How to meditate

How to meditate - simplified basic directions

Sit comfortably

Don't move

Concentrate on your breath

Do this for a number of minutes according to a timer

The purpose for doing this is most fundamentally to practice repeatedly bringing your attention back to your breath. The mind continually supplies thoughts and the attention has a tendency to jump to those new thoughts. The most valuable aspect of practicing meditation is the increased awareness of what you are thinking about. Many people who try to meditate have the idea that no thoughts should come to mind. All functioning minds have thoughts that arise in them all the time. Don't fall into the trap of thinking you are doing meditation incorrectly if you find the stream of thought continues. It should. Just redirect it back to your breath, feeling your breath, breathing deliberately. Redirect over and over.

For how long? Anything from 30 seconds or a minute up to as long as you want. One person says that 8 minutes is a good amount of time. Another, 10 to 20. Still another, 24 minutes. In some retreats, 40 to 45 minutes. I have meditated for about 15 years and I have seen good results in my consciousness of where I am putting my attention. I have used 10 minutes, sometimes 13 or14. I have found it is regular practice that matters, at least for me, not the duration of a session. It is important not to tire yourself out of regular practice.

You don't have to use a timer. I recommend using one so that you needn't check the time.

Jack Kornfield, well-known meditation teacher and psychologist:

“What matters is the magic moment when you wake up and realize “Oh, I have been thinking”. Whether it happens five seconds or five minutes later, that is the moment that makes a difference.”

That is the moment you are training yourself in awareness of your own mind.

Older notes and pages

Meditation (link to handout as it) - Spring 2009

presentation (link to slides used for handout)

How to Meditate - older version with more words