Breathing and meditation

(Nimue)

It’s very common for meditation to start with a focus on your own breath. This is something I’ve used a lot. It’s in my Druidry and Meditation book. At this point I know more than I did then about the issues of working with breath – it’s always the way, you never stop learning and existing books do not magically keep up.

There are a number of situations in which a focus on breathing really doesn’t work. I’ve had ailments that have made breathing hard work, and found that focusing on it makes that worse, and more unpleasant, rather than helping. I also find that if I have a lot of body pain, a focus on breathing can make me too aware of the pain in a way that undermines whatever I’m trying to do with the meditation.

Sometimes it is easier to get your body to relax by distracting yourself from it rather than focusing on it.

The whole embodied aspect of being a Druid generally inclines me to try not to tune out and ignore my body. That said, it’s something I’ve also something I’ve done a lot of, out of necessity. In such situations, more intense visualisation work can be good. Envisaging yourself as a tree, or a bird, or going on a guided meditation can be a helpful way of meditating when you need some respite from the realities of your own body.

If I want to be present but not overly focused on myself, my current go-to strategy is to listen. I’m fortunate in that my immediate soundscape includes a stream and usually a lot of bird song. I can meditate comfortably on what I can hear, which keeps me feeling present and engaged with the world while not having to be focused on myself. If you don’t have an environment that allows this, then playing something soothing may also work, although it won’t deliver you the benefit of engaging with what’s around you. Working with a physical object can be a good focus too, if that suits you better.

There are many ways of meditating and there’s a lot of advice out there – of variable quality. The most critical measure of a meditation practice is whether it works for you, and only you can decide what terms most matter. If you find something helpful, use it. There are many reasons to meditate, and many things you can seek in doing it – not all of them will suit everyone, so it’s fine to pick and choose. No matter how dogmatic anyone else is about what you ‘should’ be doing, the best choice is to be guided by what appeals to you, and what benefits you most on your own terms.