Anapana Meditation

🧘 Anapana Meditation for School Students — S.N. Goenka

What is Anapana?

Anapana means observation of natural, normal respiration as it comes in and as it goes out. Vipassana Research Institute ‘Ana’ (आन) means incoming breath and ‘Apana’ (अपान) means outgoing breath. Mitraupakram It is completely different from Pranayama — there is no controlling or regulating the breath. You simply observe it as it is.

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Step-by-Step: How to Practice Anapana

Step 1 — Sit comfortably Sit in a comfortable position — on a chair or cross-legged on the floor. Keep your back straight but relaxed. Close your eyes gently.

Step 2 — Take a moment to settle Let your body relax. Don’t force anything. Just be still for a few seconds.

Step 3 — Bring attention to the nostrils Focus attention at the entrance of the nostrils — observe the incoming breath and outgoing breath as it is, without trying to change, control, or regulate the flow of breath. Blogger

Step 4 — Simply observe, don’t control Feel the breath entering through the nostrils — is it warm or cool? Fast or slow? Feel it leaving. Don’t imagine anything, don’t count, don’t say any words in your mind. Just observe.

Step 5 — When the mind wanders, gently return Your mind will wander to thoughts, sounds, memories. That’s normal. Every time you notice it wandering, gently and patiently bring attention back to the breath at the nostrils.

Step 6 — Observe the connection between breath and mind With Anapana meditation, you experience how the natural breath is connected to the state of mind. For instance, when angry the breath becomes hard and irregular; when calm, the breath is subtle, regular and soft. Blogger

Step 7 — End with Metta (goodwill) The course concludes with the practice of Metta-bhavana (loving kindness or goodwill towards all) in which peace and happiness gained during the course is shared with all beings. Vipassana Research Institute Simply think: “May all beings be happy.”

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Duration for Students

After completion of initial Anapana training, daily practice should be done for 10 minutes when school starts (during assembly, after the National Anthem) and 10 minutes when school ends before students leave for home. Dhamma

For home practice, even 5–10 minutes daily is very beneficial.

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Age Group

The children’s course is for children ages 8 to 12 years old. The teenagers’ course is for teens ages 13 to 16 years old. Sometimes the two groups are combined if numbers are small. Dhamma

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Benefits for Students

Daily practice of Anapana Meditation helps children improve concentration of mind, awareness and alertness, self-discipline, memory, decision-making power, and self-confidence, and helps them overcome fear, anger, and nervousness. Mitraupakram

Research studies show that the technique helps improve students’ study habits and academic performance, and reduces anger while improving relationships with friends and family members. ResearchGate

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Is It Recognised by Schools or Education Boards?

Yes — and this is significant for you as a Pune-based educator:

Vipassana Research Institute (VRI) in partnership with the Government of Maharashtra initiated the MITRA Upakram in order to teach Anapana Meditation to almost 2.5 crore school children all over Maharashtra. Globalpagoda

All primary and secondary schools in Maharashtra — Government or privately managed, aided or unaided, and registered with any education board — are covered under this program. All students from 5th to 10th standard and all teachers are to participate. Dhamma

Under MITRA projects in India, school teachers get paid leave to attend 10-day Vipassana courses. Dhamma

MITRA stands for Mind In Training for Right Awareness and is a joint initiative of the Education Department, Government of Maharashtra and the Vipassana Research Institute (VRI), Igatpuri.

It is not yet officially part of CBSE/NCERT curriculum at the national level, but it carries official Maharashtra state government recognition through formal Government Resolutions (GRs).

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How to Get Your School Enrolled

To start the MITRA Project in a school, it is useful and necessary to have at least one trained teacher as a Resource Person — a teacher who has completed a 10-day Vipassana course or at least a 1-day MITRA Project training. Dhamma

You can visit www.mitraupakram.net or contact the Vipassana Research Institute, Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri for resources and guidance. As you are in Pune, the nearest Vipassana center would be the right starting point.