Excerpts from "Be Kind to Your Breath" by Edward Espe Brown

On allowing the breath

Brown writes: "When I was first studying Zen, we were taught to "follow" the breath and also to "count" the breath. The sense of following the breath is that the thinking mind—the self in the head—is not directing or leading the breath, not telling it what to do or how to be: it's not telling it to be longer, deeper or calmer, but allowing the breath to fulfill itself, allowing the breath in the abdomen to "in-form" the body/mind."

On exhalation

Occasionally someone would ask about instructions mentioned in books they had read to "put strength into the exhalation," or "push down on the exhalation," and Suzuki Roshi would say that while it might be a good idea, most people tended to overdo it, so he did not teach it. What he did say was that "if you exhale smoothly, without even trying to exhale, you are entering into the complete perfect calmness of your mind. The important point is your exhalation. Instead of trying to feel yourself as you inhale, fade into emptiness as you exhale. You become one with everything after you completely exhale with this feeling. If you are still alive, naturally you will inhale again, 'Oh, I'm still alive! Fortunately or unfortunately!'"

Be kind to your breath

"In one lecture [Suzuki Roshi] mentioned having a feeling of kindness for your breath: "If we do not have some warm, big satisfaction in our practice, that is not true practice. Even though you sit, trying to have the right posture and counting your breath, it may still be lifeless zazen, because you are just following instructions. You are not kind enough with yourself. Be very kind with your breathing, one breath after another."

Source: Edward Espe Brown's essay, "Be Kind To Your Breath," was part of a collection of short writings on the breath entitled "Breathing Lessons." It appeared in the Shambala Sun, July 2003, p. 58. Copyright © 2008 Shambhala Sun