It wouldn’t surprise me if paying attention to one’s breathing causes some change, and people who notice a change get concerned that they’re doing meditation wrong, and this causes a downward spiral.
Fortunately, if there’s a change I’m not sensitive enough to notice it.
Those who’ve reported that the involuntary processes get completely overridden while they’re observing their breath seem to be up against a different problem.
It wouldn’t surprise me if paying attention to one’s breathing causes some change, and people who notice a change get concerned that they’re doing meditation wrong, and this causes a downward spiral.
This seems plausible from my personal observations.
Those who’ve reported that the involuntary processes get completely overridden while they’re observing their breath seem to be up against a different problem.
Hm. It doesn’t seem different to me. Care to elaborate on why you think it is?
In case one, the person intends to do neutral observation of their breathing, notices that their involuntary breathing has changed in some hard-to-define way as the result of observation, and, as far as I can tell, typically decides that meditation is too hard for them and gives up.
One person I’ve talked with about this also mentioned that observing her breathing also caused her to become anxious.
In the second case, observation disrupts involuntary breathing completely, and breathing has to be done voluntarily until attention drifts away to something else. People with this problem seem to stay with meditation longer, but I don’t know if the problem is ever resolved.
I don’t seem to have that problem.
It wouldn’t surprise me if paying attention to one’s breathing causes some change, and people who notice a change get concerned that they’re doing meditation wrong, and this causes a downward spiral.
Fortunately, if there’s a change I’m not sensitive enough to notice it.
Those who’ve reported that the involuntary processes get completely overridden while they’re observing their breath seem to be up against a different problem.
This seems plausible from my personal observations.
Hm. It doesn’t seem different to me. Care to elaborate on why you think it is?
In case one, the person intends to do neutral observation of their breathing, notices that their involuntary breathing has changed in some hard-to-define way as the result of observation, and, as far as I can tell, typically decides that meditation is too hard for them and gives up.
One person I’ve talked with about this also mentioned that observing her breathing also caused her to become anxious.
In the second case, observation disrupts involuntary breathing completely, and breathing has to be done voluntarily until attention drifts away to something else. People with this problem seem to stay with meditation longer, but I don’t know if the problem is ever resolved.