Straight in to following the breath

[James123]

Does anyone go straight to following the breath during a formal practice?

You know, few deep breaths/settle yourself for a minute or two, close your eyes and then begin following the breath for your entire meditation.

Or would it make more sense to ground yourself first with a 5 min body scan and then follow the breath for the rest of your meditation?

Thanks.

[JonW]

Hi James.
I went straight into following the breath when I started mindfulness.
Now my meditations are a lot more varied. Often I meditate to ambient music. Or I'll practice what JKZ calls "choiceness awareness", that's to say meditating on whatever comes up - the breath, a noise outside, birds singing, an itch, my spaniel snoring…
In the early stages of mindfulness practice I'd always say follow what your being taught, either by a teacher or an author.
Good things,
Jon, Hove

[James123]

Thanks Jon, appreciate the response. On the CD you kindly sent me JKZ starts off with the breath in the first of his 3 sitting meditations. I think it's good to mix it up and keep it fresh.

[Gareth]

My meditations are very varied too.

I really think with mindfulness it is a case of getting your practice off the ground, after which it becomes much easier to sustain.

As JKZ says "week 9 of the course is the rest of your life."

[SheilaB]

Hi James,

Is the question about how long to spend 'settling', or about which practice to choose - eg breathing, body scan, kindness, choiceless awareness etc?

In terms of settling, I find that when I'm self-guiding, it is tempting to skip it and go straight to the chosen focus. Even though I always allow time for settling when I'm guiding my students, at home I sometimes opt for a guided practice with a CD so I don't rush it. I think in my case the skipping it can happen when I'm slipping into Doing mode - eg meditation as a task to tick off my list, or wanting to get a result/have the practice be a certain way. Settling at the start helps me come more into Being mode, so I can just be with what is.

When choosing which practice, I always found following a weekly plan helped. Especially to make sure I didn't only work with the practices I liked the most - I found it's a good way to work with resistance and autopilot to do a practice that isn't necessarily my favourite. I supply free practice plans via my app/mailing list that can be used as a support in this way.

Hope you're enjoying experimenting to find what suits you!

Sheila

[Matt Y]

Hi James,

There are pros and cons to whatever choices you make in meditation.

Going to the breath will normally have a calming effect, but this may leave you a bit sleepy and zoned out; a bit too chilled to investigate the thoughts and emotions that may be troubling you outside of meditation.

In that case, sitting in 'choiceless awareness' may allow a more 'realistic' or lifelike experience to unfold within the meditation, giving you the opportunity to work through the thoughts and feelings that arise when you are in a 'normal' frame of mind.

If you always take time to calm yourself down by scanning the body or relaxing the breath, you may find that you only learn about how your mind behaves when are relaxed, and you may not develop the skills to navigate your way through the kinds of inner turmoil that arise in day to day life.