One of the main questions I hear about meditation is “How do I get started?” and my answer is always the same: “Start with some simple breathing exercises.

There are literally dozens of different ways to breathe. Some people breathe in their noses & out of their mouths. Some people only breathe through their noses; some only breathe through their mouths. There is belly (diaphragm) breathing, shallow breathing, deep breathing, and more.

In this course, I will refer to three types of breathing: conscious, counted, and unconscious. During normal day-to-day activities, most people are breathing unconsciously. Unconscious breathing occurs when you are not thinking about your breathing. It is the most common type of breathing.

Conscious breathing is a type of breathing during meditation. Conscious breathing occurs when you are concentrating on your breathing and only on your breathing. You may be thinking about how you inhale, where you are breathing from, how you exhale, if you hold your breath, and more.

Counted breathing is another type of breathing during meditation. During counted breathing exercises, you are keeping your breaths to a steady count. Some breathing exercises require you inhale for a set number of seconds, hold, exhale for another set of time, hold, and then repeat. Other exercises involve only one hold, while some exercises do not involve holding at all.

For more information on types of breathing and meditation, please check out my free Meditation & Relaxation course.