{"id":301,"date":"2018-01-01T04:00:19","date_gmt":"2018-01-01T10:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/?p=301"},"modified":"2021-01-16T22:34:59","modified_gmt":"2021-01-17T04:34:59","slug":"2018-01-01-intention-and-the-breath","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grzesina.net\/meditation\/2018-01-01-intention-and-the-breath\/","title":{"rendered":"January 1 – Intention and the breath"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dear Friends,<\/p>\n

Welcome to 2018 and the first email of our month together!<\/p>\n

You have reasons why you signed up for this series. Perhaps you are seeking steadiness in a turbulent life, forming deeper connection with others, creating conditions that will lead to peace, or many other reasons. Try to articulate this reason, as this intention will help you stay motivated when life gets busy or turns upside-down.<\/p>\n

In an article entitled Intention Setting 101<\/a>, Melissa Eisler writes,<\/p>\n

An intention is a guiding principle for how you want to be, live, and show up in the world\u2014during meditation, yoga or any area of your life. Ask yourself, what matters most to you? Your answer could form a powerful intention, for which you can align your thoughts for your meditation\u2014and the intention doesn\u2019t need to stop when the meditation ends. It can then guide your actions as you move through your day.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

She also lists “10 Intentions You Can Borrow”, which may be useful if you (like me) sometimes have trouble stating your intention.<\/p>\n

Since you’re here, I’m going to assume you believe that your intention will be supported through a daily meditation practice. Throughout this month, we will walk through, step by step, four powerful ways of establishing mindfulness, often called the Four Foundations of Mindfulness<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The first area of focus is the body, and within the body, we start with the breath. As Bhante Gunaratana writes,<\/p>\n

Meditation on the breath is the ideal way to get started with mindfulness training. Breathing is our most constantly repeated physical action. The mind can always return to the breath as an object of focus because it is always with us. We don’t need to be taught to breathe. Nor do we need long experience with meditation to place our attention on the breath.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Later, he describes that we “focus the mind on the breath, going in and going out, in and out.” I used to find that as I was doing this, I would feel a need to control the breath, but Bhante advises “when we deliberately alter the duration, our breathing does not follow its natural rhythm. Soon, we get tired.” Bhante offers another image, which is something that has helped me loosen this desire to control – to imagine watching a baby (or in my case, a dog) breathing: “we observe that the baby breathes for a while in a regular rhythm. Then she takes a long breath. Then she goes back to her previous rhythm.” Thinking of this image, I can become more of an observer to my own breath and allow the body to breath itself.<\/p>\n

Danna Faulds has a lovely poem<\/a> in her collection One Soul: More Poems From the Heart Of Yoga<\/em>:<\/p>\n

Breath by Breath<\/strong><\/p>\n

Life proceeds breath by breath.
\nDeep, full and easy, shallow or
\nuneven, breathing is the key to
\ncultivating peace.<\/p>\n

Breath by breath, choose to
\nstay present. It isn’t success
\nyou are seeking, but surrender
\nto the flow of energy.<\/p>\n

It’s not control that matters,
\nbut letting go, allowing life
\nexactly as it is this moment
\nto touch and change and
\nbreathe through you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

If you would like a short guided mediation to walk you through meditating on the breath, Jeanne has a 15 minute Awareness of Breath<\/em> meditation on her website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So today:<\/p>\n