When we practice mindfulness, we are practicing bringing ourselves back to the present moment. Our normal mode of thinking is usually centred around the past and future-we find ourselves thinking about how life could, should or would be. This type of thinking is loaded with a subtle or overt self-judgement. This is a large part of the root of suffering.

Our breath is an anchor to the present moment. It brings us back to presence every time we put our attention on it. This is the training we learnt about yesterday, this is the exercise for the mind. And it is only in the present moment that the skilful mental states we learnt about yesterday, and the resulting clarity and ease arise. You can read about the power of mindfulness here.