There are lots of different ways you can work with the energy. Don’t limit yourself. The more variety you can find in dealing with the breath, the more intriguing it will be to stay with the body — and the more you’ll be able to find a sense of well-being for the body, giving it just what it needs at any particular time.

"We’ve talked for the last couple of days in the Q & A about different ways of working with the breath energy, and it’s important to take some time to explore this aspect of your relationship to your body. What kind of movement of the breath is actually helpful? What kind of movement of the breath makes it more difficult to stay with the body?

And learn to play. Take the breath energy in the body as your playground here and be open to new ideas about how the breath energy can move.

You’ll notice, in Ajaan Lee’s basic instructions, that he talks about the breath energy going down the spine and down the legs as you breathe in. But it can also do that as you breathe out. There are other times when he talks about the breath energy starting in the soles of the feet, coming up the legs and up the spine, in the other direction.

You may read in manuals on Tai Chi that there’s an energy circle running from the navel down to the spot between the legs and then back up the spine, and down the front of the torso to the navel. But in your own case, you may find that, as you breathe in, a certain part of the energy can run a circle that goes up the front and down the back, or up the back and down the front, whichever way you want the energy to go.

There are lots of different ways you can work with the energy. Don’t limit yourself. The more variety you can find in dealing with the breath, the more intriguing it will be to stay with the body — and the more you’ll be able to find a sense of well-being for the body, giving it just what it needs at any particular time."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Protection Through Mindfulness Practice" (Meditations8)