Paying Attention
It is interesting, and a result of the way we now live, that we have to learn how to find the body and the breath. Though we live with a body every moment of our lives, though we rely on it in all aspects of existence, we pay little attention to it, very often completely ignoring its signals. Instead of living in connection with the body, we are usually a few feet away, lost in thought, even believing we are our thoughts.
Paying attention to the body and the breath is one way to free ourselves from this tyranny of thought; free of the control the logical mind can hold over us. Mind, thought, conceptual thought and/or abstract thinking are valuable gifts. However, skillful attention to body and breath can open us up to information from other sources that would otherwise be inaccessible and even seem magical.
We learn first, to substitute redundant, unskillful thought patterns with direct contact of our immediate physical experience. We pay attention to and become intimate with our own senses discovering what is true in this moment.
An attitude of self-kindness is fundamental. We will learn first to relax our attention. We give it something neutral to settle on to free us from domination of unskillful habits of mind. Many things can become this neutralizing object, including (naming only a few): sounds, objects, and visualizations. We will start and rely most fundamentally on the breath, eventually incorporating all experience.
Importance of Breath as a Meditation Object
The breath has several great advantages. It is with us all the time. We can pay attention to it in all life circumstances without drawing any unwanted attention and without interrupting our ability to function. It is fundamental to our very existence from first breath to the last. Breath is constantly available, but like life, continuously in flux. Like life, it operates whether we pay attention to it or not. We can not stop or control the breath, yet with our attention, we can influence and intentionally participate in the flow. As a powerful spiritual symbol in all religious traditions, breath can easily become a safe haven and a powerful connecting force. Maybe most importantly, the breath brings us into intimate contact with our own physicality, the body and sense experience.
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