Counting breath, a method used in meditation training

Counting breath has long been a method used in meditation training. It appeared in Chinese literature as early as the Eastern Han Dynasty (25—220AD), when Buddhism was introduced to China. The famous Buddhist classic The Wisdom and Contemplation Sutra or An Ban Shou Yi Jing in Chinese discussed prolonged and intense contemplation, which played an essential role in cultivating oneself in Buddhism. Under the guidance of Buddhist doctrine, the practitioner’s mind was to be fixed in contemplation or meditation.  The phrase "Anban Shouyi"  literally means entering the state of Dhyana (Sanskrit term for mental focus) and Samadhi (Sanskrit: mystical unity) by counting one’s breaths.  Two techniques of Zen ("Chan" in Chinese) meditation are presented in this sutra.  The first is generally called  "counting one’s breath" and includes "the mind follows the breath, ceasing counting to reflect inwardly, and returning to purity …", — all of these may be considered the foundation of Buddhist practices such as "Six Marvelous Methods" (Liu Miao Fa, 六妙法) and Breath-counting Contemplation (Shuxi Guan Pai).

When I introduced qigong meditation to the patients of drug addiction, I heard many of them saying "meditation is not for me as I cannot sit still for one minute."  I realized that counting-breath method could be a very effective way to get them in a meditative mood, and boost their quality of awareness.  Here I would like to share it with you, and to see if it may help your meditation as well.

For many beginners, sitting down to meditate for 10 to 15 minutes could be a very frustrating or challenging experience since they have great difficulty calming their minds.  However, it is much easier to get them to do slow abdominal breathing exercises on a daily basis, since everyone has to breathe anyway.  One of the key components in my Integrative Meditation (IM) is belly breathing at the near resonance frequency (RF), also known as heart rate variability biofeedback,

The human cardiovascular system is known to have resonance characteristics, with the first RF at ~0.1 Hz or about 6 cycles/minute.[2, 3]  RF varies between 5 and 7 cycles per minute, probably depending on blood volume.[3, 4]  RF breathing stimulates the cardiovascular system to oscillate at that frequency at a very high amplitude and greatly stimulates the baroreflect system.[5, 6]  RF breathing is known to affect depression and stress symptoms as well as various somatic disease states.[7, 8].  I believe that including near RF breathing at the beginning of meditation training will make meditation easier and more feasible, and produce immediate physical and mental benefits for practitioners since clinical studies reveal that breathing at RF has therapeutic effects on asthma, hypertension, panic attacks, fibromyalgia, and major depression.[5,8]  Therefore, the first thing I do with my addiction patients is teach them to practice belly breathing, after showing them how beneficial it is to breathe slowly and deeply.

Study participants either get a MP4 player from me that includes a breathing instruction program (breathing at 6 times per minutes, or 10 seconds per nhale/exhale cycle) or download the EZ-Air program from www.bfe.org, set to 6 bpm. They use these materials to practice belly breathing everyday. In addition, I instruct them to make slow belly breathing a habit, to do it whenever possible, and to track how long they can practice each time without interruption.

Benefits of Counting Breaths

Counting breath is a very easy and effective way to start meditation training, as one can do it anytime and anywhere.

The ideal count is about 10 seconds per breathing cycle, which is near the resonance frequency of your body and will help tune up your autonomic nervous system…  By counting your slow belly breathing, you will achieve multiple benefits at the same time:

--You are doing belly breathing, instead of shallow breathing, to detoxify your body
--You are intentionally breathing at a slow frequency that tunes up your autonomic nervous system, helping you to relax more effectively
--Your attention is on the breathing, instead of whatever is bothering you, so your mind gets a chance to take a break
--You are training your breath, mind, and body all at once
--Your attention span will lengthen and you will gradually become more focused.