Mindfulness of Breath is the path the Buddha took to reach his Enlightenment. It isn’t the only path, but it’s a popular one, because the breath is always with us.
Breath is triggering for some folx. If it doesn’t work for you, that’s OK. There are effective ways to meditate.
He presents his path in 16 steps, each step building on the previous one. They are:
Body group (Self-regulation and Scope)
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Breathing in long, they discern, ‘I am breathing in long’; or breathing out long, they discern, ‘I am breathing out long.’
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Or breathing in short, they discern, ‘I am breathing in short’; or breathing out short, they discern, ‘I am breathing out short.’
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They train themselves, ‘I will breathe in sensitive to the entire body.’ They train themselves, ‘I will breathe out sensitive to the entire body.’
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They train themselves, ‘I will breathe in calming bodily fabrication.’ They train themselves, ‘I will breathe out calming bodily fabrication.’
Mental Objects (Cultivation and Awareness)
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They train themselves, ‘I will breathe in sensitive to rapture.’ They train themselves, ‘I will breathe out sensitive to rapture.’
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They train themselves, ‘I will breathe in sensitive to pleasure.’ They train themselves, ‘I will breathe out sensitive to pleasure.’
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They train themselves, ‘I will breathe in sensitive to mental fabrication.’ They train themselves, ‘I will breathe out sensitive to mental fabrication.’
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They train themselves, ‘I will breathe in calming mental fabrication.’ They train themselves, ‘I will breathe out calming mental fabrication.’
Mind (Container for Mental Objects)
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They train themselves, ‘I will breathe in sensitive to the mind.’ They train themselves, ‘I will breathe out sensitive to the mind.’
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They train themselves, ‘I will breathe in satisfying the mind.’ They train themselves, ‘I will breathe out satisfying the mind.’
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They train themselves, ‘I will breathe in steadying the mind.’ They train themselves, ‘I will breathe out steadying the mind.’
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They train themselves, ‘I will breathe in releasing the mind.’ They train themselves, ‘I will breathe out releasing the mind.’
Dispassion Traits (Renunciation)
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They train themselves, ‘I will breathe in focusing on inconstancy.’ They train themselves, ‘I will breathe out focusing on inconstancy.’
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They train themselves, ‘I will breathe in focusing on dispassion [literally, fading].’ They train themselves, ‘I will breathe out focusing on dispassion.’
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They train themselves, ‘I will breathe in focusing on cessation.’ They train themselves, ‘I will breathe out focusing on cessation.’
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They train themselves, ‘I will breathe in focusing on relinquishment.’ They train themselves, ‘I will breathe out focusing on relinquishment.’
This is based on this Sutta
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN118.html