How to Breathe?

Sit at dawn or dusk while the stomach is light. Use a folded cloth or a firm cushion. The seat must remain comfortable long enough for the breath to settle. Raise the spine without stiffness, draw the chin slightly inward, close the mouth, and rest the hands upon the thighs. Release the forehead, jaw, throat, shoulders, ribs, and abdomen.

Remain still for twelve breaths. Let each inhalation and exhalation pass through the nose. Change nothing yet. Follow the breath from its beginning to its end and notice where it catches. A disturbed breath often gathers in the throat, lifts the shoulders, or stops abruptly in the chest. Allow these tensions to loosen before attempting any formal practice.

Exhale gently until the lungs reach their natural emptiness. Avoid squeezing out the final trace. Let the next inhalation begin by itself. The lower abdomen releases outward, the lower ribs open, and the chest receives the remaining breath without rising sharply. During exhalation, the chest softens, the ribs return, and the abdomen settles inward. The whole movement should be silent and continuous.

Repeat this for twelve cycles. Keep the inhalation and exhalation equally comfortable. If counting helps, count quietly to four while breathing in and to four while breathing out. Reduce the count whenever the face tightens or the breath becomes uneven. Numbers serve smoothness and have no value once they create strain.

After several days, let the exhalation become slightly longer than the inhalation. Breathe in comfortably, then allow the breath to leave with patience. Do not push the abdomen inward. Let it return gradually. Any pause at the end of the breath should appear by itself. Deliberate retention belongs to a later discipline.

This lower breathing was cultivated in several forms across India and China. Daoist instructions placed awareness in the lower field below the navel. Yogic teaching regarded the quiet breath as the first means of bringing prāṇa under discipline. Both traditions understood that shallow breathing in the throat scatters the mind, while deep and silent breathing gathers the person inward.

The Zhuangzi says that the true person breathes from the heels. The phrase describes breathing so deep that the whole body seems to participate. It does not instruct anyone to draw breath literally through the feet. Place awareness three finger widths below the navel. Let the abdomen expand during inhalation and return during exhalation. Keep the chest quiet. Continue for thirty six breaths without adding an image, a colour, or an imagined substance. Attention remains in the lower field while breathing becomes fine, deep, and unhurried.

After this common preparation, choose either Buddhist breathing contemplation or yogic alternate nostril breathing. Keep the chosen method for several weeks. Each belongs to a distinct discipline and carries a distinct purpose.

For Buddhist breathing contemplation, release every attempt to shape the breath. Place attention where breathing is most clearly felt around the nostrils and upper lip. When the breath is long, know that it is long. When it is short, know that it is short. These are observations, not commands.

Follow one inhalation from beginning through middle to end. Follow the exhalation in the same way. When attention wanders, return to the next breath without argument. If remaining present proves difficult, count each exhalation from one to ten. Return to one whenever the count is lost. When ten breaths can be followed easily, abandon counting and remain with the breath itself.

As steadiness develops, experience the whole breathing process at once. Know the beginning, continuation, and completion without dividing them into separate thoughts. The breath will gradually become finer. Preserve clear attention when it becomes faint. Searching for a stronger sensation only disturbs what has begun to settle.

The instruction then passes from knowing the breath to calming bodily activity. The face softens, the throat opens, and breathing requires less intervention. Stay for ten or fifteen minutes. With greater stability, observe how every breath begins, changes, and disappears. In the Buddhist path, this ordinary act becomes direct contemplation of impermanence. No hidden substance is being circulated. The practice concerns clear knowing from one breath to the next.

For yogic alternate nostril breathing, sit in the same stable seat. Rest the left hand upon the thigh. Fold the index and middle fingers of the right hand toward the palm. The thumb governs the right nostril. The ring finger and little finger govern the left.

Breathe quietly through both nostrils three times. Close the right nostril with the thumb and inhale through the left. Close the left nostril, release the right, and exhale through the right. Inhale through the right. Close it, release the left, and exhale through the left. This completes one round.

Perform six rounds. The breath should pass smoothly, without jerking, audible friction, or movement of the shoulders. Inhalation and exhalation remain comfortable and similar in duration. When six rounds become effortless, increase gradually to twelve. Finish by exhaling through the left nostril, lower the hand, and observe twelve natural breaths through both nostrils.

Traditional yoga calls the left channel iḍā and associates it with the lunar principle. The right is piṅgalā and belongs to the solar principle. Their purification prepares prāṇa to enter suṣumṇā, the central channel required for the deeper work of mantra, concentration, and meditation.

Classical texts eventually add kumbhaka, the retention of breath, together with muscular seals and sacred syllables. Such practice begins only after the breath has become obedient and the channels have undergone preparation. The older manuals repeatedly insist upon gradual training. The preliminary form uses alternating inhalation and exhalation without deliberate retention. It establishes the pathway without attempting the more demanding operation.

Use only one formal continuation during each sitting. Buddhist contemplation leaves breathing natural and trains uninterrupted awareness. Yogic alternate breathing deliberately orders the passage of prāṇa through the two nostrils. Combining their details carelessly weakens both.

Keep the practice modest and regular. Ten quiet minutes every dawn are worth more than an occasional hour of struggle. Finish while the breath remains serene. Let it return to its ordinary course, open the eyes, and remain seated for a few moments before standing. Continue for forty days before changing the method. The breath should become quieter, the body easier to keep still, and attention less scattered. These are sufficient signs that the practice is being done properly.