Anapanasati

Questioner: how does the buddhist technique of anapansati--constantly watching one's breath--affect the state of oxygen in our bodies?

Anapansati has great effect on our body oxygen. This is a good question which needs to be rightly understood. Every activity of life, every function of our body is accelerated when you pay attention to it. Most of the bodily functions are autonomic; you don't have to pay attention to them, but when you pay attention they are affected. For instance, when a doctor puts his finger on your pulse, your pulse beat does not remain the same, it immediately quickens a little; it is more than what it was before. It is so because it has received attention, the attention of two persons--the doctor's and yours. And it will quicken a lot if the doctor happens to belong to the opposite sex, because now it will receive more attention. You can try it like this: check your own pulse first, and then watch for ten minutes how it beats…

Osho, in the Buddhist practice of anapanasati, when one meditates on the breath, what effect does it have on the amount of oxygen?

A great deal. In fact—this is very amusing and worth understanding—whatever functions of life there are, if you take your attention to any one of them, its speed increases. The functions of life are going on outside your attention. For example, your pulse is beating. When your doctor checks your pulse, it is not exactly what it was before he checked; it goes up a little, because your attention and the doctor’s—both—have gone to it. And if a lady doctor is checking, it will go up even more; because even more attention goes there. You understand, don’t you? It isn’t exactly what it was; a slight difference appears. Try this experiment: first check your own pulse; then keep your attention on the pulse for ten minutes—how it is beating—and check again; you will find its vibrations have increased. In truth, whatever processes are running inside the body are running outside…

Osho, what effect does deep breathing have on the brain and the nervous system?

As soon as you begin deep breathing, the ratio of carbon dioxide and oxygen in the body changes. The very first thing that shifts is this proportion of carbon dioxide and oxygen within us. And the moment the proportion of carbon dioxide changes, transformation begins throughout the brain, the entire body, the blood, and the nerves—everywhere. For the entire basis of our being rests on specific ratios of oxygen and carbon dioxide. A change in those ratios brings about a total change. That is why I suggested you come separately; that is a technical matter. It may not interest everyone, so I will talk with you about it. Meditation practice and self-hypnosis

How is one to watch breath when it is not seen but felt?

Watching need not be a seeing, it can be a feeling. In fact it has to be a feeling because how can you see your breath? You feel it, the touch of it. When the breath moves through the passage, you feel the touch of it. The whole thing is not a question of seeing. The thing is to be alert that it is going in, that it has reached to the very innermost core of your being, that now it has stopped; that now it is coming back. The ebb and the tide: now it has gone out, moved completely out, stopped; then again moving back. The whole circle of it -- coming in, going out, coming in, going out -- one has to be aware. If you feel it, that is awareness -- but one should not miss feeling it. If you can do it every day for…