4:51–4:57 a.m.
What I noticed: Today, I settled into that familiar state where my body felt heavy while my awareness seemed to expand. This time, though, my attention stayed focused on my breathing. In the position I was sitting my breath felt shallow, more in my chest than deep in my body. I wondered: How deep should my breathing be during meditation? Should it travel all the way down to my belly?
Afterwards, I looked it up.
I learned there may not be a “correct” way to breathe during meditation.
Jon Kabat-Zinn teaches that meditation is about awareness, not performance. If the breath is shallow, notice shallow. If it deepens into the belly on its own, notice that too.
Experienced meditators often report that as the body relaxes, the breath naturally becomes slower, softer, and deeper—sometimes barely noticeable at all.
Jack Kornfield writes that the breath can become so subtle during meditation that it feels as though the body is breathing itself.
So perhaps I’m exactly where I should be, simply by noticing the breath. I’ll carry this little nugget of wisdom with me into tomorrow’s meditation.
Namaste, Kris