Why focus on the good feeling of breathing?
Some have asked me why I don’t give a more structured breathing practice; why I mostly suggest that you simply enjoy the flow of breath in your body. I’ll try to answer that with a story about a friend of mine.
A true story
This friend recently decided that it was time to sell her house. Everyone asked her what she was going to do after, and she told everyone, “I don’t know, but I know that it will be better than I ever could have imagined.” Some people thought she was not being very realistic, maybe being a bit foolhardy. She’s 82, and some thought perhaps she was beginning to show her age.
She finally received an offer on her house. That same evening, an acquaintance of hers phoned and asked my friend if it was at all possible for her to house sit for the next 4 months. Not only that, but there was a second building on the property where my friend was invited to store all her stuff.
There could not have been a more perfect solution! Certainly, no matter how much she might have worried or planned or dreamed or thought about it, my friend would never have come up with the idea to be offered a 4-month house sitting gig at just the right time.
A story with a lesson
I was telling someone this story, and that person said, “Oh sure. So if I just think about being thin and gorgeous, I’ll become thin and gorgeous?” No, that’s not the point. Thin and gorgeous are details, and focusing on the details is not the point. Rather, focus on the feeling you want to have. Instead of wishing to be thin and gorgeous, you might instead want to feel happy about how you look and how you feel. And, as my friend did, you might practice feeling assured that the feeling you desire will certainly happen.
My friend truly didn’t know what she was going to do when her house sold. She knew she would find a solution, and she knew it would be better than she could have imagined. She let go of worrying about or trying to create the details. She focused on the feeling she wanted to have, and she let the details fall into place. And they did fall into place, in a way that was better than she ever could have imagined.
There are more creative forces in the universe than you and I, my friends. Be clear about how you want to feel, surrender uncertainty and control, let go of the belief that you know what will bring you the feeling you want (thin and gorgeous) and allow those creative forces to arrange the details.
Love the feeling of your breath in your body
When you breath for 15 minutes twice a day, it can be a lovely experience. With practice, you can easily dwell in the loveliness of your breath in your body. Just let yourself have the delight of 15 minutes of intentional breathing. No rules, no counting your inhalation and exhalation, no nostril switching. Just enjoyment. It’ll help you learn to focus on the feeling, learn to let the details fall into place.