So do what you can to make the breath interesting. You can think about the flow of energy in the body that allows the air to come in and out.

"So do what you can to make the breath interesting. Try to notice when you breathe in in different ways: What effect does it have on the body? What effect does it have on the mind? What kind of breathing is most comfortable? What way of conceiving the breath is most comfortable? You can think of it as the air coming in and out through the nose, or you can think about the flow of energy in the body that allows the air to come in and out. If it weren’t for that flow of energy, nothing would come in and out at all.

So where do you feel that flow of energy? For most people it’s in the chest, but it could also be in the shoulders, or in different parts of the head. In fact, as you get more sensitive to what’s going on in the body, you begin to realize that the whole body’s connected to the breathing. Every nerve, out to every pore of the skin, is involved in the breathing process in one way or another. So if you can think of the breath suffusing throughout the body, what effect does it have on the way you breathe? What effect does it have on the way you feel here in the present moment? Because how you’re going to get through the hour here depends on what you’re doing right now."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "How to Be Happy"

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