Adjust the body, breath and mind before sitting

Before settling into stillness, bring the posture, the breath and the mind into balance as three adjustments used together.

Why it works

Zhiyi’s shorter manual treats the body, the breath and the mind as three things to be adjusted together, and says they should not be taught separately. The body is the vessel: a rough posture produces a rough breath, and a rough breath scatters the mind. The breath is then read by its marks. The manual lists four: wind (a sound at the nostrils), panting (breath that catches), qi (breath that is not smooth and tires the practitioner), and breath proper (fine, continuous, settled). It says that fixing attention on wind scatters, on panting binds, on qi tires, and on breath proper brings concentration.

How to do it

1. Before anything else, feel your feet on the floor and your sit-bones on the seat, and open your eyes. If the body feels overwhelmed, stand, walk a few slow steps, and begin again.
2. Sit on a firm seat. The manual gives a half-lotus or full-lotus posture; sitting in a chair with the feet flat is this page’s adaptation, not the manual’s instruction.
3. Before settling, move the body and its joints gently, as if massaging them, and straighten the spine without stiffening it. The manual describes this as neither loose nor tight.
4. Lower the head so the nose and navel are in line, the lips lightly closed, the tongue resting against the upper palate, and the eyes almost closed.
5. Exhale slowly through the mouth, then close the mouth and breathe in through the nose; repeat up to three times, letting the breath be neither rough nor slippery.
6. Notice which of the four breath marks you are in, and let the breath become fine and continuous without forcing it; the manual says attention to the settled breath is what leads to concentration.
7. Check the mind for sinking into dullness or floating into restlessness, and let the next practice address whichever appears.

Evidence

The three adjustments, the four breath marks and the posture sequence are set out in Zhiyi’s shorter manual, where it says the three adjustments should be used together. A systematic review of slow breathing has examined its psycho-physiological correlates, but no study has tested this sequence or this order of adjustments. (mechanistic)

The posture and breath details are the manual’s own. Knees, hips, back or breathing problems are reasons to sit in a chair or to skip the breath instructions and simply sit, and any ongoing health condition is a question for a clinician rather than this text.

Sources

• Zhiyi. Xiuxi zhiguan zuo chan fayao (修習止觀坐禪法要), Chinese text transcribed on Chinese Wikisource. Sections 具緣第一, 訶欲第二, 棄蓋第三, 調和第四, 方便行第五, 正修行第六, 覺知魔事第八.
• Zhiyi (Shramana Zhiyi). The Essentials of Buddhist Meditation, trans. Bhikshu Dharmamitra. Kalavinka Press, ISBN 978-1-935413-00-4. Zhiyi’s shorter manual, Xiuxi zhiguan zuo chan fayao.
• Zaccaro, A., Piarulli, A., Laurino, M., Garbella, E., Menicucci, D., Neri, B., & Gemignani, A. (2018). How breath-control can change your life: A systematic review on psycho-physiological correlates of slow breathing. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 12, 353. About this work

Common mistake

Forcing the legs or the breath to match the instructions. The manual’s own test is that the adjustment should be neither loose nor tight, and a body held by strain will produce the rough breath it was meant to prevent.

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