How Should I Breathe When Meditating?

“In, two, three, four. Out, two, three, four.” This is the standard you’re probably thinking of when you think of meditation. In reality, there are many different types of breathing techniques you can use, when meditating.

How it works

There are a number of different breathing techniques each suited to different meditation intentions.
Some techniques are focused on energy and stimulation, others are intended to create balance between mind and body or focus on developing calm.
Each approach focuses on distinct aspects of breathing such the rate and depth of inhalation and exhalation, the use of the nostrils, throat or diaphragm to vary the breathing style, and nature of mental focus.
Use your intentions to help select the right technique or start with Shamatha as a way of exploring the link between your mind and your breathing.

There’s the box breath, or Sama Vritti Pranayama, Zhuanqi, Kundalini and Shamatha, it can be difficult to choose which breathing technique you need to use, especially if you don’t know what you’re meditating for. That’s why it’s important you set an intention for your meditation practice; it’ll help you choose the right breathing techniques you use. Here are a few suggestions you can use to choose the right breathing techniques for your meditation practice.

Fire Breath or Kapalabhati

There are some meditation techniques that can help stimulate your motivation and energy, and one of these practices include fire breath, or Kapalabhati, which involves a series of short and powerful exhalations, in quick succession. This technique is all about energising yourself, and stimulating your body, so it’s best to use fire breath when you want to motivate and energize yourself.

Kundalini Breath

Kundalini or diaphragmatic breathing is all about using the diaphragm to help you breathe. It helps aid energy to move around the body. The diaphragm is also known to be one of the most efficient muscles that can help you breathe. In fact, by practicing diaphragmatic breathing, you’ll strengthen the muscle and take in more air with each breath by using this technique. It’s another energising breathing exercise, so if your meditation practice is about energising and stimulating your mind and body, this is a good technique to use.

Alternate Nostril Breathing or Pranayama

Pranayama is all about balancing your body’s energy, because it’s purifying it of whatever toxins or stress that may be built up. Additionally, Pranayama has balancing effects on both hemispheres of the brain, thus reducing stress, and calming the mind from any negative thoughts. It can also help reduce blood pressure and increase alertness. All you need to do is hold one nostril closed, while you inhale, hold your breath for a few seconds, close the other nostril, and breath out the other. This technique can be seen in many yoga practices but can also be a good starter for any meditation practice. That’s why it makes for a great breathing technique in energising meditation sessions or sessions focused on balancing your mind and body.

Zhuanqi Breath

This breathing technique is all about quietening your mind and breath, so that you can find harmony within your body and in the environment around you. What you need to do is focus on the breath, until it is quiet. With this breath, you need to focus on your abdominal muscles, and use them to breathe. As with Kundalini breathing, Zhuanqi focuses on making your abdominal muscles, and subsequently your diaphragm, move outwards and inwards, instead of your chest, so that you can take more air in, with each breath. This technique helps with slower, more calming meditation practices.

Shamatha Breathing

If you’re meditation practice is about focusing your mind, and removing distractions, Shamatha breathing can help. Essentially, you’re breathing as you normally would, but you’re focusing your mind on the breath and tuning into the rhythm of your body. So, as your mind wanders throughout the practice, you can always bring it back to the breath, thus helping your mind to focus, and return you to the intention of your meditation practice.

Kumbhaka Pranayama Breathing

Kumbhaka Pranayama is different from the other Pranayama breathing technique. In fact, Sama Vritti Pranayama or Box Breathing falls under this technique. Essentially, you’re holding your breath both before and after you inhale or exhale. This helps calm the body and mind. It lowers blood pressure and helps with metabolic processes as oxygen is used in the body. Depending on the technique you’re using, you are either holding your breath or exhaling longer than you’re inhaling. The best practice for beginners is box breathing, where you’re inhaling, holding, exhaling, and holding for equal lengths of time, usually between three to five seconds long.

Lion’s Breath or Simhasana

Like Box Breathing, Lion’s Breath is a pranayama that can help with relieving stress and removing toxins from the body. It’s another energising breath, as it utilises the vocal cords and throat, and even clears the passages in the upper chest. This breathing technique can mostly be found in yoga but can also be used in meditation. It’s especially useful in meditation practices that are focused on communication or the throat chakra. So, if you’re facing a situation where you need to speak a lot, such as public speaking, practicing meditation using Lion’s Breath can help you open the lines of communication, and focus on the things you want to say.

Choose Your Intention, Choose Your Breath

As mentioned before, whatever breathing technique you use depends on the intention you set for your meditation practice. Some techniques are more energising than others, while some are more calming. If you really don’t know how to choose, start with Shamatha breathing, and experiment from there. You’ll find yourself gravitating towards different ends of the spectrum, depending on the needs of your body and mind. So, don’t stress over what breathing technique you should use, focus on the intention of your practice instead, and the technique should follow.