Mindfulness of breathing (anapanasati): a practical guide

Mindfulness of breathing step by step: where to feel the breath, counting, long and short breaths, the 16 steps in brief, calm and insight, and common problems.

Mindfulness of breathing (ānāpānassati) means knowing the breath as it comes in and goes out, without trying to control it. It needs nothing but a body that breathes, which is why it is the first meditation many people learn. In the Ānāpānassati Sutta (MN 118) the Buddha calls it very fruitful and very beneficial, and teaches it in sixteen steps that lead from a calm body all the way to insight. This page is a practical guide: where to feel the breath, how to count, what 'long' and 'short' breathing mean, the sixteen steps in brief, how breath meditation serves both calm and insight, and what to do about common problems.

What mindfulness of breathing is

The Pali word joins āna, the in-breath, apāna, the out-breath, and sati, mindfulness. So ānāpānassati is mindfulness of breathing in and out. It is not a breathing exercise: you do not deepen, slow or hold the breath. You let the body breathe as it wants and know what it is doing. The breath is always present, always changing, and sits on the border between what we control and what happens by itself, which makes it a good teacher of both calm and insight.

Ānāpānassati, bhikkhave, bhāvitā bahulīkatā mahapphalā hoti mahānisaṁsā.
Ānāpānassati, bhikkhave, bhāvitā bahulīkatā cattāro satipaṭṭhāne paripūreti.
Cattāro satipaṭṭhānā bhāvitā bahulīkatā satta bojjhaṅge paripūrenti.
Satta bojjhaṅgā bhāvitā bahulīkatā vijjāvimuttiṁ paripūrenti.
Mendicants, mindfulness of breathing, when developed and practised often, is very fruitful and very beneficial. Mindfulness of breathing, developed and practised often, fulfils the four foundations of mindfulness. The four foundations of mindfulness, developed and practised often, fulfil the seven factors of awakening. The seven factors of awakening, developed and practised often, fulfil knowledge and freedom.
MN 118

The Buddha gave this teaching at Sāvatthī on a full-moon night, in the open air, to a large gathering of monks sitting in deep silence around him. The whole path is in those four sentences: the breath alone can carry practice from the first quiet minute to liberation.

Sitting down to begin

The instruction starts with posture. A meditator goes to a quiet place, sits down cross-legged, sets the body straight and establishes mindfulness in front. Then comes the breathing, and before any technique there is only this simple attention.

So satova assasati, satova passasati.
Mindful, one breathes in; mindful, one breathes out.
MN 118

Any steady, upright posture works, on the floor or on a chair; see meditation posture. Close the eyes or lower the gaze, let the shoulders drop, and take a few moments to feel the body sitting before you turn to the breath.

Where to feel the breath

Choose one place where the breath is clear for you and stay there for the whole sitting. Three places are common:

The nostrils or upper lip: the touch of air entering and leaving, cool on the way in and slightly warmer on the way out. This is a fine, precise point that suits calm.
The chest: the gentle widening and narrowing of the ribs.
The abdomen: the rising and falling of the belly, a broad, easy movement. The vipassana noting method uses it, as explained under rising and falling.

Do not follow the air down into the lungs and back out again. The commentaries compare the meditator to a gatekeeper who notes each person passing through the gate without following anyone into the town or out of it. Stay at your spot and know the breath as it passes.

Counting the breath for beginners

If the mind wanders a great deal, counting helps. The method described in the Visuddhimagga is to count the breaths from one up to a number between five and ten, never fewer than five and never more than ten, and then begin again at one. For example: breathe in and out, count 'one'; in and out, 'two'; and so on up to eight, then back to one. If you lose count, start again at one without fuss. Counting is a support, not the practice itself. Once attention can rest on the breath without slipping, let the numbers go and simply know the breathing.

Long breath, short breath

The sixteen steps begin with plain knowing.

Dīghaṁ vā assasanto dīghaṁ assasāmīti pajānāti,
dīghaṁ vā passasanto dīghaṁ passasāmīti pajānāti;
rassaṁ vā assasanto rassaṁ assasāmīti pajānāti,
rassaṁ vā passasanto rassaṁ passasāmīti pajānāti.
Breathing in long, one knows: 'I breathe in long.' Breathing out long, one knows: 'I breathe out long.' Breathing in short, one knows: 'I breathe in short.' Breathing out short, one knows: 'I breathe out short.'
MN 118

You do not make the breath long or short; you notice which it is. A calm body tends to breathe longer and more softly, an agitated one shorter. Simply knowing this, breath by breath, is already mindfulness of breathing. The Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta compares it to a skilled lathe-turner who knows when he draws a long pull and when a short one: attention close to the work, without forcing it.

The 16 steps of anapanasati in brief

After the first two steps, the wording changes from 'one knows' to 'one trains': the meditator now shapes the attention. The sixteen steps fall into four groups of four, and each group matches one of the four foundations of mindfulness. Read the whole text in our translation of the Anapanasati Sutta.

Body (steps 1 to 4): knowing a long breath; knowing a short breath; breathing in and out experiencing the whole body; breathing in and out calming the activity of the body.
Feelings (5 to 8): experiencing rapture; experiencing happiness; experiencing the activity of the mind; calming the activity of the mind.
Mind (9 to 12): experiencing the mind; gladdening the mind; steadying the mind in concentration; freeing the mind.
Insight (13 to 16): observing impermanence; observing fading away; observing cessation; observing letting go.

'The whole body' in step three is read in two ways. The commentaries take it as the whole length of each breath, its beginning, middle and end; many teachers today also read it as the whole physical body, felt as it breathes. Both readings work in practice. 'The activity of the body' is the breathing itself, and 'the activity of the mind' is perception and feeling. The sutta then explains how these four groups fulfil the four foundations of mindfulness, how those fulfil the seven factors of awakening (mindfulness, investigation, energy, rapture, tranquillity, concentration and equanimity), and how those fulfil knowledge and freedom.

Calm and insight with breath meditation

Breath meditation can serve both sides of practice. Calming the body, experiencing rapture and happiness, and steadying the mind are the work of calm (samatha); for some meditators the breath becomes the object of deep absorption, described on the page on jhana. The last four steps are plainly insight (vipassanā): seeing the breath, and everything felt with it, come and go, fade, cease and be let go. The Visuddhimagga explains that the first three groups serve both calm and insight, while the fourth is insight alone. In practice the two grow together: a calmer mind sees more clearly, and seeing clearly makes the mind calmer. The page on samatha and vipassana explains how they combine.

Common problems in breathing meditation

Controlling the breath: as soon as you watch it, the breath turns stiff or forced. This is very common. Widen attention for a few breaths to the whole body sitting, let the breath do what it likes, and come back lightly.
Tightness or breathlessness: usually a sign of trying too hard. Open your eyes, relax the belly and shoulders, and rest attention on the feet or the hands for a while.
The breath grows faint: as the body calms, the breath can become so fine it seems to vanish. It has not; keep attention at the same spot and you will find it again. Do not breathe harder to make it clear.
Sleepiness: sit up straighter, open the eyes, take a few deliberate breaths, or get up for some walking meditation.
Constant wandering: use counting for a while, or note 'thinking' each time and return.
Lights, images or unusual sensations: note them and return to the breath. Do not chase them or treat them as signs of progress.
Breath that brings anxiety: for some people, attention on breathing raises worry or panic. Use another object, such as the feel of the hands, the contact with the seat or sounds, and come back to the breath later, if at all.

How long to practise mindfulness of breathing

Ten to twenty minutes a day is a good start, and many people build up to thirty or forty-five. Begin each sitting by settling the posture, then spend the first minutes simply knowing long and short breaths, counting if needed. As things settle, let the counting go and stay with the touch of the breath. At the end, before you get up, notice how body and mind feel compared with when you sat down. Keep it regular rather than long; mindfulness of breathing rewards steady practice, a little every day.

Breath practice suits most people, but intensive practice is not a treatment for mental illness: if you have a history of serious mental illness, talk to a doctor and an experienced teacher before a retreat or long daily sittings. For a full home routine that adds walking and noting, see how to do vipassana.

Based on: Ānāpānassati Sutta (MN 118) · Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (MN 10) · Visuddhimagga, by Buddhaghosa