Thanissaro Bhikkhu on Refreshing Breathing

"No matter how the breath is cycling through the rest of the body, keep the sense of relaxation in your feet and your hands as steady as possible. It doesn’t have to be an enormous relaxation, just enough for you to know that it’s more relaxed than before. One way of checking it is to compare one hand to the other, one foot to the other. See which one is more tense and then allow it to relax as much as the other one." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Grass at the Gate" (Meditations3)

"We talk about listening or looking at the breath, but, of course, it’s not a matter of looking or listening with the eyes or ears. It’s a matter of being really sensitive to what the body needs. Now, you do want to be very careful, and this is where the analogy of listening comes in. Think of it as an analogy, of course. There are times when you listen very, very carefully for very subtle sounds and that helps to refine the breathing, because the mind is more intent and more sensitive at that time. That’s when it’s really ready for refined breathing. But if you’re not ready for it, you just drop off to sleep. So in the same way that you would, say, listen to the inner voices of a piece of music, the ones that are hard to hear, or to a very soft sound off in the distance, try to make yourself really, really quiet, and very, very intent. That will help make the breath more subtle without your forcing the breath too much. But listen to the body and the mind: If you run...

"So take some time to get to know the breath and see to what extent you can make it better, more soothing, more relaxing, more energizing — whatever you need right now. This is your territory, so settle in. Don’t let anybody else push you out. Of course, other people aren’t the ones trying to push you out. Your own defilements push you to go running out after things. But the more you feel at home right here, then the less likely you’re going to be pushed around, the less likely you’re going to run away." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Mindfulness, Discernment, & Peace of Mind"

"Then when the breath gets comfortable, what do you do with that? You’ve got to be careful, because there is a tendency when the breath gets comfortable to start focusing on the ease and well-being, and to forget about the breath, or to hope that the concentration will go on automatic pilot. That’s like falling asleep at the wheel, hoping that the car will take you where you want to go. You’ve got to keep your attention with the breath, no matter how comfortable it gets. Remind yourself that the sense of ease and well-being will do their work in easing the body, soothing the mind, without your having to wallow in them. So you let the breath be comfortable, and let that comfort stay, but you stay focused on the breath. Then as that comfort develops, you think about how you might spread it through different parts of the body. Because what you’re aiming at here is a sense of full-body awareness, fully aware of the breath energies: not only the obvious ones where you fee...

"Even the simple stress and tension in breathing: When you begin to see that that’s not necessary, you can start asking yourself, “Well, maybe there are other things going on in the present moment that are not necessary as well.” It is possible to breathe in such a way that you feel really full all the time, with a sense of refreshment. Each breath feels really refreshing coming in because you’ve paid careful attention. And all that tense breathing you did in the past, it really wasn’t necessary. You did it because you weren’t paying careful attention. Now you give some attention to the breath and you begin to see its other possibilities, its other potentials." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Building on Certainty"

"As you get more and more skilled, you find that you can carry the sense of being well-centered — having an awareness that fills the body, that feels at ease with the body, feels at ease with the breath — into all kinds of situations. Where in the past you felt threatened, nervous, or ill at ease, now you have a solid center. You’re grounded and you’re taking care of the mind’s need to feed." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Kindfulness" (Meditations6)

"As soon as that refreshing breath sensation begins to fill up in the body, you let go of everything else. No matter what other disturbances come, you’re not the least bit interested because you’ve got something really satisfying. You could almost say that it’s a sensation to die for. You let down your guard, let go of everything else, because this sensation is so totally absorbing. You’ve opened up every part of the body, every part of your awareness for this sensation to come in." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Tuning-in to the Breath" (Meditations1)

"You use the breath as your anchor. When you’re with the breath, you know you’re in the present and you have the tools for dealing with whatever discomfort arises there. You can breathe in ways that minimize suffering or actually become actively refreshing, satisfying, absorbing. You find with this simple act of staying with the breath — as you stay with it longer and longer, trying to keep yourself as sensitive as possible to how the breathing feels, making a little adjustment here, a little adjustment there — that a sense of ease comes without your having to think about giving rise to it apart from what you’re doing with the breath. It’s just there from the continuity of your focus, the sensitivity of your focus. There can even be a sense of rapture, a sense of fullness. You breathe in feeling really refreshed, breathe out feeling really refreshed. And the more you get absorbed in the present moment like this, the further away the past and the future seem to be....

"Regard each present moment as a gift. There’s something new that’s going to come, there’s a new potential for energy in each present moment. In this way, what’s been going through the day, the narratives you’ve been telling yourself in the course of the day, don’t have to determine the meditation right now. You’ve got this breath; you’ve got this opportunity to talk to yourself in a new way. You can breathe in a new way; you can hold new perceptions in mind. And as you change the dialogue inside, and change the pictures you hang on the wall — in other words, the perceptions that run things — you find that even though the breath may not be the best breath possible, at least you’ve got the right attitude. After all, the attitude is what you’re going to be able to take with you, even as you leave the body." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Free Sources of Energy"

"You focus on the breath, the feeling of the process of breathing. It’s not just a matter of the air coming in and out of the lungs. It’s an energy flow in the body — and it has a huge impact on how your mind feels, how you feel in the present moment. Take some time to look at it. When you breathe in, where do you feel the energy move? Does it feel refreshing as you breathe in? If it doesn’t, try to change. Don’t breathe out so long maybe, or don’t breathe out so short. You may find that the breath is too heavy or too light. The in-and-out breathing has a huge impact on the other energy flows in the body. So watch for a while to see what feels best and what kind of breathing is easiest to stay focused on." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Protect Your Inner Center"

"We’re trying to sensitize ourselves to an area of our awareness [the feeling of breathing] that all too often we ignore. We spend most of our time paying attention outside, and this area inside here gets squeezed out, left behind. Its potentials for giving us a sense of well-being don’t get developed. So here’s our chance to give it some time, give it some space. If you really pay attention here, if you’re consistent in your awareness of the breath, smooth in your awareness of the breath, then the breath becomes smooth as well. It becomes more and more comfortable. And what starts out as just an ordinary feeling of being okay becomes more intensely pleasant. You can let that feeling spread throughout the body...." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Pleasure of the Middle Way"

"I mentioned one of the drawbacks of the phrase, “Watch your breath,” which is that it assumes that the breath is out there in front of your eyes, when it’s actually behind your eyes. Another one of the drawbacks, though, is that you get the sense that the knowledge has to be up in your head. Actually, there’s an awareness in your hands, in your feet, in every part of the body. You can let the awareness stay there, the awareness of the breath coming in, going out. You don’t have to bring it up into the head. The awareness of the breath in the knee is in the knee; the awareness of the breath in the foot is in the foot. Then try to connect those spots of awareness." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "For a Routine That Isn't Routine"

"Breath instructions often begin by saying, “Watch the breath.” But that can create some problems. Tell yourself, “Don’t watch the breath. Feel it. Wear it. Bathe yourself in it.” After all, you’re dealing with proprioception, the body as you feel it from within, and the breath is not in front of your eyes. If anything, it’s behind them. So back into the breath. See what that perception does." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Brahmaviharas at the Breath"

"And the more interested you can get in the present moment, the more firmly you’ll stay — not only right now, but also as a long-term project. That’s a second benefit that comes from working with the breath: If you see that the meditation is accomplishing something and it’s pleasant — it can be a refreshing and even rapturous place to stay — then it’s a lot easier to stick with it over the long haul." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Work & Play"

"You stay with the breath, but you’re not clamping down on it. You try to stay with it smoothly. Try to make the breath like silk: smooth all the way in, smooth all the way out. That requires a certain steadiness of focus, and the question will come up: What’s next? This is what’s next: the next breath. And you do the same thing there, the same thing with the next one, and the next one." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "No Foolproofing"

"So breathe in a way that feels good, deep down inside. Think of the breath as a whole-body process. It goes through all the nerves in the nervous system, all the vessels in the circulatory system — out to the tips of the fingers, out to the tips of the toes. You have to think of yourself not sitting here looking at the breath but wearing the breath: surrounded by the breath, bathed in the breath, immersed in the breath, with the breath all around you, flowing smoothly. It soothes the body and it can also soothe the mind." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "The Economy of Goodness"

"Try to relax around the breath. Don’t make the meditation too much of a chore. Think of it as an opportunity to breathe easy. Each breath is another opportunity to breathe easy. When the mind can rest a bit, then it can look at itself more clearly. So whatever lessons you’ve learned on how to let the mind rest with the breath and let that sensation of resting spread out: Remember them." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Getting the Most Out of the Present"