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The breath is the force of life, it should feel good coming in and going out. Think of the breath energizing the whole body, nourishing the whole body.

"Close your eyes and watch your breath. Watch it all the way in, all the way out. Notice where you feel the breathing in the body, and notice if it feels comfortable. After all, the breath is the force of life, it should feel good coming in and going out. So if it doesn’t feel good, see if you can change it. Make it shorter, longer, faster, slower, heavier, lighter, deeper, more shallow to see what feels best. Think of the breath energizing the whole body, nourishing the whole body." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Weaponize Good Thoughts"
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You don’t have to focus just on the air coming in and out of the nose, because the air isn’t doing anything. It’s the body that’s doing something. That’s the wind element in the body: the energy that allows the air to come in, to go out.

"Take a couple of good, long, deep in-and-out breaths. Notice where you feel the process of breathing in the body. You don’t have to focus just on the air coming in and out of the nose, because the air isn’t doing anything. It’s the body that’s doing something. That’s the wind element in the body: the energy that allows the air to come in, to go out. That’s what you want to focus on." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Think of the Consequences"
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Simply by learning how to breathe calmly around the emotional problem, you can begin to take it apart. Some scientists did a study showing that calm breathing calms the mind.

"Bodily fabrication is the way you breathe. Simply by learning how to breathe calmly around the emotional problem, you can begin to take it apart. Just two weeks ago, I was reading that some scientists had done a study showing that calm breathing calms the mind. How do you say “Duh!” in French? Mais bien sûr . Of course it calms the mind. We’ve been doing that for 2,500 years." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Five Faculties: Putting Wisdom in Charge of the Mind"
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An attitude of gratitude can often give rise to a sense of ease and well-being. Then notice that the breath changes when you’re thinking thoughts that are good like this.

"The Buddha mentions that sometimes meditation can get dry, in which case it’s good to stop and think about themes that give a sense of refreshment and inspiration to the mind. You might want to think of all the people who have been good to you through your life. An attitude of gratitude can often give rise to a sense of ease and well-being. Then notice that the breath changes when you’re thinking thoughts that are good like this. Then let that same ease of breath continue as you drop the thought and return to the breath." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Technique & Attitudes"
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You can breathe in a way that feels really, really good, a way that feels nourishing for the body, soothing for the mind, energizing when you’re feeling tired, grounding when you’re feeling scattered.

"You can breathe in any kind of way, so how about breathing in a way that feels really, really good? — a way that feels nourishing for the body, soothing for the mind, energizing when you’re feeling tired, grounding when you’re feeling scattered. There’s lots to explore right here. So make that your intention. You want to explore what the breath can do for you here in the present moment." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Your Intentions Come First" (Meditations8)
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As your sensitivity to the breath begins to get more and more subtle, the blockages of certain parts of the body dissolve and you realize that what seemed to be a physical blockage had its mental side as well.

"You may have noticed, when you really look at your inner sense of the body, that certain parts seem to be missing. There’s a holding in, a tension that blocks things off. But as your sensitivity to the breath begins to get more and more subtle, the blockages dissolve and you realize that what seemed to be a physical blockage had its mental side as well. It’s opening up now that you have the physical and mental tools to deal with it, along with the sensitivity to use those tools well." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Close to the Heart" (Meditations2)
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If you can breathe more calmly, you can think more calmly. And calm thinking doesn’t mean not caring. It means looking at the situation as it really is rather than through the red eyes of anger.

"So look at the way you breathe. Can you breathe in a calm way even though other people are doing outrageous things? Remind yourself that, at the very least, if you can breathe more calmly, you can think more calmly. And calm thinking doesn’t mean not caring. It means looking at the situation as it really is rather than through the red eyes of anger. Wherever you see that you’ve built up feelings of tension or tightness in the body through the way you’ve been breathing, breathe through them. That gives you the alternative to getting it out by expressing the anger or bottling it up." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Angry" (Meditations10)
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