Take a Breath.
(Really! Please just go ahead and take a breath).
Now, take another breath in through your nose and pay attention to the sensation of the air as it comes in and goes out.
(Not so hard, right).
This time take a breath through your mouth, and notice the sensation of the air on your lips, in your mouth, maybe it dries your tongue slightly.
(Yes, this is going somewhere).
Now take another breath and notice your body moving – either your chest or belly expanding and contracting.
That’s it.
That’s meditation.
Congratulations.
As we’re going to say, over and over on this site:
“If you can breathe, you can meditate.”
It is that simple, and yes, there can be more to it if you want to explore more. But … at its essence … take a breath. Simply pay attention to that breath to the exclusion of everything else. That’s all you need to do.
And you can do this at any point in your day:
- when you wake up,
- when you’re about to go to bed,
- when you’re on the train
- when you’re stuck in traffic,
- when you’re late for work,
- when your kids are screaming,
- when your spouse is angry with you
- when you are angry with your spouse,
- when you’re under pressure at work,
- when you’re scared about asking for a raise,
- when you’re sad,
- when you’re happy,
- when you’re in pain,
- when you feel great,
- when you’re about to take a free-throw for the win,
- serve for the match,
- or putt a 3 footer for the hole,
- when you want to eat something bad,
- when you’re about to eat something good,
- when you want to reach for a pill, a drink, or something to feel better,
- when something bad happens,
- when something good happens …
Take a Breath.
Just pause. Put your attention onto that sensation of the air as you breathe, and notice the movement of your body.
Just for a few seconds.
It won’t solve all your problems, but you might be amazed at what a difference that tiny meditation can make.
Yes, meditation can be more than that. Much more. You can improve focus and concentration. You can change how you deal with your emotions, become less reactive, learn to like yourself a bit more, and be happier. You can develop your curiosity, self-awareness, wisdom, and free up your creativity. You can increase energy levels, sleep better, and improve the quality of your relationships. You can discover your deeper self, or even explore what spiritual mystics throughout time have tried to tell us about the ultimate nature of reality, the universe, or possibly even God.
Like most things, the more you do then the more you can get out of it.
But equally it can be as simple as taking a breath.
So, regardless of what has brought you to this site – we’re glad you came.
Regardless of how far you want to take this – we hope you will at least try taking a breath.
When you want more, we can show you the fancy, complex, and interesting aspects, but always know that at its core meditation can be very simple.
And it always starts with simply taking a breath.