Breath not really in the center

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This topic contains 2 replies, has 3 voices, and was last updated by  Darlene T 4 years, 6 months ago.

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  • #3694

    lemmefly
    Member

    Hi guys,

    I have recently taken up meditation again using the sensations of the breath at the nose as my object.
    However, I’ve noticed that while looking straight ahead with my closed eyes, it never really feels like the breath sensations are in the (spacial) center of my field of attention/perception, but always a little below it. This seems to lead to the center being available to be filled with any kind of (mental) distractions and the breath easily receding into the background.

    Is this something somebody else has noticed? If yes, should one do something about it? I would like to have those breath sensations smack in the center, as I believe it would make it much easier to stay with them and not get drawn away so easily.

    #3695

    Ricardo
    Member

    Hi lemmefly,

    Yes, I’ve noticed something similar. In the book The Mind Illuminated it is advised that one should position their eyes as if you were reading a book. This has helped me. However, sometimes by putting the breath sensations in the centre I feel cross-eyed and that leads to a bit of discomfort. When that happens, I try to relax my eyes by keeping the breath sensations as alive as possible. That’s been my experience so far but I’m not sure I’m going in the right direction here.

    Hope you get some good replies from more advanced meditators and thanks for bringing up this topic. I’ve been curious about it for some time 🙂

    #3700

    Darlene T
    Member

    Hello,

    You will notice in your meditation that at times nothing is where we think it should be lol. Ricardo, eye position response is helpful for sure. The stage you are at may also determine any answer one might provide. To Lemmefly…there is a difference between the “initial appearance, and the acquired appearance of the breath…in the earlier stages the breath is quite conceptual even though we locate it at the nostril. We often think breathing and the experience though physical is often is quite conceptual.

    As you say “breath sensations are at the center of the field of attention. In about stage five, or any time, you might realize the only way this breath takes place is the fact that it is the body that is breathing; air doesn’t invade or push into the body…it is the function of the body that receives the air. This is the “acquired” appearance of the breath…fully experiential and non conceptual. It is possible lemmefly, that until that takes place in your meditation practice, the minds attention rests on the space in front (as in the preparations), and then fills it up with mental activity. Great question, affirms your continued introspective capacities.
    Hope you find this helpful.

    Darlene

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