anapana breath meditation: controlled or natural breath? Is it wrong to intentionally breathe long?

Re: Not supposed to control breathing during anapanasati?

Post by frank k » Mon Dec 21, 2020 2:42 pm

dpcalder wrote: ↑Sun Dec 20, 2020 9:22 pmI'm a little puzzled by the idea that we are not supposed to control our breathing during anapanasati. I guess my main concern is that I tend to suffer from shortness of breath due to anxiety, so I like to take really long and deep breaths, and occasionally hold the breath in my lungs for a few seconds. Is it wrong to focus on taking take breaths as opposed to allowing the breath to flow naturally, either "short" breathing or "long" breathing? Does doing this cause inordinate attention upon the breath that might impede meditation results?

It's perfectly fine to intentionally adjust one's breath to pacify the body (passadhi awakening factor #5 of 7) to make it comfortable, relaxed, not stressed. The point of steps 1 and 2 of knowing long or short, is to train the mind to avoid unwanted thought and focus on the breath, by being consciously aware of it. While it's counterproductive to control breath in the sense of, for example, intentionally breathing uncomfortably long and deep for 10 minutes just because you think that's what step one says, the suttas don't prohibit of you from intentionally breathing long or short as part of the passadhi/pacification of body process also closely related to steps 4 and 8.

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