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In this lesson, I go over the basic technique of following and counting the breath that you should use in your mediation sessions during this entire course.

I also give an advanced breath meditation technique at the end for advanced members.

Exercises

Please complete one of these exercises:

  1. Beginner: Try to spend about two minutes paying attention to your breath — count each breath, one for in-breath, two for out-breath, up to 10. Then start again. When you notice your mind wander, just gently come back. There will be a lot of wandering and coming back! Do this exercise each time you sit down to meditate for the rest of the course.
  2. Advanced: Start by counting your breath as in the exercise above. Then after a couple of sequences of counting to 10, try to merge yourself into the breath and the number you’re counting. Remove your separation from them and become the breath and the number, with nothing else existing in the universe. This isn’t easy and takes a lot of practice.