So you’ve got to listen to the body’s needs and notice that the breath, as it comes in, comes together with movement through the muscles. As they’re moving, the body — to maintain its balance — has to move other parts as well.

"We’ve got the breath, which is bodily fabrication. Well, that’s right here. It’s coming in and going out right now. It’s a fabrication in the sense that you can shape it with your intentions. You can breathe in different ways. It’s one of the few bodily processes that you actually can exert that much control over. So try to shape it well.

Notice what kind of breathing feels good for the body right now: long breathing, short breathing, fast, slow. It’s entirely up to you what you like, although if the body doesn’t like it, it’ll let you know pretty quickly. So you’ve got to listen to the body’s needs and notice that the breath, as it comes in, comes together with movement through the muscles. At the very least, they’re the muscles in the chest that rise and fall, along with the muscles in the abdomen. As they’re moving, the body — to maintain its balance — has to move other parts as well.

It makes you think of opening up the different blood vessels and nerves going through the body with a greater sense of ease, a sense that the whole body is participating in the breathing process."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "High-level Metta"

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