The Diverse Approaches to Meditation

Photo by Bob Osias on Unsplash

Last year, I committed to daily meditation as a means to manage my long-standing anxiety. By the year's end, I had completed 1,000 meditation sessions, far exceeding my initial goal. One significant lesson I learned during this journey is the distinction between breathwork and meditation.

Exploring One Thousand Meditations

The concept of "One Thousand Meditations" is elaborated by Alec Zarenkiewicz in Three Minute Thoughts.

Breath is fundamental to any meditation practice. Interestingly, allowing your lungs to breathe naturally can be surprisingly difficult. Breathwork serves as a complementary practice to meditation, acting as a valuable tool to reconnect with your breath.

“Without full awareness of breathing, there can be no development of meditative stability and understanding.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

Often, breathwork is confused with meditation. While meditation involves actively engaging in mental exercises—such as focusing on your breath or repeating a mantra to cultivate spiritual awareness and alleviate stress—breathwork refers to conscious, controlled breathing specifically aimed at relaxation, meditation, or therapeutic purposes. It acts as a facilitator for quickly entering a meditative state, enhancing mindfulness.

Taking slow, deep breaths stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, a network of nerves that helps relax the body after stress or danger. A 2018 study indicated that slow, deep breathing can increase feelings of comfort, relaxation, pleasantness, vigor, and alertness while simultaneously decreasing anxiety, depression, anger, and confusion. Moreover, it engages the central nervous system in ways that only those with extensive neurobiology knowledge could fully describe.

Let’s engage in some breathing exercises now! Slowly inhale through your diaphragm and then exhale as gradually as you can, releasing all the air in your lungs. Repeat this process at least two more times. If you feel comfortable, extend it to five or even ten breaths. How do you feel?

Oxygen is an incredibly powerful substance. There’s nothing quite like a breath of fresh air. Similar to meditation, there are various forms of breathwork. Common practices include Diaphragmatic Breathing (or belly-breathing), Pursed Lip Breathing, Box Breathing, 4–7–8 Breathing, and Alternate Nostril Breathing.

These techniques, inspired by both scientific research and ancient traditions like Pranayama, are integral to many breathwork styles. Other methods include Vivation, Transformational Breath, Tummo Breathing, as well as Shamanic, Holotropic, Clarity, and Rebirthing Breathwork. If you’re new to breathwork, I suggest starting with the aforementioned exercises before exploring specific modalities.

I have personally explored the Wim Hof method (similar to Tummo Breathing), Box Breathing, Dr. Weil’s 4–7–8 method, Holotropic Breathwork, and numerous styles of Pranayama. I find Box Breathing and the 4–7–8 technique to be particularly practical, as they can be done almost anywhere at any time. Like meditation, breathwork may not be suitable for everyone, so it’s advisable to consult a healthcare professional before embarking on these practices.

Consciously managing your breath can be more challenging than it appears. Breathing, like blinking or swallowing, is an automatic bodily function. Many have experienced the difficulty of consciously controlling any of these actions, only to find it hard to return to a natural state. This realization emphasizes the need for practice.

Beyond blinking and swallowing, have you ever been explicitly taught how to breathe? It’s often presumed to be instinctual—common knowledge! However, the prevalence of improper breathing techniques suggests otherwise.

In my experience, the more I practiced breathwork, the easier it became to let my breath flow naturally during meditation. I began taking deeper breaths more frequently in stressful or emotional situations. If you're interested in meditation or are already practicing it, consider this an invitation to develop stability and understanding in your practice by becoming fully aware of your breath!

Chapter 4 Title

This first video demonstrates a 10-minute breathwork and light meditation designed for beginners, helping to enhance focus and mindfulness.

Chapter 5 Title

The second video guides viewers through a 15-minute breathwork meditation aimed at resetting the nervous system, featuring moments of silence for deep reflection.