The mindfulness of breathing meditation described in the Anapanasati Sutta is the same meditation that the Buddha used to achieve enlightenment. Like all meditations, it is ideally performed along with a program of ethical behavior. This will ensure a positive transformation of one's inner and outer life.

If your goal is 'enlightenment', this meditation is one of the few that can be used from the beginning to the end of the path, though it is best perfected with the support of an experienced, credentialed teacher.

The advantage to meditating on the breath on a regular basis is that the breath is always with you, as long as you live. The heartbeat and other autonomic processes are also with you, but tend to be much harder to notice in general. The breath, unless one is in a tranquil state already, is very obvious. The chest and shoulders rise and fall; the stomach expands and contracts. By practicing mindfulness of breathing, you attach the tranquil state to your breath and thereby make the tranquil state available to you at all times.

Most teachings of mindfulness of breathing involve resting the attention on the 'touch-point' of the breath. This is different for everyone, and can change over time. Put simply, the touch-point is where you can feel your breath as it exits the nose. For some, this is the tickling of the hairs inside the nostril, for others at the rounded part of the skin on the outside edge of the nose, or it can be the tip of the nose or upper lip. As your breath regularly changes from nostril to nostril, the touch-point will change as well. Take a moment to see where it is before you begin.

In the beginning, it is helpful to count the breaths as they occur. Take care not to count past ten; if you find that you have counted beyond ten, your attention has drifted. Gently and without judgment, bring the attention back to the breath and begin at one. There is no place for personal remonstrations or wandering thoughts in meditation. If you find yourself involved in these thought-processes, gently bring the attention back to the touch-point and start counting at one again.

There is no 'good' or 'bad' meditation- it is simply practice. After a while, you may find that you can count to ten without having to re-direct the attention. When this happens, you probably don't need to count any more. Continue the practice with a timer.

An important part of this meditation is not to shut out or block distractions. When the air clicks on or your kids start yelling, treat those distractions the same as a wandering thought and don't get involved- just come back to the breath. In times when there are many distractions, you may wish to start counting the breaths again as an assist.

This meditation can be performed as a starting point for any meditation, especially the Living Meditation.  Five minutes of mindfulness of breathing before a stressful activity can diffuse any tension or expectation you might be bringing into a situation. Loading a situation with expectations before it has even begun can spark off tensions in other people, so the effect of your own meditation is multiplied in the way it affects other people. It is very common for a single person to begin a meditation practice and their entire family responds, even though they don't meditate themselves.

For more information, try reading the free e-book The Anapanasati Sutta: A Practical Guide to Mindfulness of Breathing and Tranquil Wisdom Meditation by Ven. Vimalaramsi

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