Your awareness of the breath is solid, it’s deep. It encompasses everything you see and sense. So instead of taking the little bit of breath in your body out into the world, you basically allow the world into this larger arena of your breath.

"This is your safe territory. And you want to have a sense of well-being in here, because that enables you to bring well-being into all your interactions with other people. That’s your strength. And the ease of the breath is the nourishment for the well-being of your mind. Otherwise, the mind gets hungry and then it turns into something else.

So do what you can to maintain this perception of breath energy. One way of using this perception is that, instead of thinking about the world surrounding you, think of your awareness of the breath surrounding your awareness of the world. You can turn tables on it. The world is moving through. It’s like your awareness is a theater and the world is the show on stage. The theater encompasses the stage. So there’s breath all around your awareness of what other people are doing, what other people are saying. The breath is larger.

You can use those images the Buddha gives of the entire earth or the entirety of space — or of the River Ganges, which is broad and large. He uses those images to describe the quality of immeasurable goodwill, but you can use them to envision your awareness of the breath as well. It’s solid. It’s deep. It encompasses everything you see and sense. So instead of taking the little bit of breath in your body out into the world, you basically allow the world into this larger arena of your breath."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "A Home & a Mobile Home"

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