BODY AS BODY  

Aware of an in-breath as an in-breath, I breathe in. 

Aware of an out-breath as an out-breath, I breathe out.  

Breathing in a long breath, I am aware of breathing in a long breath. 

Breathing out a long breath, I am aware of breathing out a long breath.  

Breathing in a short breath, I am aware of breathing in a short breath. 

Breathing out a short breath, I am aware of breathing out a short breath.  

Breathing in, I am aware of my whole body. 

Breathing out, I am aware of my whole body.  

Breathing in, I calm my whole body. 

Breathing out, I calm my whole body.

Mindfulness of Body

This is the awareness of the body as body; a reminder that the body is actually a collection of many parts. Skin, bones, teeth, nails, heart, lungs and all other parts; each is actually a small “body” located within the larger entity that we refer to as “the body.” In this foundation we train ourselves to observe the body part by part, rather than trying to observe the whole body at once, making mindfulness much more accessible. When we look at the body as composed of many parts, it also helps us to see the body as a body and not as “my” body or as “myself.” It is simply a physical form like all other physical forms. Since it is not “myself,” the body can also be called “selfless.” This foundation helps us to recognise that the body is impermanent, subject to injury, illness, and death, and therefore not a source of lasting happiness. In the Buddha’s words, it teaches us to “know the body as it really is.”

Focus

In focusing on the breath in this way, we begin to see how the breath and mind are intimately related. Our mind affects our breathing and our breathing affects our mind. In observing our breath we are observing our mind. Also, as our breath is a  function of our body, we begin to see that in observing our breath we are observing our body. So in this very simple practice, we are already bringing about the “yoga” or union of body, breath, and mind.

AWARENESS

Awareness has an amazingly powerful transformative effect, and this becomes apparent early on in your practice when you simply observe how the breath enters and leaves your body. Remember, this isn’t about consciously controlling or attempting to change your breathing patterns. As you pay attention, you will see the quality of your breathing change. Not necessarily in a linear way, but over time, there will be ever greater calmness; the breath grows deeper and slower.

WHY MINDFULNESS OF THE BODY IS IMPORTANT

(sourse: by Anne Cushman)

Here are just a few of the reasons that grounding your attention in your body is vital to the practice of awakening.

1. Your body is always right here, right now. This transient, mysterious body anchors you in the beauty or sorrow of each unfolding moment: the smell of pinon logs blazing in a woodstove, your grandmother’s frail hand in yours as you say goodbye. And it’s only when you’re present for these moments that it’s possible to be intimate with your life.
2. Your physical body is inextricably connected with your breath, your heart and your mind. So when you ground your practice in your body, you enhance your ability to investigate other aspects of your experience through your meditative attention — your energy, your emotions, your thoughts, your relationships — not as abstract ideas but as felt experiences. The breath is commonly used as a focal point for meditation. Feeling your breath from the inside as a sensuous, full-body experience is very different from — and for many people more compelling that — mentally focusing on it as if watching it from the outside.
3. Your body sensations can be a focal point around which to gather and unify a scattered mind. In the Satipatthana Sutta, the classic teaching on the Four Foundations of Mindfulness, the Buddha instructed his monks and nuns to know their bodies “up from the soles of their feet and down from the top of the hair.” As you learn to focus your attention this way in some specific aspect of your direct experience of your body, you are cultivating the art of what’s known in Pali as samatha. Samatha is frequently translated as “concentration,” but in English that word brings the unfortunate connotation of mental strain. What I’m talking about is concentration in the sense that an extract of vanilla is concentrated flavor, undiluted. Rather than your attention being dispersed, it is gathered together and unified, and like the flavor of vanilla extract, it becomes more powerful. When focused in the body, this kind of concentration is not a mental effort but an intensification of a felt sense of presence. In meditation, concentration works hand in hand with mindfulness.
4. Your body reveals that everything rises and passes away. As you settle your attention in your body, an important truth becomes obvious: it’s always changing. Each time you come to your yoga mat or meditation cushion, you’re inhabiting a slightly different body: tighter or looser, lighter or heavier, sleepier or more energetic. And as your attention becomes more refined, what you thought was solid — a foot, a hip, a hand — reveals itself as an evanescent flow of sensations that you can influence but not control.