You create a sense of ease in body and mind, a sense of harmony. When the mind is at peace, there’s a sense of well-being. When you can keep this well-being going, then you’re acting from a sense of well-being.

"Each time you breathe in, think of the body as a clean slate. The breath can go everywhere, anywhere, all at once. It can go in strange directions and do all kinds of things, whatever is needed to keep the body feeling buoyant.

An important point to notice here when you breathe out is that you not breathe out too long. The more you breathe out long, the tighter things become in the body. So allow the breath to go out just right, then breathe in again, breathe out again, breathe in again, and allow the breath to dissolve anything that seems uncomfortable, that seems blocked.

After you’ve played with the breath like this for a while, ask yourself what feels right, what feels balanced in the body, in terms of the breath. Are things too light? Too heavy? Too warm? Too cold? See if you can use the breath to bring them into balance.

In doing this, you create a sense of ease in body and mind, a sense of harmony, so that the peace that you feel inside is palpable. It’s not just an idea. It’s a visceral sense of well-being. In Thai they have the compound, santi-sukh, which means peace and happiness, peace and ease. The two go together. When the mind is at peace, there’s a sense of well-being. When you can keep this well-being going, then you’re acting from a sense of well-being. The things you say, the things you do as you’re dealing with the world outside come from a better place, from a stronger place."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Peace on Earth"

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