Q. While watching my breathing I become so conscious of my breath that I face difficulty to breath properly. How can I observe my breathing while keeping it normal?
A. It is habit of mind to lean towards outcomes. We normally anticipate incidents in advance, same habit pattern carries here. We don’t let the inhalation complete totally and start expecting exhalation. We can overcome this habit by settling back and relax, nit to the extent that we don’t remain interested in patterns of breathing at all. To make the process more interesting, you can challenge yourself to see if you can observe the end of one breath and beginning go of the next. In every practice, you fall many times before learning. The trick is to get up and start again and again.
Q. Meditation is all about getting rid of thoughts but I can’t stop my thought while meditating. Many times thoughts run faster than ever. Where I am going wrong?
A. Meditation can serve the purpose of changing your relationship with thoughts. Thoughts are not your enemies. In majority of life situations, you must think to survive and grow. So there is no need to stop thoughts when meditating. Instead, become more aware of your thoughts. Remain totally present and closely observe your thoughts. Thoughts are like clouds. They just pass by without changing sky in any manner. Similarly, watch the thoughts go by without getting involved in them and you remain untouched by them. Your true self always remains the same regardless of content of your mind. Don’t identify yourself by what you think, just witness them and pass by.
Q. I start really well with meditation but then my back starts aching or I feel like itching and I am back to distracted state of mind. Am I doing anything wrong?
A. It is a common experience among mediators. They quickly reach the state of delight and bliss but suddenly knee would start hurting or back would start paining. There is no need to blame you for loosing that experience. It is not your mistake that it went away. It went away because I had to. Like everything in life, every experience, however intense or blissful, is transient. Like every rise and end of breath, observing the beginning and end of an experience as a meditation process teaches us the truth.