WHEN YOU’RE READY TO TAKE IT FURTHER

• Count your breaths from one to ten, and then start over. Breathe in, one, then out. Breathe in, two, then out, and so on.

• Recite a short phrase Some people like to do this to help them stay focused. “Just this breath” is a good one to try. It reminds us not to start anticipating the next breath, or to think about the last one, or to imagine in any of the innumerable ways the mind can cook up that anything else is supposed to be happening – “just this breath”.

• Recruit an image Sometimes I imagine the in breath as a gentle wave moving up the beach, pshhhh, and on the out breath, the wave recedes, sssssshh.

Back and forth. Find a mental image that works for you.

• Give guided audio meditations a shot Some people wrongly assume that guided meditations are a form of training wheels – or cheating. I disagree. Instructions are quickly forgotten, so having someone in your ear can be really helpful. My advice is to experiment with both audio and solo meditations and see what works best for you.