Third in a Series of Three.

Breathing Exercises: week three

Perils, pitfalls, distractions. Any conversation I have had regarding the difficulty, lack of success, frustration (pick one) with this practice has contained some variation on the following: “I can’t stop thinking!” So – what is up with that? A quick review of any basic instructions will reveal one thing – we were never asked to stop thinking. The mind thinks, that is what it does. The ears hear, the eyes see, the skin feels, and so on. What, then, do we do with these thoughts? First, realize that it is common to get sidetracked, lost in thought. Notice the thought, acknowledge the thought, try not to follow the thought with the story that it seems to create. We can acknowledge the thought by giving it a name. A “planning thought”, a “remembering thought”, a “future thought”. (The last two come complete with entire scenarios! What I should have done, what she should have done. What I am going to do or say.) And then – let the thought go. If it helps, you can say something like “busy, busy mind”. What will not help is to become judgmental of your efforts. “I can’t do this!” Return at once to your breathing. “In. I am breathing in. Out. I am breathing out.” Or, if you prefer, you can count your breaths: in is one, out is two and so on. Stop at ten and return to one. We can then pick up where we left off whenever we release a thought.

No matter how we have sequestered ourselves, the outside world can and does intrude. Accept the interruption and resume your practice. Once we have completed our breathing exercise, our meditation, our mindfulness practice – try and make a gradual transition back into your day. Be congratulatory! If you set out to sit for seven minutes or thirty minutes and you accomplished just that – be nice to yourself.

Hopefully these three short posts will engage and encourage. What is working? What is not working? 

Thank you.

Phase Two in which Doris gets her oats!

Breathing Exercises: week two, sort of!

Greetings – I introduced some basic practices in my last post. They were intentionally easy. Easy to begin, easy to continue. My goal was to throw an air of success over the whole activity. To move from “I can’t ______” to somewhere closer to “I can”!

Where we want to head next is to increase frequency with an eye to increasing the duration of the sit. Initially, in a given week, we want to be engaged in our practice more days that we miss. So set your sights on four days. If you miss some consecutive days, if you miss a week – just start over at your most recent level. For example – you sit for five minutes on Wednesday and then forget about the whole thing for a week. Can you start over? Absolutely – simply sit for another five minutes and commit to beginning again.

Some suggestions: consider adopting the same time of day and the same place as your time, your space. You can create a meditation/breathing spot in your home. Simply walking by will remind you of your commitment to this. Also, let family and friends in on what is happening. It may reinforce your practice once we announce our intention(s).  Of course a partner is even better! Even if you do not practice side by side, knowing someone else is in on this with you is a great source of encouragement.

So, for this week and next – sitting more often than not sitting and gradually extended the time of your practice.

My next post will talk about thoughts, distractions, and other common pitfalls.

Thanks.

Breathing Exercises: week one

(some stuff I put together for a Spirit of Mentoring group I am a part of at work)


Sit comfortably, a chair is fine – there is no one way to sit . I keep my hips higher than my knees, my shoulders over my hips and my ears over my shoulders. Arrange your hands comfortably in your lap.
Start with some deep breaths – take a deep breath through your nose and let it out through the mouth. Try three of these. Slowly let your eyes close and begin to find the rhythm of your breathing. Your attention is on the breath. Say to yourself “In. I am breathing in. Out. I am breathing out.” When thoughts come up, simply acknowledge the thought and gently re-direct your attention to the breath.
You can use a timer to measure the amount of time that you sit. Your phone or any kitchen timer is useful. Make the length of this exercise ridiculously easy to attain. One minute. Three minutes. Get comfortable with the process. You can gradually lengthen the duration.
Some tips: try and practice this exercise at the same time and in the same place every day. This will become your time and your space. I use the morning, before anyone else is up and before my day gets away from me. I began by setting my alarm slightly earlier. Plus you leave the house with a small feeling of accomplishment. There is no wrong way to do this! Keep a beginners mind and attitude. Remember learning to ride a bike?