Affecting the breath without intending to

[Candour]

If anyone has some tips I will be most grateful.
I find that whenever I bring awareness to my breathing I inadvertantly take a breath or otherwise manipulate my breathing pattern. I think it is from an earlier period when I practiced embryonic breathing.
I have found that if I gently sneak my breathing into awareness I can get around it.
Has anyone else had trouble with this kind of thing?

[piedwagtail91]

i regularly have trouble with this
i practice a lot of pranayama (yoga/breathing) and almost always end up controlling my breath at some point.
i've spent a long time wondering if this is a problem and then decided it's not, for me at least
both are meditative, though resting awareness on and not controlling the breath may be seen as more 'mindful'?

[Matt Y]

Yep. That's pretty normal. It's almost impossible to focus on the breath without altering it, at least to some degree. I find that my breath is often the most relaxed when I'm not focusing on it at all; for example, when I'm listening to sounds, attending to sensations in the body, or to my thoughts.

It can help to focus on it indirectly; for example, by noticing the relatively subtle movements of the spine or ribs, or the rise and fall of the shoulders, or the rocking movement in the pelvis. Alternatively, you can picture or feel your breath as a wave like motion throughout the whole body.

I estimate that about 20 to 30% of people don't really enjoy focusing on the breath, and that's fine — there are plenty of other things you can focus on.

[Mal_Smith]

It is well known that breathing becomes shallow during Buddhist meditation. So mindfulness does indeed affect the breath, probably for everyone, without intending to.

Mindfulness doesn't intend to do anything.

If you find the breath automatically & inadvertently & unintentionally altering in other ways, then that (surely?) isn't a problem. It only becomes a problem if you then worry about it, or try to alter it through force of will. If you do this, then you slip out of mindfulness.

If you intend to alter the breath, and actually alter the breath after this intention, using a yoga technique, then you are not pursuing mindfulness meditation. Whatever floats your raft, I guess. But such a technique does not appeal to me...

[piedwagtail91]

I probably should have added to my post that when I do become aware that I've slipped off into some form of pranayama then I leave the breath completely and drop awareness elsewhere before coming back.
That way it avoids any judgement about drifting off, yet again, or any attempt to (force isn't the right word) force my awareness back to observing.
My meditation practice is what it , definitely not pedigree, mainly mongrel It's how we bring what we learn to daily life that matters.

[SheilaB]

I struggled with this a lot when I first started. I had an idea that I was supposed to making my breath deeper and slower - and I'd end up getting very frustrated with what my breath was actually doing!

When I began to 'allow' the breath to happen, and let it be just as it is in this moment - whether shallow or deep, fast or slow, regular or uneven - the whole thing became much less of a struggle.

Over the years, my breath has become much deeper and slower - but only as a result of letting go of needing it be any particular way!

I incorporate these reminders when I'm leading beginners, so if you'd like a breathing meditation which supports that, you can find a free one on my site.

Kind wishes,
Sheila

[healthyhappymind]

I found when I first began breathing meditation, that I would try to take long, deep, exaggerated breaths. The result being that I spent the whole of my meditation feeling exhausted, and stressed. Plus, the added focus on, what was for me, unnatural breathing, increased my anxiety. With patience, and practice, I stopped trying to influence my breathing. But it wasn't easy. I guess it came down to my expectations. That being a great meditator required special breathing techniques. Once I put that aside, I found I could relax into the real point of mindfulness meditation.

That isn't to say that learning, and developing advanced breathing techniques aren't useful. It's just to point out that they aren't essential to beginning and maintaining a great mindfulness habit.

[Pipskid]

Hello,

I hope this is within the scope of this thread.... But i've been noticing that lately, i'm focusing almost to much on the breathe. And i'm deffinetly influencing it. For example, today... I thought I was nearing hyperventilating. Due to anxiety, Dizzyness/off balance is a part of my life. While driving, i thought my off balanceness was due to my breathing. Then I start to worry about how i'm always focused on my breathe now resulting in influencing it... Almost like I can't let me body do it naturally. How can I change this? Hopefully i'm not the only one.

To combat this, i've been breathing in to the count of 3 and breathing out to the count of 5. Also... doing something to get my mind off of the breathing, for example playing PC games seems to help.

[Candour]

Cool. It sounds like this isnt uncommon. I was wondering about it the other day because a lot of mindfulness meditations talk about watching the breath without controlling it.
Speak of which, Pipskid, I am no expert in meditation but that sounds exactly like what is happening for you. Just try to let go of your breath and let it do what it wants and just watch it. If you find yourself getting dizzy empty your lungs as completely as you can and let them fill of their own accord then go do something else. Maybe feeling physical sensations or listening to sounds will be a helpful way into mindfulness practice.

[FeeHutch]

I always find my breathing slows down and becomes deeper whenever I pay attention to it. I find it quite calming, I figure that's what it wants to do so I'll let it.