Who doesn't meditate and why?

[Diana]

In my early days of meditating I was focused a lot on making the parasympathetic system conscious and gaining awareness of the automatic body functions.
At this point, if I'm not consciously breathing I unintentionally end up holding my breath and sometimes it is only shortness of breath that reminds me to keep up my rhythm. Especially if my mind is solely focused on something else. Breathing is, in my experience, the most effective way to get in to deep meditation.

Attention to breathing is something everyone would benefit from being aware of in this modern-day world. Almost everyone is stressed, even if it is low-grade background stress. Stress causes the body to be in fight-or-flight, without the commensurate release of buildup of adrenalin through running or fighting. Fight-or-flight causes shallow breathing. 

For anyone, checking in with your breathing throughout the day is a good thing. You will find that often your breathing is shallow. When you check in, relax the abdomen and take some full breaths.