This is part of our collection of Meditation Tips.
Many people cannot feel the breath in the nose sufficiently to keep their focus on it. This is true with many people. If you cannot feel the breath during at least 70% of the in-breath and out-breath, then you may need to change your point of focus from the inside of the nose, the tip of the nose, to somewhere else.
This is one of the most common problems in meditation, and almost everybody experiences it to a certain degree. Basically what you have to do is to get comfortable or OK with not feeling anything of the breath in that spot during certain times.
I don’t know if ANYONE feels the breath completely for the entire in-breath and out-breath. I doubt anyone does. The air is moving too slowly at the end of the in-breath and out-breath to even register in the nose as a feeling.
What Is the Feeling of Breath Moving Through the Nose?
If you really analyze what is happening during breathing meditation, the feeling that you get is the air passing over the hairs in your nose. This causes a tingling feeling that is there for a bit, then gone, then there for a bit, then gone. That’s the cycle.
Even if you can only feel the tingle for 50% of your in-breath or out-breath, that’s fine. Just focus on the spot where you feel it, and rest your focus right there in that spot when you don’t feel it. Then you’ll feel it again in that same spot. Then you don’t feel it. Focus never changes from that spot where you sometimes feel it.
Pro Tip – don’t cut the hairs in your nose up inside. Let them remain even with the bottom of your nostril. Every little bit of hair in there, helps!
What To Do? What Can You Focus On Instead of the Breath?
I had this question from a reader just this morning, so I came to update this page.
What I suggest you focus on is the expansion and deflation of your chest as you breathe. I think the cycle of breath is important. The on-off nature and rythmic nature of it makes it the ideal object to focus on. If you can’t feel anything or not enough in your nose, you can instead focus on the rise and fall or in and out of your chest movement.
Your chest is a big area, so narrow it down to just one side of the chest. Narrow that down to the small area near or above your heart on the left side. That’s what I did as a test just now and it would definitely work for me to focus on the breath in my chest instead of my nose.
Try that. See how it goes.
Remember, the breathing sensation is subtle. It is for a lot of people. Your mind and body will have to be quite calm to really notice the in/out of the chest moving, just like you’d have to really focus to feel the breath moving in your nose.
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This video below attempts to explain what else you can do and where else you can focus during meditation. I made this video for someone in particular, but it may be helpful to many others.
How To Meditate When You Don’t Feel the Breath? (video)
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