Hold in mind the perception the breath can penetrate anything. After all, it’s energy. The solid parts of the body are composed of atoms that are mostly space. So let the energy go through.

"When you focus on the breath, try to breathe in a way that feels really refreshing. Think of the breath energizing your entire torso all the way down, and then even beyond the torso down through the legs, down the back. Any part of the body that seems tired or tense, in need of a little refreshment, a little bit of soothing: Let the breath do that.

One of the ways you’re going to get the mind to stay here is by making the breath interesting. As I said this afternoon, if you can find a task to do with the breath, so much the better.

There may be a tightness or tension in some part of the body.

In the monastery where I was first ordained, they had a skeleton hanging in the side of the sala. Sometimes I would sit in front of it and notice that its spine was straight. So I’d ask myself, “Okay, can I tell if my spine is straight now?” I was able to feel that there were different muscles pulling it out of alignment. “So how about allowing those muscles to relax?” Do that as you breathe in, breathe out. Think of the breathing helping with the relaxing process, so that you can straighten your spine, work through tension in any part of the body that feels like it’s blocked or tight or solid in a way that’s interfering with the breath.

Hold in mind the perception the breath can penetrate anything. After all, it’s energy. The solid parts of the body are composed of atoms that are mostly space. So let the energy go through.

This way, you give yourself a grounding, something to do in the present moment. Otherwise, if you’re just here — “in out, in out” — the mind suddenly goes out and it doesn’t come back in. It’s bored. Nothing’s happening. The mind needs something to do, so give it something good to do, something here in the body.

Another exercise is to go through and think of what you’ve got here in the body. Think of your head: There are the bones of the skull, there are the various parts of the brain, all the muscles, the skin. Just go down through the body, thinking of the various parts — and as you’re thinking of them, think about how the breath energy is flowing in them."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Goodwill, Gratitude, No Guilt"


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