Guided Meditation · Free Resources

Breathing Meditation

The simplest practice, and the steadiest.

The breath is always here, always now, and always willing to be the thing you come back to. This is the most basic meditation there is — and the one most worth returning to. You are not trying to breathe in any special way. You are simply keeping the breath company.

Sit with Aparna

Audio Session

A guided practice for returning to the breath.

Aparna is recording this one. Until it arrives, the written practice below will carry you.

Recording coming soon

What it's for

We treat the mind like it should stay put. It won't — that's not a flaw, it's what minds do. The breath gives the wandering mind a home to keep coming back to, gently, without scolding.

The practice is not staying perfectly focused. The practice is noticing you've drifted, and returning — a hundred times if needed. Each return is a small rep of attention, and that is where the steadiness is built.

How to practice

Around 10 minutes · seated, spine easy

Find the breath, lose it, begin again

There is nothing to achieve here. A "good" session and a "distracted" session are doing exactly the same work.

  1. Sit comfortably, spine upright but not stiff. Let the hands rest and the eyes close.
  2. Take one slightly deeper breath to arrive, then let the breath find its own natural rhythm.
  3. Find where you feel the breath most clearly — the nostrils, the chest, or the rise and fall of the belly.
  4. Rest your attention there. Feel one whole in-breath, and one whole out-breath.
  5. When you notice the mind has wandered off — and it will — simply note "thinking", and come back to the next breath.
  6. No frustration needed. The noticing and returning is the meditation.
  7. To finish, let go of focusing on the breath, sit quietly for a moment, then open your eyes.

More guided meditations

Sound Meditation Letting sound arrive and pass Body Scan Meditation A slow sweep through the body All free resources Back to Free Resources