Breath is extremely important when we're talking about meditation. You cannot come to a meditative state without acknowledgment of the breath. Since the purpose of meditation is to bring us into the present moment, into our body and into our senses in the present moment, the one way that never fails to get us there is to focus on the breath. When you inhale and you're thinking to yourself, I'm inhaling, you cannot help to be in your body in the present moment. That's what's happening. You are alive, you are breathing and you are here. And as you exhale, bring the focus to the movement of the breath as if it's moving out of the body. Same thing, you cannot help but live in the breath in the moment. Now when you are able to simplify things to that level, you can bring your focus to anything you like or you can continue sitting with the breath and your inner world becomes quieter, becomes more peaceful. And when your inner world is a place that you enjoy, a place that you can stand, then the outer world becomes more joyous and more fun. You become curious and you become interested. It's amazing the shift you can make when you bring the focus inward and get to know the breath.