Mindful Breathing

Breathing to Take Care of Anger

When the energy of anger, jealousy, or despair arises, we must know how to handle it; otherwise, these emotions will overwhelm us and cause immense suffering. Mindful breathing is a practice that helps us take care of our emotions.

First of all, we must understand that in order to care for our emotions, we must learn to care for our body. When we are aware of our in-breath and out-breath, we become aware of our body. “Breathing in, I am aware of my whole body. Breathing out, I am aware of my whole body.” Return to your body and embrace it with the energy of mindfulness generated by mindful breathing.

In daily life, being busy with this and that, we often forget that the body is very important to us. Our body may be aching or ill. We need to come back and tenderly embrace our body with mindfulness, like a mother holding her baby. After embracing the whole body, we can embrace each part in turn—eyes, nose, lungs, heart, liver, kidneys, and so on.

Practicing Total Relaxation to Care for and Heal Anger

The best position for practicing total relaxation is lying down.

First, bring your attention to one part of the body, for example, the heart. Breathing in, become aware of your heart; breathing out, smile to your heart. Send it your love and tenderness.

Next, help the body calm down: “Breathing in, I calm my whole body. Breathing out, I calm my whole body.” The body may be tense and restless; mindful breathing helps it relax and become at ease, and at the same time helps the mind to relax and settle.

When the breath becomes gentle and harmonious, continue breathing in this way and gradually direct your attention to other parts of the body, from head to toe.

This may take nearly half an hour. It is one of the most effective ways to express love and care for the body.

The energy of mindful breathing is like a beam of light illuminating each part of the body, similar to an X-ray machine in a hospital. But here the rays are not X-rays; they are rays of love and mindfulness.

The breath is part of the body. When we are angry or afraid, the breath becomes short and rapid, and its quality deteriorates. If we know how to breathe in and out with awareness, within just a few minutes the breath becomes calm and steady, and the mind also becomes peaceful.

Breathing is an art, just as meditation is an art. We must learn how to breathe in a way that harmonizes body and mind, without forcing or suppressing the breath.

We should practice total relaxation at least once a day, preferably in the evening before going to sleep. It is helpful to organize group practice for the whole family. At first, we may use a guided recording; later, we can guide the practice ourselves for everyone.

You Can Survive the Storm

There are simple ways to deal with strong emotions. One way is “belly breathing.” When a strong emotion such as fear or anger arises, the practice is to bring your attention down to the abdomen. Staying at the level of mental awareness can be dangerous. A strong emotion is like a storm passing through the mind. Standing in the middle of the storm (the realm of conscious thought) is very risky. Yet most of us remain there, allowing ourselves to be overwhelmed.

Instead, we should direct our attention to the roots below by focusing on mindful breathing and following the rising and falling of the abdomen. We can practice this while sitting or lying down.

When we look at a tall tree in a windstorm, we see its upper branches swaying violently, as if they could break at any moment. But when we look down at the trunk and roots, they remain solid and stable, able to withstand the storm. We are like that tree. Our brain is like the treetop in the storm of emotions; therefore, we must bring our attention down to the abdomen, around the navel (the dan tien). Begin practicing mindful breathing, focusing only on the breath and the movement of the abdomen. This is an essential practice because it helps us see that although emotions may be strong, they are temporary and will not last forever. Practicing in this way helps us get through emotional storms.

Remember that an emotion is just an emotion. It comes, stays for a while, and then goes away. Why should we die because of an emotion? We are more than our emotions. This is an important thing to remember. When a strong emotion arises, continue mindful breathing, focus on the dan tien, and always remember that it will pass. After a few successful experiences, your confidence will grow. Do not get caught in thoughts and feelings. Bring your attention down to your abdomen and breathe in and out. The storm will pass—do not be afraid.

Recognizing and Embracing Mental Formations

We embrace the body with mindfulness to calm it. We do the same with mental formations. “Breathing in, I am aware of the mental formation in me. Breathing out, I calm the mental formation in me.” Buddhist psychology distinguishes fifty-one mental formations. Some are unwholesome, such as greed, anger, and delusion. Others are wholesome, such as mindfulness, concentration, loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity.

When a wholesome mental formation, such as joy or compassion, arises, we breathe mindfully to become aware of it. Embracing these wholesome states with mindful breathing allows them to grow stronger. Mindful breathing helps us sustain them longer and deepen our awareness of them. Therefore, practicing the embracing of wholesome mental formations—joy, happiness, love—is very important because they nourish us. We often say, “The joy of meditation is nourishment,” because the joy born of mindfulness sustains and supports us like wholesome food.

Similarly, when unwholesome mental formations such as anger or jealousy arise, we return to ourselves and use mindful breathing to calm and embrace them, like a mother holding her feverish child. “Breathing in, I calm the mental formation in me. Breathing out, I calm the mental formation in me.”

The Seed of Anger, the Seed of Compassion

We often speak of consciousness as a field. All kinds of seeds (mental formations) are buried in that field, called store consciousness. Mental formations arise in the realm of consciousness and, after some time, settle back into store consciousness in the form of seeds.

The seed of compassion is also present in store consciousness. When we touch or water a seed, it manifests in conscious awareness. If we water a positive seed, we feel joy and happiness; if we water a negative seed, we suffer. When joy or suffering remains dormant in store consciousness, it is a seed. When it manifests in conscious awareness, it becomes a mental formation. We must recognize anger in both forms: as a seed in store consciousness and as a mental formation in conscious awareness. A mental formation is a zone of energy manifesting in consciousness. Even when our anger has not yet manifested, it is still present in store consciousness as a seed.

Everyone has the seed of anger within. When it has not manifested, we feel fresh, calm, and pleasant. We smile and speak naturally. But that does not mean anger is absent; it simply has not yet arisen. It is always there in store consciousness. When someone touches or waters that seed through words or actions, anger can manifest in our “living room” very quickly.

A good meditation practitioner is not someone who never feels anger or suffering—that is impossible. A good practitioner is someone who knows how to take care of anger and suffering as soon as they arise. Without practice, we do not know how to handle the energy of anger when it manifests and can easily be overwhelmed.

If you practice mindfulness, you will never allow anger to overwhelm you. You will invite the seed of mindfulness to arise and take care of your anger. Mindful breathing and mindful walking will help you do that.

Habit Energy and Mindful Breathing

All of us have habit energies. We are intelligent enough to know that acting out of habit can cause damage. Yet when we are angry, we still speak and act according to our habits, creating much suffering in our relationships. Afterwards, we regret it and promise ourselves we will never speak or act that way again. We are sincere—but the next time anger arises, we repeat the same patterns and cause the same harm.

Intelligence and knowledge alone cannot transform habit energies. Only the practice of recognizing, embracing, and transforming can help. Therefore, the Buddha taught us to practice mindful breathing to recognize and take care of habit energy as soon as it appears. If we can embrace the energy of habit with the energy of mindfulness, we will avoid wrongdoing and remain safe.

A young American man once came to practice at Plum Village. For three weeks he practiced diligently and walked with stability and solidity. One day, he was assigned to go to the market to buy food for Thanksgiving. While shopping, he suddenly noticed that he was rushing and hurrying, wanting to finish quickly and return.

It was the first time in three weeks that he felt such haste. At Plum Village, he practiced within a strong Sangha. Supported by the collective energy of the community, his habit of rushing had no chance to arise. That day, shopping alone without the Sangha’s protective energy, his habit energy manifested immediately.

He recognized it quickly and realized that this habit energy had been transmitted to him by his mother, who was always in a hurry. Seeing this, he returned to mindful breathing and silently said, “Hello, Mom. I know you are there.” Immediately, the rushing habit energy disappeared. He had recognized and embraced it with mindfulness and was able to transform it. He regained the peace and solidity he had before going to the market. He knew his success was thanks to his practice at Plum Village.

All of us can do the same. Whenever a habit energy arises, we only need to recognize it and call it by its true name. We breathe mindfully and say, “Hello, my jealousy habit. Hello, my anxiety habit. Hello, my irritation and anger habit. I know you are there, and I will take care of you with all my mindfulness.” Breathing in, we recognize our habit energy; breathing out, we smile. In doing so, the habit energy no longer controls us. We are safe. We are free.