The Breath of Life — Buddhist Approaches to Calm and Self-awareness — Thich Nhat Hanh
Calm and collected, at peace — no worries bothering us, a little smile on a serene face. Sounds too good to be true?
It’s there. It’s in breath meditation, so I found, the simplest and most effective way of connecting with your inner being, your emotions — and take care of your grown-up personality.
There are several guides around, today I’d like to introduce one by Thich Nhat Hanh, who elaborated on the Buddhist 16 exercises of mindful breathing to help towards meditation and self-awareness. He is widely known and appreciated, a Buddhist monk, teacher and writer of books of instruction. I recommend trying a good audio recording and listening in quiet moments to that.
It’s not about judging yourself harshly. About following a strict routine never to be deviated from. Judging yourself perhaps even harsher when letting off a day or two.
It’s about a basic and almost simple approach of watching your breath.
I’ve practised Yoga since I was 16, I’ve read a lot and have gone through hard times. Was raised by smart and kind parents who knew that any kind of drug many people tragically try first to reach calm, will destroy mind and body in the end, sooner or later.
Still, life can be full of hardship, pain and suffering. Depending on the surroundings we grow up in and our individual constitution they leave scars and can lead to worrying, too.
These exercises help to focus and learn the true principle of how to love yourself — so you can also practice neighbourly love, eventually.
