Breathing in, I Know I'm Breathing in | Thich Nhat Hanh (short teaching video)

In the Sutra on Mindful Breathing,
the first exercise the Buddha offers is...

"In, Out."

(Vietnamese)

"Breathing in, I know this is my in-breath;

Breathing out, I know this is my out-breath."

"Breathing in, I know I'm breathing in;
Breathing out, I know I'm breathing out."

It's like a children's game.

To identify your in-breath as in-breath.

To identify your out-breath as out-breath.

While you breath in, you are completely aware
that this is

your in-breath.

Your in-breath may last
10 seconds

or 15 seconds.

And during these 10 seconds,
or 15 seconds, you may have one second

fully aware that this is your in-breath.

Nothing prevents you
to maintain that awareness

during that whole time of your in-breath.

If you only have one second or half a second
of mindfulness that this is your in-breath,

that is not so bad.

That's not too bad already.

But you can do much better.

During the whole time of breathing in,
you maintain that awareness alive:

"This is my in-breath."

Suppose your in-breath begins here,
and ends here.

This is the length of your in-breath.

15 seconds
or 10 seconds.

And suppose your finger is your awareness.

If you breathe without your awareness,
that is not practice.

Now you are breathing with your awareness.

Breathing in...

I know I'm breathing in...

Your finger always stayed with your in-breath.

Never took off like an airplane!

And you may use just one word, "in."

"In"...

"Out"...

And this is your training.

And if you know how to do it,
you get the pleasure of the practice.

This is not something
hard to do.

You don't need to make any effort.

You just enjoy in-breath,
and you are completely aware that this is

your in-breath:
You keep your awareness alive

during 10 or 15 seconds.

And those of us who pay attention to
the rising of the abdomen

and the falling of our abdomen.

Breathing in, I notice that
my abdomen is rising.

Breathing out, I notice that
my abdomen is falling.

That is one of the ways we maintain
the awareness alive

during the whole time of
breathing in and breathing out.

And it can be very pleasant.

Whether you are in the sitting position,
or in the lying position,

breathing is always a pleasure.

And your mind is completely focused
on your in-breath and out-breath.

You stop your thinking altogether.

Because awareness is not thinking.

"Breathing in, this is my in-breath" -
This is not thinking.

That's pure awareness that something
is happening in the here and the now.

That something is "I am breathing in."

And that is awareness.

That is mindfulness.

Since mindfulness is there,
concentration is there.

Because when you are mindful of something,
and if you are fully aware of it,

you are concentrated on it.

You are concentrated on one thing:
your in-breath.

That is why you know that
the energy of mindfulness...

carries within herself
the energy of concentration.

Concentration is born from mindfulness.

Mindfulness is the mother.

Concentration is the daughter.

And mother and daughter are
just the continuation.

Mindfulness is always mindfulness of something.

In this case, mindfulness of your in-breath.

Concentration is concentration on something.

And here, you are concentrated on your in-breath.

And in mindfulness and concentration
you can stop your thinking altogether.

That is something very important.

Because there are those of us
who cannot stop thinking.

There's a cassette tape
always running in our head.

We think of this, we think of that.

We cannot stop our thinking.

And we overthink.

We think too much.

It's like a TV set left on the whole night.

It becomes very hot.

Your head is also like that.

If you keep thinking,
your head becomes hot.

And you cannot sleep.

You want to find a button
so you can stop thinking

but there's no such button at all.

Because your head is not a TV set.

Your head is not a cassette player.

There's no button.

Fortunately, there is the practice of
mindful breathing.

And when you practice
mindful breathing in and out,

you stop your thinking.

Your mind is focused.

During your in-breath and out-breath
you enjoy so much breathing in and out,

that you forget thinking.

And this is very healing.

Those of us who cannot stop thinking,
who get our head hot,

who imagine a lot of things,

whose thinking produces
a lot of fear, of despair,

we know that thinking is not helping at all.

Thinking leads you to more confusion,
to more fear,

to more uncertainty.

Therefore thinking is not being.

I think therefore I am not.

I'm not alive.

And therefore stopping the thinking
is the beginning of being alive

because, in the state of non-thinking,
you are really with your in-breath,

you are really with your out-breath,
you are really with the flower,

you are really with the blue sky.

Touching deeply
you don't need the thinking.

The thinking removes the true, deep contact.

And that is why
to learn, to train ourselves in mindful breathing

in and out
and to stop the thinking

we can heal ourselves...
we can begin to touch the wonders of life

that are available
that realize our healing.

Because these elements have the power
to nourish, to refresh and to heal.

The first exercise proposed by the Buddha is

already a big step.
And it's so simple.

So easy.

You can enjoy doing that.

This is not hard work.

That is for your enjoyment.

Breathing in,
I'm aware that I am breathing in.

I'm aware that I'm alive.

And being alive is a miracle.

This is a practice of resurrection.

People don't live their lives.

Their body is there, but their mind is elsewhere,
caught in their worries, the future, and the past.

And only one mindful in-breath helps them
to go home to themselves

and become alive again.

Resurrection is not a ritual.

Resurrection is a practice, and every time
you go back to your in-breath and out-breath,

every time you use your foot
to take a mindful step,

you become alive again.

That is truly a practice of resurrection.

To bring your life back.

The first exercise of mindful breathing
is a gift

made by the Buddha.

Please enjoy it.

Share it with your beloved one.

Share it with your partner, with your child.

Hold her hand, invite her to sit down

and to enjoy her in-breath
and her out-breath.

Darling, let us breathe in
and become aware of our in-breath.

And your energy of mindfulness supports
him or her in doing the same.

This is love.

And you may like to invite him or her
to go walking meditation,

and both of you do nothing except

enjoy your steps,
your in-breaths and out-breaths,

and get in touch with life.

Both of you are Buddhas at that time

because you are inhabited
by the energy of mindfulness.

When you practice mindfulness,
you are a Buddha.

And if you practice the whole day,
you are a full-time Buddha.

If you just practice half an hour a day,
one hour a day, you are a part-time Buddha.

The second exercise offered by the Buddha
is "Long, Short."

That is a practice of following your breath.

The first one is to identify your in-breath
as your in-breath,

your out-breath as your out-breath.

The second helps you enjoy the first practice
all the way through.

Breathing in a long breath, I know that
I'm breathing in a long breath.

It means I enjoy my breath
from the beginning to the end.

Breathing in a short breath, I know
I'm breathing in a short breath.

The practice is not to try
to make your in-breath longer.

If it is short, allow it to be short.

If it is long, allow it to be long.

Don't try to force your in-breath and
your out-breath the way you want.

This is very important.

You allow your in-breath and out-breath
to be what they are.

Don't try to force, don't try to bend...
don't try to work on it.

We have heard expressions like "breathwork."

That's not working!

The practice of mindfulness is the practice
of becoming aware of what is going on.

If your in-breath is short, you know that
your in-breath is short.

You don't criticize.

You don't condemn.

You don't judge.

You allow it to be like that.

That is what you call simple, mere recognition.

Just turn on the light of mindfulness and
become aware of it.

Like... you look at a child
playing on the ground.

You don't interfere.

You just become aware of the child.

So your in-breath is a child.

Your in-breath might be short, might be long.

You allow it to be what it is.

You just turn on the light of mindfulness
and become aware of your in-breath.

And yet something will happen by itself.

If you become aware of your in-breath
like that for a few moments,

the quality of your in-breath will improve.

It's like a flower.

Your in-breath is like a flower.

And your mindfulness is like the sunshine.

The sunshine just embraces
and recognizes the flower.

And yet the sunshine will have
an effect on the flower.

Mindfulness is like the sunshine.

It is a kind of energy.

That energy is to recognize, to embrace.

And by recognizing and embracing,
that energy has good influence.

on what it recognizes
and what it embraces.

In the morning, the flower hasn't opened yet.

But the sunshine continues to shine, to embrace.

And we know the sunshine is made of
particles called photons.

And the photons embrace.

They're not satisfied with
going around the flower.

They penetrate into the flower.

And one hour, two hours later,
under the influence of that sunshine,

the flower opens herself.

So our in-breath is like that.

Our out-breath is like that.

It's a flower.

And recognized by the energy of mindfulness,

it will transform itself naturally
without your intervention.

And this you can notice in your practice.

You don't try to make your in-breath
longer or deeper.

But if you become aware
of your in-breath and out-breath,

they will naturally become deeper,

longer, and more harmonious.

The quality of your in-breath will improve
with the energy of mindfulness embracing it.

One minute can already make a difference.

If you spend one minute
breathing in and out mindfully,

you notice the quality of
your in-breath and out-breath increase

deeper, longer, more harmonious.

And if you practice, if you continue
for a few minutes,

you'll notice that
more peace, more harmony

will come to you,
through your in-breath and out-breath.

Because your in-breath and out-breath
will have an influence on your body

and will have an influence on your feelings.

On one side there's your body,
on the other side there is your feeling.

And if your in-breath has become
more harmonious, deeper, slower,

then your body will profit from these.

deeper, slower, more harmonious.

And your feelings also.

It will inherit from these qualities
of your in-breath.