You can experiment with different kinds of breathing to see how they feel. When you get a rhythm that feels good, stick with it. If, after a while, it doesn’t feel good anymore, you can change.

"Think of the breath and try to keep the breath in mind: That’s mindfulness, the keeping-in-mind part. You have to start out with the intention that you’re going to stay with the breath all the way in with the in-breath, all the way out with the out-breath — and then with the next breath and then the next. But take it one breath at a time. If you start thinking about how many breaths you’re going to have to follow in the course of the hour, you’ll lose it. You’ve got just this one breath right now.

Then watch what’s going on. That’s alertness, to see how the breath feels, and also be alert to notice when the mind is beginning to wander off. If it wanders off, bring it right back. That’s the beginning of the quality called ardency. In other words, you really do want to work at doing this meditation skillfully. So when the mind wanders off, you don’t let it take a long time to wander around before it comes back. As soon as you catch it wandering off, you don’t even have to let the thought be completed. Just bring it right back to the breath. While you’re with the breath, the quality of ardency means trying to be really sensitive to how it feels, because you want a way of breathing that feels good. If it doesn’t feel good, you’re not going to stay.

So notice what kind of breathing would feel best for the body right now. Just one good breath: How would that feel? Would you like a breath that goes all the way down to the abdomen? Would you like long breathing, deep breathing, shallow breathing, slow or fast, heavy or light, short or long, whatever? Just pose that question in mind: What kind of breathing would feel good right now? See how the body responds. Or you can experiment with different kinds of breathing to see how they feel. When you get a rhythm that feels good, stick with it. If, after a while, it doesn’t feel good anymore, you can change."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Mindful, Alert & Ardent"


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