Methods of Regulating the Breath Before Sitting Meditation

Deep breathing is a method that can quickly calm both body and mind; before sitting in meditation, one should regulate the breath well. Once the breathing is regulated and the breath flows down to the dantian, not only does physical health improve, but wandering thoughts also diminish. When the breath reaches the dantian, if a thought arises in the mind, one feels extremely weary, and thus becomes unwilling to entertain delusive thoughts—the mind then settles into stillness.

The method of practice is as follows:

After sitting cross-legged, first exhale, expelling all the turbid air. Begin exhaling from the abdomen, pushing the air outward; when the exhale is complete, the abdomen is deflated. Pause briefly, then begin to inhale—be sure to inhale through the nose, not through the mouth. The inhalation should be long and slow, slow and long, slow and long. In the mind, continuously contemplate the breath slowly traveling from the nasal passages, the windpipe, the lungs, and the chest cavity down to the dantian in the abdomen. Although at first the breath cannot actually reach the dantian, one should still contemplate in this way, because it helps the breath flow downward, helps open up the Conception Vessel (Ren Mai), and helps unblock the five zang organs and six fu organs. After inhaling fully, the abdomen is distended. Pause briefly, then slowly exhale through the mouth; the exhalation should also be somewhat slow. After exhaling completely, close the mouth, pause briefly, and then repeat the process of inhalation and exhalation.

Note that the inhalation should be long; the longer it is, the more concentrated the attention, the more tranquil (praśama) the mind, and the more easily the qi channels flow. The breath should be drawn all the way down to the dantian in the abdomen. If the breath truly flows down to the dantian, then at that time even if you want to entertain delusive thoughts, you cannot produce them, because entertaining delusive thoughts is very wearying to the mind. Thinking about some worldly matter will feel extremely, extremely tiring, and so you will stop thinking about it. At that point the mind becomes tranquil (praśama), afflictions simply do not arise, and no unwholesome thoughts can occur.

After the breathing has been regulated, continue with the practice of sitting meditation and prostrating to the Buddha; in this way, entering samādhi will be both deep and swift, and both body and mind will be at ease. If sitting meditation and cultivating meditative concentration (samādhi) are practiced well, the body and mind will feel very pleasant for the whole day. Then, when cultivating meditative concentration during activities, concentration in motion will arise and be sustained more easily. Cultivating samādhi should combine movement and stillness; they complement and mutually benefit each other. One must not emphasize only concentration in motion without concentration in stillness. Concentration in motion that is not nourished by concentration in stillness is weak and unreliable, and easily dissipates. One must practice movement and stillness in combination; only then will the samādhi attained be stable and able to deepen. Everyone should give this a good try in practice.