Direction of breath

[deepthought42]

I am just starting an 8 week mindfulness course and practising the body scan. I am a bit unclear about the direction of breath and it is distracting me during practice.

My meditation CD asks me to breath in from the belly and to imagine a centre line of breath between my belly button and my throat. It then asks me to breath into areas of the body e.g. my legs.

My question is, once my breath has gone in from my belly up to my throat, how should I then visualize it filling another part of my body? What is the direction of the breath?

I appreciate this is a small point but if I can't visualise it then my practice is not effective.

[piedwagtail91]

we usually 'breathe in' to a certain part of the body on the in-breath from the nose and breathe into and out of that place for a short time holding the awareness in that place (eg body scan).

it's a good way of taking your awareness to various parts of the body to become aware of sensations. if you just 'think' of a certain part of the body thats all you may do and you can miss experiencing the sensations there.

[FeeHutch]

I breathe into parts of my body in the same way that Pied describes. I think it is a case of trying out different ways and finding a way that feels right and enhances rather than detracts from your practice.
I sometimes get a sense of different colours when breathing into parts of my body but the colours change and aren't always there and once I stopped looking for them it became a lot easier to be present.