Contemplative Exercises
Hal Roth (Religious Studies) and Tori Smith (Hispanic Studies)
Whole Body Breathing (Classical Buddhism in South Asia)
- Begin by sitting upright in your chair; eyes closed; hands on your knees or in the “hand circle” position; head upright; breathing through your nose if possible.
- Take 3 deed and relaxing breaths. Gradually settle into your breathing.
- Bring your attention to your breathing.
- Note the feeling as it comes into your nostrils and goes into your abdomen; then comes back up from your abdomen and out through your nostrils.
- Keep following this cycle of breathing but gradually shift your attention to your whole body.
- Note if you are taking a long breath or a short breath.
- Breathe in with your whole body; breathe out with your whole body.
- Repeat until the bell rings.
Coiling and Uncoiling (Ancient Chinese Daoism)
- Begin by sitting upright in your chair; eyes closed; hands on your knees or in the hand circle position; head upright; breathing through your nose if possible.
- Take 3 deep and relaxing breaths. Gradually settle into your breathing.
- Bring your attention to your abdomen. Note the Upper Abdominal Breathing Muscles in the Diaphragm area
- Note the lower abdominal muscles in the area 3 finger widths below your navel.
- Imagine…not just as an idea, but as a real bodily feeling….that connecting these two areas is a coiled spring.
- As the spring expands, you inhale; as the spring contracts, you exhale.
- Repeat this focusing on the expansion and contraction of your upper and lower abdominals until the bell rings.
Bamboo Breathing (Modern Japanese Zen)
- Begin by sitting upright in your chair; eyes closed; hands resting in your lap in the hand circle position; head upright; breathing through your nose if possible.
- Take 3 deep and relaxing breaths. Gradually settle into your breathing.
- Bring your attention to your abdomen. Note the lower abdominal muscles in the area 3 finger widths below your navel.
- Paying careful attention to these muscles, take three normal breaths.
- On the fourth breath exhale in stages, like the nodes of a bamboo tree. Your breath will be controlled and released in these stages. You can 3 or 4 of 5 stages, the exact number is not important.
- On the last of these stages, breathe out completely and quickly relax and let your lungs fill up again with air.
- Repeat this controlled breathing practice until the bell rings.
Attending to the Breath in the Nostrils (Modern Southeast Asian Buddhism)
- Begin by sitting upright in your chair; eyes closed; hands on your knees; head upright; breathing through your nose if possible.
- Take 3 deep and relaxing breaths. Gradually settle into your breathing.
- Bring your attention to your breathing; do not attempt to control it.
- Note the feeling as it comes into your nostrils and goes out through your nostrils;
- Keep following this cycle of breathing focusing exclusively on the nostrils.
- Repeat until the bell rings.
Focusing on One Word (Mantra: Buddhism, Daoism, Hinduism; Centering Prayer)
- Begin by sitting upright in your chair; eyes closed; hands on your knees; head upright; breathing through your nose if possible.
- Take 3 deep and relaxing breaths. Gradually settle into your breathing.
- After setting into your breathing, bring your attention to focus on a single word: In Hinduism, the word chose is often OM; in Daoism it is the word “Dao”; In Centering Prayer, it is the word God; Dao means Way; you may choose one of these words or a one syllable word of your own choosing.
- As you breathe in slowly say that word silently as if it were a kind of internal chant.
a. As you breathe out, slowly say that word silently.
b. Repeat until the bell rings.
Breath Counting - Upper Abdominal Focus (All Buddhisms, Ancient and Modern, Asian and Western)
- Begin by sitting upright in your chair; eyes closed; hands on your knees or in the “hand circle” position; head upright; breathing through your nose if possible.
- Take 3 deep and relaxing breaths. Gradually settle into your breathing.
- Bring your attention to your breathing and focus on the upper abdominal breathing muscles in the diaphragm.
- As you breathe in, say to yourself the number 1; breathe out.
- As you breathe in, say to yourself the number 2; breathe out.
- As you breathe in, say to yourself the number 3; breathe out.