mindfulness of breathing problem

yangster58

In the book Mindfulness in plain english, we're instructed to notice the sensation of the breath as it enters and leaves the nostrils. My problem is that when i exhale, i have no feeling whatsoever around my nostrils. Should i establish a different focus point?

BonsaiDoug

What about your belly rising and falling due to the breath? Same holds true for the chest. I'm not certain the nostrils are all that important. You just need a focal point for the mind.

WallyB

again, slow your mind down, take it easy & slowly, and use you hands to help your mind familiarise. place one gentle hand on your abdomen & another gentle hand under your nostril. take some time to tune in with the rhythms & air sensations. best wishes

patbb

In the book Mindfulness in plain english, we're instructed to notice the sensation of the breath as it enters and leaves the nostrils. My problem is that when i exhale, i have no feeling whatsoever around my nostrils. Should i establish a different focus point?

your mind is just too gross to notice the sensation.
with practice, your mind will be able to sense much more subtle sensations.

give it a bit of time and it will get easier.

mean while if you cant feel the sensation, you can breath a little heavier for a few breath, just don't over do it or you'll end up hyper ventilating


Also you can try kasina meditation, which i think is far easier to begin than breath meditation and alot more fun for most people
http://www.dharmaoverground.org/web/guest/discussion/-/message_boards/message/102060

csrao

When I started my journey on this path at the late age of 56, I faced the same problem. The small book titled “Art of living” on the Vipassana technique as taught by S.N.Goenka introduced me to the concept of ‘Focusing on breathing’. There were no details. I was puzzled just like you. But continued struggling to focus on breathing without any other guidance. I began experimenting only early mornings, lying in the bed, pretending I was still sleeping, to avoid attracting the attention of my wife. One day I realized that whenever I breathed in, I could feel a “faint cool sensation” inside my nostrils whereas there was no such sensation when the breath was going out. I could clearly feel and focus on that cool sensation often, in between my mind wanderings. Whenever I realized that my mind wandered I brought it back to the cool sensation.

Having found that this simple practice was reducing my stress a little bit, I explored on-line and found the practice of ‘counting breaths’. Then my practice really took off. I was counting my breaths lying in the bed at bedtime, on waking up, sitting and walking, so on. I introduced this practice to my colleagues in the company in India, where I worked. They reported remarkable benefits. I continued teaching this technique as a simple relaxation technique. Most adults were very resistant to try the practice even though they agreed it was nice and worth trying.

My next breakthrough was when I introduced it to groups of children aged 9 to 15. They really liked it and I could see it made sense to them. After one introduction most of them started using the simple technique as their own calming tool. When I tried to introduce to younger children I saw that they had difficulty in grasping and practicing ‘counting breaths’. One day I got the idea of using the fingers to aid in keeping the focus on breathing. One such mode is the “Tip mode’ described below.

**** TIP MODE: Touch the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger. Breathe in
and out three times, counting in the mind, every time you breathe out. During
the first out breath count ‘one’, second out breath ‘two’ and during the third
out breath ‘three’. Repeat the same steps at each of the next three finger tips.
When you are at the thumb, place the tip of the index finger at the base of the
thumb and breathe three times. Then switch to the other hand and repeat the
same process. Continue practicing, switching the hands.****

Even five year old children are able to use this mode easily.

Over time, I figured out other modes of focusing on breathing like the Segment mode (using the segments of the fingers), Repeat counting mode, Staring mode and 911 mode (breathing out through the restricted lips). These and other related developments are available in my web page - http://countingbreaths.com/fob/relax/how-can-i-do-it/

Hope this helps you!

yangster58

Thanks for the tip csrao!