Focus on breath or thoughts?

[HighFlyingBird]

Hi all, it's been a while since I contributed to this forum and I intend to do more going forward...
I have recently started a meditation practice again and was wondering if I should always focus on the breath and ignore everything else, or contemplate the thoughts that arise?

[HighFlyingBird]

Just to add to the original post, I find that most of the time the thoughts that arise while meditating on the breath tend to be images of situations from the past. They don't really invoke any particular emotions per se...

[Gareth]

Most people find that some structure helps at the outset. Why don't you follow the 8-wk course from a book?

[Matt Y]

HighFlyingBird,

I don't think you should ALWAYS do anything. (It's not possible to always focus on the breath anyway, as you've probably noted!)

My view is that there is much to be learnt from reflecting upon and contemplating your thoughts from various angles, and this can be done in the context of a meditation practice.

There's a couple of articles I've written that might give you some ideas on how to go about it.

http://melbournemeditationcentre.com.au ... -thoughts/
http://melbournemeditationcentre.com.au ... -thoughts/

[HighFlyingBird]

Thanks for the feedback guys, much appreciated. Interesting articles Matt, however I find it kind of over-complicates the whole process (Just my opinion). I began meditating 2 years ago due to a stressful job and I thought it would help me keep calm is stressful situations (Management meetings, presentations etc.) and it did to some extent. I then kind of stopped doing it for a while but now I intend to practise every day. (I do 30 minutes every lunchtime just trying to focus on the breath)
I was just curious whether I need to advance the method somehow. After I feel I have a good focus on my breathing and I don't get caught up in random thoughts should I be doing anything else at that point or should breath awareness be the complete focus of the meditation? I am also trying to be more mindful during the rest of the day - That's the difficult bit for me!

[Gareth]

There are many different ways that you can meditate. Why don't you experiment on a few techniques and find out what works best for you? For me at least, consistency of meditation is extremely important, although I feel like it is asking quite a lot of yourself to jump straight in at 30 minutes a day.

Have you considered enlisting the help of a teacher? There are nuances to this practice that can be conceptually very difficult to grasp (although very simple).

[HighFlyingBird]

Hi Gareth. I can manage 30 minutes just fine and I've been doing that every day for around a month now. Obviously thoughts come and go and some days my mind is busier than others but I feel 30 minutes is a good length - Not too short or too long. As for enlisting a teacher, I prefer to do things on my own - its just my nature I suppose. I have read a lot of stuff on meditation/mindfulness/yoga and am currently practicing these daily.

I just wondered if after my mind is relatively calm I should be doing something different other than staying with the breath...

All responses hugely appreciated.

[Gareth]

30 minutes is my daily practice also.

Why don't you try some mindful listening or choiceless awareness? They are both simple practices which will show you something a bit different.

[JonW]

Body scans? Mindful movement? Walking meditating? Meditating to music? There's a lot on this mindfulness menu. Why stick to the same meditation every day? Would we order the same food every time we went to our favourite restaurant/caff?
Keep it varied. Keep it fresh.
Cheers,
Jon

[japa.guru]

There are so many techniques and different ones will resonate with you. I find that the breath is certainly great technique to start out with - ie if my practice has been a bit out of sorts then I find that the breath as a main focus can help me to develop a solid practice again. But that will differ for everyone and I do not stick with one technique I will change it up.