124 the rice diet renewal
breathing. In all of these exercises, you fi rst bring your awareness to
your breathing, so that, breathing in, you know that you are breath-
ing in, and breathing out, you know that you are breathing out. It
is helpful to identify where in your body you feel your breath most
strongly. If you are breathing abdominally (and this is preferred),
then you will feel your belly moving out on the inbreath and back
in on the outbreath. This happens quite naturally if your abdominal
muscles are relaxed: to breathe in, your diaphragm (the muscle
separating your chest from your abdomen) contracts, pushing down
into your abdominal cavity and causing your lungs to expand and
your belly to stick out. On the outbreath, the diaphragm relaxes,
moving back up into your chest, allowing your belly to move back in.
Or, if you are breathing through your nose (again, the preferred
method), you may feel the cool air at your nostrils on the inbreath
and the warm air on the outbreath. Or you may feel your chest
moving. Whatever you feel strongest helps you keep your aware-
ness on your breathing. Alternatively, you may say “ in ” on the
inbreath and “ out ” on the outbreath to help you concentrate on
your breathing. As you continue to follow your breathing, you will
sooner or later fi nd that your mind has wandered off. When you
realize that this has happened, notice where you have gone and
how you are feeling. You may also note that you are no longer aware
of your breathing. Just bring your awareness back to your breath-
ing. Each time your mind wanders off, notice where it has gone
and how your body feels and bring your awareness back to your
breathing. You can continue for ten, twenty, thirty, or more min-
utes. It will be helpful, especially in the beginning of your practice,
to use CDs to help you to concentrate. We use Thich Nhat Hanh ’ s
Plum Village Meditations CDs and Jon Kabat - Zinn ’ s Mindfulness
Meditation practice CDs and tapes , series 1, 2, and 3 for this pur-
pose. (See the resources for more information.)
We also regularly do two guided meditations. The fi rst is a body
scan. The body scan is very relaxing and, if done while lying down,
will often put you to sleep. The purpose is not to fall asleep but
to be aware of your body and how it feels. The fact that we live
mainly in our minds is one reason that we take such poor care of