Focusing on your breath puts your mind at ease. It is not possible to focus on your breath AND think obsessively. We can all practice one conscious breath to take a break from negative thought patterns, and in doing so, reduce anxiety and stress.
This teachable moment refers to 11:58 to 12:54 from the film.
About This Lesson
One worry-filled evening, Milton discovers a spiritual teacher on the internet. The teacher talks about taking your attention to your breathing, which is a simple meditation technique called One Conscious Breath. To practice this, you don’t need to sit in a particular posture, you can do it wherever you are. One conscious breath means as you breath in, your attention focuses on the air that flows into your body. You sense it, your attention is there. There’s a tiny pause and then your attention is on on the the air as it flows out of your body. What happens inside you while you are taking one conscious breath? If you are alert, you will notice that you are not thinking. That is because you cannot be conscious of your breathe and think at the same time. This scene is very important, and it points to the main theme of the movie: to wake up out of the stream of compulsive, incessant thinking that generates an enormous amount of suffering.
Discussion Questions
1What does it feel like when you are being aware of your own breathing? What do you notice when you take a conscious breath?
2Is it possible for you to take a conscious breath when you begin to feel overwhelmed, worried, angry, when your thoughts seem to be taking over?
Family Activity
As a family, engage in a simple breathing activity. This is only one way to practice focused breathing, but a very helpful one to detach from the unhelpful thoughts you may be having. Lead the family by saying:
- Inhale deeply through your nose
- Notice the belly go out, the expanding of the chest cavity and raising of the rib cage
- Bring the breath to the top of the lungs by raising the collarbones and the shoulder blades
- Exhale through your mouth
If your mind wanders away from your breath, just notice your thought and come back to focusing on your breath. Try practicing this for one minute. Depending on the ages of the family members, this may only last for 30 seconds. Discuss that the more you practice this technique, the better you will become at it you will be able to use it when faced with a stressful situation.
When you are aware of a dysfunctional situation, you can choose to respond to it in a way that helps alleviate the stress you feel.
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