Breathing Meditation
A simple meditation for calming the mind
The first stage of meditation is to stop distractions and make your mind clearer and more lucid. This can be accomplished by practicing a simple breathing meditation.
Choose a quiet place to meditate and sit in a comfortable position. You can sit in the traditional cross-legged posture or in any position that is comfortable. If you wish, you can sit in a chair. The most important thing is to keep your back straight to prevent your mind from becoming sluggish or sleepy.
Even though breathing meditation is only a preliminary stage of meditation, it can be quite powerful. We can see from this practice that it is possible to experience inner peace and contentment just by controlling the mind, without having to depend at all upon external conditions.
When the turbulence of distracting thoughts subsides and our mind becomes still, a deep happiness and contentment naturally comes from within. This feeling of contentment and well-being helps us cope with the busyness and difficulties of daily life.
So much of the stress and tension we normally experience comes from our mind, and many of the problems we experience, including ill health, are caused or aggravated by this stress. Just by doing breathing meditation for ten or fifteen minutes each day, we shall be able to reduce this stress.
We will experience a calm, spacious feeling in the mind, and many of our usual problems will fall away. Difficult situations will become easier to deal with, we will naturally feel warm and well-disposed towards other people, and our relationships with others will gradually improve.