10.04.2024 Take a Deep Breath   The instruction to “take a breath” is common, practical, and often reassuring advice. Caring elders say it to children who’ve lost their cool. Coaches say it to athletes during practice. Doulas say it to women during childbirth. We can all appreciate the power of a deep inhale–exhale. Many years ago, at an introduction to meditation for beginners, I heard this same instruction and learned of the connection between the breath and our ability to return to balance and ease. “We can always return to the breath,” the teacher assured us. My reaction landed somewhere between irritation and relief. I was irritated that the key to undoing my tendency toward anxiousness and distraction was something I’d had access to all along. And I was relieved that an essential foundation of practice — at a time when so much about meditation felt odd and otherworldly to me — was so readily available, even mundane. As the Theravada Buddhist teacher Shaila Catherine explains below, the Buddha recommended going into the forest, sitting under a tree, and “being with” the breath. He was the first person to teach this practice of anapanasati, “mindfulness of breathing,” and it is a core practice across most Buddhist traditions. In today’s world, science has demonstrated what meditators have known for thousands of years — that deep, abdominal breath encourages full oxygen exchange and is beneficial, even transformative, for body and mind. By shifting our breathing deep into our belly, we can return to a parasympathetic state — a place of calm and balance. As one of my first meditation teachers would exclaim with glee: “Breathe deeply and allow your belly to expand! This is not time to worry about sexy abs!” This playful advice reminded me how holding the belly in, which so many of us do subconsciously, makes shallow breathing seem normal. The teachings and guided practice below remind us of the power of breath. May they help you find an opportunity to return to the breath — again, and again, and again… —Beth Wallace, Associate Publisher, Finance & Operations, Lion’s Roar The Buddha’s Breath Practice   The Buddha taught mindfulness of breathing as a complete approach to awakening. Buddhist teacher Shaila Catherine outlines his 16-step breath practice that guides us to liberation. Mindfulness of breath is a simple method to extricate our attention from proliferating thoughts about daily activities, obsessive plans for personal projects, and agitating reactions to the barrage of sensory and social encounters that occur every day. By observing the experience of breath, habitual attraction toward sensual thrills quickly subsides and the mind becomes still, refreshed, tranquil, and equanimous. Observing the breath is a portable vehicle for developing mindfulness, calmness, and deep understanding. ADVERTISEMENT Watch: Trudy Goodman’s “Teddy Bear” Breath Practice Join Trudy Goodman in this calming 10-minute guided meditation, where she introduces a simple yet profound technique to ease a busy mind by using the breath as your “Teddy Bear.”   Just like a child finds comfort in their favorite toy, you can return to your breath to find relaxation and steady your focus. In this guided session, you’ll learn how to anchor your mind, soothe jagged energies, and gently bring yourself back to the present moment whenever distractions arise. See more from Trudy Goodman in the upcoming Lion’s Roar online course Five Keys to the Complete Path of Mindfulness. What Are We Ignoring About Breathing?   Like each breath, your life constantly appears and disappears. The late Taizan Maezumi Roshi teaches how to do the profound practice of breathing. Usually we say there are three essentials in life: clothes, shelter, and food. Breathing, the most important essential, is not mentioned. Not only do we ignore our own breathing, but we often ignore the breathing of other creatures. Animate and inanimate beings are all breathing. Breathing is a most important dharma. Without this very body, the dharma can’t be appreciated. We must be aware of how this so-called body and mind exist. It is the most mysterious, subtle dharma; everything comes out of it.