Meditation is basically a holistic discipline in which a practitioner attempts to
go beyond the impulsive, "thinking" mind towards a much deeper state of awareness or relaxation. Meditation is an indomitable component of varying religious practices and is used as a recreational skill since antiquity. Mediation can also be practiced outside religions. Different meditative disciplines also encompasses a broad range of spiritual goalsfrom achieving a consciousness of a higher state, love, compassion and kindness, to emphasize focus on self-awareness, creativity and achievement of a serene frame of mind.
Breathing meditation technique is one of the best ways to attain a mindful presence. You have to place your hands on the belly and recognize that when you breathe, the air passes from the lungs that are placed at the top, through your chest towards the lower parts of the rib cage. You need to imagine your lungs to be like balloons that automatically expand as the air moves in and deflates as the process of air moving out. You need to inhale deep enough to make sure that your lungs are full of air. Feel the rising of your hands as the position of belly rises with the process of inhalation. The reverse happens and your hands fall as you inhale the air out.
Now you need to place your hands underneath your chest to inhale enough to make your hands pushed out. Feel the hands getting raised with the rising of the diaphragm and similarly the hands getting fall with exhalation. You also need to need to practice breathing in similar fashion by placing hands on the middle part of the lungs for about 20 breaths. Inhale only enough to push out your hands.
Now practice breathing with all three breath parts together. Your hands should be between your belly and chest. Compare your body with a big vessel that is filled with water. As you pour this water in some other container, the water first fills the bottom followed by the middle and the top of the container. Pouring out water of the vessel empties first the top then the middle and finally the bottom of the vessel. The process is similar to breathing.
The purpose of this breathing exercise is to help you practice staying focused and present.