How Mindful Breathing Can Teach You To Design Other Focus-Building Exercises
Noticing your breath is not the only way to develop mindful awareness.
Here are four reasons the sensations related to breathing make them such a popular choice.
You can use them to help recognize other perceptions that work equally well.
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Deciding to closely observe any real-time sensation or perception is the essence of mindful awareness practice.
What makes the breath such a powerful focus builder is that it operates just fine without your conscious interference. Your body can manage this process just fine without you micromanaging it.
Anything occurring in the periphery of your awareness can be invited to temporarily occupy the spotlight.
sights
sounds
flavors and fragrances
other sensations in the body (not directly related to breathing)
Plenty of movement to get caught up in
When we track a specific perception with less concern for what it means, our attention gets pulled into making sense. Perceptions that fluctuate stand a better chance of holding our attention.
Becoming fascinated by naturally occurring movement is a great way to make your mindfulness practice more sustainable.
Savor the next three exhales.
Listen to the sound of the next car or airplane that passes.
Watch your dog or cat breath while it's sleeping.
Take a deep breath and let it out slowly.
As you eat an orange, notice the flavor explode and fade away.
A series of brief opportunities
It only takes a few seconds to inhale or exhale. Each is an ideal duration for comfortably sustaining your attention.
One repetition of any focused-awareness exercise only lasts a handful of seconds.
Informal mindfulness practice consists of sneaking one or a few repetitions into ordinary activities.
Formal practice—often referred to as meditation—consists of stringing together as many repetitions as you're able for a predetermined amount of time.
A soothing rhythm
Every focused-awareness exercise relies on an underlying scaffolding of rhythm.
The breath can function as a non-mechanical metronome to help you navigate time in a tangible way.
Music supplies a similar auditory structure.
You can also supply your own steady pace internally while observing one body sensation at a time.
Savoring the sensations related to breathing is a great way to practice mindfulness, but it's not the only way.
The best focus exercises are the ones you'll do consistently.
Expanding your options helps bring more awareness to your life.
