Mindfulness Meditation Lesson 3

Paying Attention at Your Nostrils Instead of Your Abdomen

Instead of following your breath by paying attention to the physical sensations of your breathing at your abdomen, you can also try paying attention to the sensations at your nose, noticing the sensations as the air passes in and through your nostrils and then back out again. Or, if you breathe through your mouth, as the air passes over your lips and tongue.

You may notice a difference between how it feels paying attention to your breath at your nostrils compared to at your abdomen. Paying attention to the breath at the abdomen settles our minds into our bodies, which can help shift our attention out of our heads and make it less likely we get distracted and pulled into our thoughts. The abdomen is also a larger area than our nostrils, so the sensations we experience there can be more prominent and easier to pay attention to.

But because our nostrils are a relatively smaller area, and the sensations here are more subtle, paying attention to our breath as it passes in and out of our nostrils can force us to focus harder, which can help improve our concentration and make it less likely that our minds wander. Try experimenting with both methods and see if you notice a difference, and if there are times paying attention to your breath in one of these locations may be preferable over the other.

Personally, I find paying attention at my abdomen helps me settle into a deeper meditation and keep my attention focused on my breath and body versus allowing it to shift up into my head and thoughts. But if I'm having difficulty concentrating, shifting my attention to the sensations at my nostrils can help me focus better. This is especially true if I'm burning incense, as this heightens the sensory experience at my nostrils and the scent gives me something in addition to the physical sensations of breathing to help keep my mind on my breath.

Once I've settled my mind back on to my breath, I will sometimes return to paying attention at my abdomen, while other times I'll keep my attention at my nostrils. Often when I'm following my breath at my abdomen, I'll be aware of the sensations at my nostrils in the background of my awareness, and vice versa.

Just because this is how I experience following my breath at my abdomen versus at my nostrils doesn't mean it will be how you experience it. In some schools of meditation, dogma dictates that you always follow your breathing at your abdomen; in others you always pay attention at your nostrils. I find that each practice offers different advantages. You may also find this, or might prefer to always focus your attention on one or the other.