The Buddha described four steps to working with the breath.
- 1. Knowing – Knowing that you are breathing in and breathing out
- 2. Noticing – Is the breath short or long?
- 3. Training – Train the mind to sustain the attention of the mind on the whole breath from start, middle and end of the breath cycle feeling the breath through the entire body.
- 4. Reminding – remind the mind to calm the breath cycle.
These four simple steps really do help to achieve a deep state in meditation. Try them next time you come to practice and see if they help you to quieten the mind and be in present moment awareness.