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Breathing Meditation

For my project I decided to practice different types of meditations throughout the semester. I picked meditation specifically because last semester I started doing yoga before going to bed. It has made me a more relaxed person, but I was interested in trying other types of meditation. The first type of meditation I tried for the semester was breathing meditation. I only did it for five minutes every other day, but I noticed that I felt different compared to doing yoga.

During the five minutes before going to bed, I got my yoga mat out, I sat or laid down and just focused on my breathing. I cleared all thoughts out of my mind, laid my hands on my stomach, and focused only on inhaling and exhaling. By doing this for two weeks, I did feel more relaxed but noticed differences between what I was feeling before, during, and after meditating.

Towards the end of the day, I’m usually stressed about all the things I have to do tomorrow. Around 9:50pm I stop working and plan to get up at 6am to finish anything I have to do. So, I sat or laid down and inhaled and exhaled. I tried my best to clear any thoughts about how my day was or any anticipation of tomorrow. When I did this, I noticed that I was more aware of how my surroundings impacted me.

To explain, the cross-cultural insight that I gained is seeing myself impacted by my environment. Chapter 1 of Clash! discusses the Taoism culture’s perspective of the self being interdependent with its surroundings (29). So, when I was clearing my mind of all my thoughts, I started to visualize my breathing as a wave crashing to the shore and going back to the ocean. In my mind I was a part of the ocean. I love swimming, so it made sense to picture my body in this way.

Some things I found interesting was that after breathing in and out for five minutes that I felt lighter and ready for sleep. My mind and body felt more relaxed. Also, the heater and refrigerator in my apartment sounded louder even though I know it did not change. I completely forgot about my stress and was more focused on the sounds in my apartment. Meditating felt like a mind and body connection to the outside world.

My goal for this project is to not only be more aware of my thoughts but to also strive for self-transcendence. From class we talked about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and that the highest thing a human can reach is self-transcendence which means focusing more on your connection to others (Muñoz ppt. 1/27/2020). I would say I am a more independent person compared to an interdependent person, but I would like to achieve both. Being able to do things yourself but also have meaningful relationships with people and the environment is key for good mental health. Overall, I liked doing breathing meditation and I am excited to try other types in the near future!