Thanissaro Bhikkhu on Refreshing Breathing

"You’re working with two kinds of pleasure. One is the physical pleasure of being with the breath — which the Buddha doesn’t count as a sensual pleasure. It’s called the pleasure of form: the way you feel the body from within. That’s different from the pleasures of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and tactile sensations. The Buddha places it on a higher level because it doesn’t really have to depend on things outside. And, as he says, it’s a blameless pleasure, in the sense that you don’t have to harm anybody to gain it. At the same time, it doesn’t intoxicate the mind; it doesn’t befuddle or cloud the mind. It actually makes the mind a lot clearer. So that’s the physical pleasure of the breath. Then there’s the mental pleasure of working with the breath energies in the body and seeing that you can make changes in how the body feels from within. It’s a way of helping the body along. If the breath energy flows well it’s going to be conducive to your health. It feels good knowing tha...

"When the breath energy is pleasant, allow the sense of pleasure to permeate through the body, so that no part of the body is untouched by that sense of well-being. There may be little pains here and there, but don’t pay them attention. Focus primary attention on the sensation of comfort that you’re gaining here right now, because it’s a blameless comfort; it’s a blameless pleasure. Again, that’s something that makes the path noble." ~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Noble & True"