Being with the breath is a very good way of showing goodwill for yourself right now. There’s enough suffering in life. You don’t have to compound it by breathing in a way that’s harsh, uncomfortable, or unhealthy.

"So spreading thoughts of unlimited goodwill [mettā] help in this direction is a way of preparing you to settle down with the breath. Then actually being with the breath is a very good way of showing goodwill for yourself right now. There’s enough suffering in life. You don’t have to compound it by breathing in a way that’s harsh, uncomfortable, or unhealthy. So you look at the breath and see how it’s affecting the body in different parts: where the breath energy seems comfortable, where it seems strained, what you can do to make it comfortable throughout, all the way through the in-breath, all the way through the out, and all the way through all the different parts of the body. You start seeing which part of the breath cycle you push too much: Are you squeezing out breath energy too much as you breathe out? Are you making the breath too long as you breathe in? Notice how you relate to the different parts of the cycle.

Notice also how you relate to the different parts of the body as you breathe in, the different levels of breath energy in the body, because the breath enters the body at different rates. There’s the breath coming in and out of the lungs, which takes a while it to fill the lungs. But there’s also the energy that flows in the nerves, which goes a lot faster. In fact, as soon as you’ve started to breathe in, before you even notice it, the breath has already gone through all your nerves — unless there’s a blockage someplace. Some people say as they breathe in and try to get the breath to go to the different parts the body, they can’t get it all the way down the body, say all the way down the legs by the time the lungs are full. That’s because they’re trying to force a harsh breath or a heavy breath down the legs, which is not actually good for the legs. Think of the breath in the nerves and the blood vessels as a lot subtler, a lot lighter, a lot faster. See how that works. You have to do a lot of experimenting because each of us relates to the breath in different ways, relates to the energy in the body in different ways. And so each of us has different habits we have to learn how to correct."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Goodwill First & Last"

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