Is there a wrong way to breathe during meditation?

Andy Puddicombe

Question:

"For some reason this 60-year-old body of mine exhales through the nose – that is my natural way. Am I supposed to start exhaling through the mouth? I've tried that but it really takes my concentration away from meditating."

Breathing exercises to reduce stress - Headspace

Andy's answer:

Thanks for writing in, and that 60-year-old body of yours knows exactly what it's doing! In fact throughout all of the Headspace exercises, the encouragement is to allow the body to breathe quite naturally, exactly as it wants to. The only exception to that rule is at the beginning of each exercise, where I ask you to take a couple of deep breaths in through the nose and out through the mouth. This helps ground the mind and is just for that initial part of the exercise. After that, you can continue in the usual way.

Warm wishes,

Andy

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