You need the sense of rapture or refreshment that comes when the mind settles down and there’s a sense of balance inside the body and in the relationship between the mind and the body.

"You need the sense of rapture or refreshment that comes when the mind settles down and there’s a sense of balance inside the body and in the relationship between the mind and the body. That way, this bath of breath really does feel refreshing, and it goes deep, deep, deep into the brain, deep, deep into the heart, all the parts of your body that you tend to close off to any kind of outside influence.

When you close the body off to outside influences, make sure you don’t close it off to your good inside influences. Have your heart open to the breath. Have the deep part of your brain open to the breath. All the nerves that feel especially frazzled after you’ve gone through a day of dealing with difficult people: Let them be open to the breath. Try to get a sense of what’s the quickest, most efficient, and most effective way of refreshing them. Sometimes it’ll require breathing in ways you’ve never breathed before, thinking of the breath energies coming into different spots that hadn’t occurred to you before."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Reclaim Your Breath"