Anapana Breathing Meditation

Vipassana
I learned Anapana Breathing Meditation while attending the Vipassana silent meditation course. Anapana is about observing the breath without reacting to it, without regulating it (so it's not Pranayama). It can end there to still the mind, or it can be a primer to put the mind into a meditative state and go deeper into a more specific type of meditation.

Sequence

seating - seat yourselves in your most comfortable position - it can be half lotus, full lotus (Padmasana), easy pose (Sukhasana), firelog pose (Agnistambhasana) or hero's pose (Virasana). Center and square your sit bones, left and right supporting equal weight, spine vertically aligned and crown of the head lifting up creating length and space on the spine.
air in / air out - start focusing on your breath. Just observe the breath without reacting to it. Observe the breath without regulating it - so, this is not Pranayama. Air goes in to your nose, goes down your windpipe and into your lungs. That same air leaves your lungs, through your windpipe and out your nose the same way. Just observe this process.
equal passage - is there an equal amount of air passing through the left and the right nose? Observe...just observe. If it's not equal, what is the ratio? Is it 60/40? Perhaps 70/30? Or is one nose completely blocked giving air passage to only one nose? Just observe. We are not here to clear the blockage.
shallow / deep - is your breathing deep? or is it shallow? Observe without regulating it.
breathing duration - is the in-breath longer than the outbreath? Or is the outbreath longer than the in-breath? Or is there an equal amount of time to both? Observe with no reaction.
temperature - is your outbreath slightly warmer than your in-breath? how much warmer? Observe the nuances.
breath pause duration - is your pause after the out-breath the same length of time as your pause after the in-breath? Again, do not regulate...just observe.
expansion - on the in-breath, do you expand your belly? or your chest? or both? observe.

Ending Thoughts
Anapana brings back the stillness of the mind and restores balance to the body by allowing the para-sympathetic nervous system to do its work. You can end here...or shift focus on something else to deepen the meditative trance.

--- Gigit (TheLoneRider)
YOGA by Gigit | Learn English | Travel like a Nomad | Donation Bank

ps - If you want me to participate and write about your yoga studio or your yoga practice, email me. For my complete yoga profile, you can visit this page: YOGA by Gigit

Invasive Thoughts

(Feb 2, 2017) How to break free from unpleasant thoughts from the past or worries about the future through meditation....more »»

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