I have a question about what it really means to "Focus on your breathing". I read it everywhere, for meditation, OBE's, AP's, LD's..... etc. I am always seeing "just focus on your breathing"... I just wanted to make sure that my interpretation of that is correct. Or to see if anyone else does it differently.

When I focus on my breathing, I have my eyes closed and think in my mind "Breathe in" on each inhale and "Breathe out" on each exhale. Is this how everyone does it?

I realize it is a bit of a...... basic question, but I just want to make sure I have the fundamentals straight.