ZEN in daily life -WOOKOK Zen Center-

■ Breathing during practice

After adopting a proper sitting posture, widen your chest and exhale calmly, releasing the tension of your body. As you widen your chest again, do not inhale consciously just allow your lungs to be filled with air naturally. Then, slowly and gently release the air, and continue exhaling deeply. Allow your mind to sink down to your lower abdomen. Calm down your body and your breathing with three long exhales, and keep your mind and breath in the lower abdomen, induce natural exhales (not consciously pushing the air out, but letting it happen naturally).

At this point, there is no need to consciously control the speed or quantity of each breath; just continue your breathing as it is, whether short or long, heavy or light, coarse or gentle. Concentrate on your heartbeat, with attention to each exhale.

When the breathing is adjusted, the mind also calms down. When the mind calms down, the breathing becomes softer and deeper. If the breathing and the mind calm each other in this way, the practitioner can completely forget about his own breathing.

The ultimate breathing is not only through the nose but also through the pores of the skin. The practice of Sitting Zen meditation is more than the simple and repetitive respiratory action of inhaling and exhaling. You should understand that it is also the practice of acquiring the virtue that unites the energy of the great universe with the innate energy of the small universe inside each of us. That is why you should not consciously control or interrupt your breathing in Sitting Zen meditation.