# For how long can you count your breaths?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-how-long-can-you-count-your-breaths/792913>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [August 6, 2017, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-how-long-can-you-count-your-breaths/792913 "2017-08-06T12:49:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\
**Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-how-long-can-you-count-your-breaths/792913/1 "2017-08-06T12:49:59Z")

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Not sure if this is the right forum, but it is hard to figure out what is.

A couple nights ago while lying in bed and not sleeping, I decided to count my breaths. So I started counting. By the time I got to 30, I had started to think of something else and lost count. I tried again. Same result. I have tried several times since. No matter how many times I have resolved not to lose the thread, I have not succeeded in getting to 50. Mostly my mind (what there is of it anyway) starts wandering between 20 and 30, although I once got to 40. Despite my best resolve. It makes me wonder: Who’s in charge here? A cognitive psychologist might say that nobody is. “I” am just a caucus of contending voices. Or is this a sign of incipient dementia?

How far can you go? And if you can keep it up indefinitely, have you ever studied meditation?