See them as clouds in the sky (simply watch them drift past). Try not to change anything. Gently return your awareness back to the sensations of breathing again and again.
After five minutes (or longer if you can manage) gently open your eyes and take in what you can see, hear, feel and smell.
Repeat twice a day.
A person whose mind isn’t wandering, isn’t meditating.
Did you feel restless and uncomfortable? Discover a few aches and pains? Perhaps there was a long list of things that needed doing RIGHT NOW, THIS MINUTE.
Maybe you had wild swings of energy. One moment you were bubbling with enthusiasm, then suddenly … exhausted. And the powerful emotions that swept you along – the frustrations and disappointments, the feelings of inadequacy followed by the bitter taste of defeat as yet again you realised that your mind had wandered away from your breath.You probably felt that your mind was so chaotic you will never be able to focus for more than a few seconds at a time. What a mess … This is normal. It’s your first lesson. This leads to the central guiding principle of mindfulness: you cannot fail. Realising that your mind has wandered away from the breath is the meditation. It is a moment of mindfulness.
Mindfulness Is Unconscious Awareness.
It is paying full conscious attention to whatever thoughts, feelings and emotions are flowing through your mind, body and breath without judging or criticising them in anyway. It is being fully aware of whatever is happening in the present moment without being trapped in the past or worrying about the future. It is living in the moment not for the moment.
Mindfulness Is Not A Religion
Nor is it ‘opting out’ or detaching yourself from the world. It’s about connecting and embracing life in all of its chaotic beauty, with all of your faults and foibles.
The Aim Of Mindfulness Is Not To Intentionally Clear The Mind Of Thoughts
It is to understand how the mind works. To see how it unwittingly ties itself in knots to create anxiety, stress, unhappiness and exhaustion. It teaches you to observe how your thoughts, feelings and emotions rise and fall like waves on the sea. And in the calm spaces in between lie moments of piercing insight.
You Are Not Your Thoughts. You Are The Observer Of Your Thoughts.
It’s a subtle distinction that’s only perceived with practice. Your thoughts are a running commentary on the world; a ‘best guess’ of what’s truly happening. Often, your thoughts will reflect the powerful emotional currents swirling through your mind, body and breath.
Sometimes they are true, sometimes they are a frantic work in progress, sometimes they are wrong.
Mindfulness teaches you to take the long view, to put your thoughts, feelings and emotions into a broader context. And when you do so, your most frantic and distressing thoughts simply melt away of their own accord, leaving behind a calm, clear, insightful mind.
The Art of Breathing by Dr Danny Penman is published by HQ on 9th January 2020, priced at £8.99.
