>>41416365
>i've only been going at it for about a week
that's ok, but I'm sure you're aware its not even a drop in the bucket
>begin slowly breathing in through the nose, out through the mouth
there's no need to go out through the mouth or do any sort of this path switching
>focus on the space between/behind the eyes, while letting thoughts come and go in succession and observing them
while it is necessary to understand that the seat of awareness lies in the midbrain, it winds up being counterproductive to focus too much here at an early stage
try this to learn how to breathe properly for meditation
draw warm bath, lay back in it so that the water goes against the eardrums
note how much you sniff at the air while "breathing normally" (you dont want to do this)
learn how to get the breath completely silent by using the diaphragm properly on the inhale, mitigating its movement while transitioning between inhale and exhale so as not to affect any appreciable air pressure changes in the system, support the exhale with the perineum and abdominal muscles
exhale fully but not to the point of strain, learn to roll the motion smoothly into the next inhale
now take what you have learned and use it while seated
its better to sit up straight rather than lay down
although its a good end to the last meditation of the day to transition from seated to laying down and continue the practice off into sleep
remember to relax, remember to keep the awareness focused at all times
the better you pay attention, the better the process is written to the default instruction set operated by the medulla
muscle memory simply works in this way regarding attention, so this goes for anything whether its a golf swing or doing math
stillness is the most important first thing to learn, and since breathing is the more coarse ongoing bodily function we have control over, its just simply the best place to begin
