16 Exercises for full awareness of breathing as taught by the Buddha
The Anapanasati Sutra offers a simple yet profound framework for practicing the art of meditation, through the practice of breathing Mindfully. Meditation is the heart of Yoga and yet there’s much misconception around what it is, and how to do it. Practicing Yoga over 25 years and teaching 15, this is one of the clearest and most accessible pathways I have found.
The 16 Sutra’s of mindful breathing are divided into 4 groups of four; contemplating the 4 objects of Mindfulness
The body,
The feelings,
The mind
The objects of mind (i.e. The world).
* I find the terminology “objects of mind” here slightly confusing, and found the term “insights” helpful in understanding. However, truth is we perceive the world through the filter of the senses and mind, it’s not “out there”, it’s “here”, inside your head. You don’t have to take my word for it, follow the map and see where it takes you.
There are a few different versions of the traditional teachings, many translations into English, and many commentaries by wise teachers that I have researched in my study. I change some of the language of the phrases, to share the way it comes alive for me. First, I want to start by offering the version by the Venerable Teacher Thich Naht Hanh, Who first introduced these teachings to me.
The 16 Exercises of Mindful Breathing
- ‘Breathing in a long breath, I know I am breathing in a long breath. Breathing out a long breath, I know I am breathing out a long breath.
- ‘Breathing in a short breath, I know I am breathing in a short breath. Breathing out a short breath, I know I am breathing out a short breath.
- ‘Breathing in, I am aware of my whole body. Breathing out, I am aware of my whole body.’ He or she practices like this.
- ‘Breathing in, I calm my whole body. Breathing out, I calm my whole body.’ He or she practices like this.
- ‘Breathing in, I feel joyful. Breathing out, I feel joyful.’ He or she practices like this.
- ‘Breathing in, I feel happy. Breathing out, I feel happy.’ He or she practices like this.
- ‘Breathing in, I am aware of my mental formations. Breathing out, I am aware of my mental formations.’ He or she practices like this.
- ‘Breathing in, I calm my mental formations. Breathing out, I calm my mental formations.’ He or she practices like this.
- ‘Breathing in, I am aware of my mind. Breathing out, I am aware of my mind.’ He or she practices like this.
- ‘Breathing in, I make my mind happy. Breathing out, I make my mind happy.’ He or she practices like this.
- ‘Breathing in, I concentrate my mind. Breathing out, I concentrate my mind.’ He or she practices like this.
- ‘Breathing in, I liberate my mind. Breathing out, I liberate my mind.’ He or she practices like this.
- ‘Breathing in, I observe the impermanent nature of all dharmas. Breathing out, I observe the impermanent nature of all dharmas.’ He or she practices like this.
- ‘Breathing in, I observe the disappearance of desire. Breathing out, I observe the disappearance of desire.’ He or she practices like this.
- ‘Breathing in, I observe the no-birth, no-death nature of all phenomena. Breathing out, I observe the no-birth, no-death nature of all phenomena.’ He or she practices like this.
- ‘Breathing in, I observe letting go. Breathing out, I observe letting go.’ He or she practices like this.
“The Full Awareness of Breathing, if developed and practiced continuously according to these instructions, will be rewarding and of great benefit.”
Excerpted from “Discourse on the Full Awareness of Breathing,” Plum Village Chanting and Recitation Book, compiled by Thich Nhat Hanh and the Monks and Nuns of Plum Village, Parallax Press
Week 1 & 2 Physical Mindfulness
To breathe mindfully, we first need to remember, notice that we are breathing. All the translations of sutra’s I explored begin with this step, yet it isn’t counted in the numbers! Given it’s the essential foundation on which the rest is built, I thought we should make it count. You only need to remember this one and it can take you deep.
1) Breathing in I am aware of my in breath, breathing out I am aware of my out breath
Next I prefer following the breath “all the way in” and “all the way out”, opposed to observing the length of the breath. The invitation is to watch the process of the movement of the breath without attempting to control or manipulate how it moves. Learning to follow the natural wisdom of the breath is a deep and profound practice.
2) Breathing in I follow the in-breath all the way in, Breathing out I follow my Out-breath all the way out.
3) Breathing in I am aware of my whole body, Breathing out I am aware of my whole body.
Being a mind based society many people have lost touch with the capacity to sense the inner feeling of the body. learning to feel whats happening inside our body is a great present moment mindfulness training. Once we can sense the body we begin to sense how much tension we are carrying around habitually and can practice learning to calm and relax the body with the breath.
4) Breathing in I relax my whole body, breathing out I relax my whole body.
Week 3 & 4 Emotional Mindfulness
5) Breathing in I cultivate feelings of Joy, Breathing out I cultivate feelings of Joy
Exploring the realm of feelings we begin with the practice of generating positive emotions. In exploring Joy actively look for what excites you and makes us feel good. Next practice cultivating ease, relaxing into the experience of happiness. knowing how to call up a positive emotion is a great skill to practice. Over time you learn to dwell in the inner happiness, not dependent on outer conditions.
6) Breathing in I relax into the happiness that is here, Breathing out I enjoy being happy now.
7) Breathing in I am aware of my challenging emotions, Breathing out I am aware of my challenging emotions.
I find the term mental formations here a little confusing as every commentary on the text I have explored talks here about challenging emotions in the realm of feeling. I feel the point is to merge the awareness of emotions to their origins in the thought processes, which is explored more in the next stage. First recognize and name the feelings, then Breathing mindfully we learn to relax in the experience. Like a toddler with Big feelings we practice patience with ourselves, not in a hurry to fix or change anything.
8) Breathing in I embrace my challenging emotions, Breathing out I calm my challenging emotions.
Week 5 & 6 Mental Mindfulness
9) Breathing in I am aware of the content of my thinking mind, Breathing out I am aware of my thought stream.
Mindful of what ? a really pertinent question to be asking anytime you want to take the practice on mindfulness deeper. In the East the concept of mindfulness contains the heart and has a quality of Right mindedness. This is not a moral concept, more a natural compassion for the human condition. Learning to see mind content occurring within the container of the mind space begins to disentangle our identity from the constant chatter of what we think. The process is enjoyable and relaxing where we are no-longer bound up in automatically believing everything we think.
10) Breathing in I am aware of the spaciousness of the mind, Breathing out I relax into the spaciousness in which the thinking is contained.
11) Breathing in I concentrate my mind, Breathing out I release the habit of continual distraction.
Living in a culture of distraction, these techniques only work to the degree they are applied. Learning to concentrate is a muscle we need to strengthen same as any other. Each breath can be considered as a bicep-curl for your mind. Once we see the mind for what it is, next can we learn how to step beyond the thoughts, into the ever present now.
12) Breathing in I liberate my mind, breathing out I step out of conceptual thinking to relax into being.
Week 7 & 8 Objects/ Insights of Mindfulness
13) Breathing in I am aware of the impermanence of all things, breathing out I am aware of impermanence.
Deep down we know none of this lasts forever, yet we constantly resist change. Again and again we are caught in the traps of clinging to things we like and pushing away the things we don’t like. Learning to relax into the nature of impermanence we can experience relaxation of desire, often translated as dispassion or fading away. No longer driven by unconscious desires for what we or don’t want or like we can dwell peacefully, breathing mindfully in the moment.
14) Breathing in I am aware of the disappearance of desire, breathing out I relax clinging and aversion.
15) Breathing in I am aware of cessation, breathing out I practice stopping here and now.
I find “No-birth no-death nature” a bit clunky to comprehend. Often translated as cessation, this can be expressed simply as “stopping”. The sutra uses the term “Nirodha” which we come across in the definition of Yoga from the Yoga sutras. “Yoga is the stopping of the fluctuations of the Mind”. Easy to understand and very hard to do, and that’s why we practice. The only thing left to do now is to let go.
16) Breathing in I Observe letting-go, Breathing out I relax and let-go.
This Video is a great over-veiw taught by the teacher I have learned these from.
Reference Links
Plum Village List of resources for studying the 16 exercises of Mindful Breathing
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