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Once we are accustomed to Breath Counting, we are ready to move on to a more natural meditation. This is called Awareness or Mindfulness of Breathing. Because we have trained in breath counting, we can now keep track of each individual breath. Now the training becomes more subtle, and we begin to broaden slightly our concentration. In this exercise we see whether we can keep our mind on the breath without the crutch of mental counting. We watch and feel our breaths until we seem to become our breaths, and nothing else.

This is natural meditation. We are already breathing. Now, let’s simply become aware of it—aware of what is already going on—right here and now. Just breathing, natural breathing, not forced or manipulated in any way.

Arrive, collect yourself. Let the breath settle.

Let the body settle, let the mind settle, let the energy settle.

Let everything settle in its own place, in its own way, in its own time—naturally at home and at ease. Settle down. Settle in. Yield. Soften, relax, enjoy. Simplify things by simplifying the mind. Arrive.

Gather your attention. Without counting, focus on breathing. Merely be aware of breathing. Mindful of the entire breathing process. Inhaling and exhaling. Closely observe each breath.

Direct your attention to your nostrils. Breathing through your nose, feel the air going in and out at the nostrils. Feel the sensation of the flowing air. Concentrate at the base of the nostrils, on the upper lip right where the air comes in and out. Exaggerate your breathing a little if you’re trying for the first time to perceive that tactile sensation.

Arrest your attention at that very spot. Feel the actual sensation right now, and rest your mind there. Place your attention there. Focus on that sensation, on that spot in the nostrils as the breath moves in and out.

Focus. Pay attention. Concentrate. Unmoving, stabilize the mind. Place it right there, one-pointedly.

Sharpen your attention. Keep the point of attention on that very spot like a sharpened pencil point on a simple small spot on a piece of paper. The breath is almost like a saw moving in and out. The saw moves, but the place where the saw meets the wood is stable. Be like the good carpenter, concentrating on that very spot where the teeth of the saw are cutting the wood. Keep the mind on that in-and-out motion of the breath as it contacts the upper lip and base of the nostrils.

Inevitably the mind wanders. Rather than letting it mindlessly drift away into distraction, bring it back. With total presence of mind, rather than absentmindedly, be aware of the times when attention wanders and keep bringing it back.

Breathing centers us. It calms the mind and body, brings clarity and joy, and simplifies everything. When the attention wanders, just gently tug on the leash of attention as you would with a straying pet. Stay alert. Remind yourself to stay in place. Remindfulness is everything. Don’t forget. Remain collected.

Gather your energy one-pointedly on this spot to hone your awareness, sharpen your focus, heighten your concentration. Stay with it. Rest right there, right here … now.

The breath, which is always present, helps connect us to present reality. We are not creating fantasies. While we are concentrating, we’re learning to pay attention to how things actually are. Remember: Things as they are is the Buddhist definition of reality.

Don’t be deceived by momentary feelings of failure when the mind wanders. The mind will wander; thought bubbles will arise and distract us. Simply remember to bring the attention back.

We are exercising and strengthening the muscle of mindfulness through this gentle tugging on the leash of attention and reminding ourselves to keep doing what we are doing. We recollect precisely what we are doing, and bring the attention back again and again to the object of concentration, the single point at the base of the nostrils. This is our meditation practice: We continually bring