How to Meditate

Meditation isn't very hard. In fact: if you can breathe, you can meditate. Learn how to meditate, as taught by the Buddha, with our easy-to-follow guide.

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How to Practice Breath Meditation

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Breath meditation is likely the most popular and straightforward meditation practice. It is also the basis of many other forms of meditation. Try these essential instructions.

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Find a quiet and uplifted place where you can do your meditation practice. When starting out, see if you can allow 5 minutes for the practice.

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• Take your seat. Sit cross-legged on a meditation cushion or on a straight-backed chair with your feet flat on the floor, without leaning against the back of the chair.

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• Find your sitting posture. Place your hands palms-down on your thighs and sit in an upright posture with a straight back—relaxed yet dignified. With your eyes open, let your gaze rest comfortably as you look slightly downward about six feet in front of you.

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• Notice and follow your breath. Place your attention lightly on your out-breath,  while remaining aware of your environment. Be with each breath as the air goes out through your mouth and nostrils and dissolves into the space around you.

   

       At the end of each out-breath, simply rest until the next in-breath naturally                begins. For a more focused meditation, you can follow both the out-breaths              and in-breaths.

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• Note the thoughts and feelings that arise. Whenever you notice that a thought,   feeling, or perception has taken your attention away from the breath, just say to  yourself, “thinking,” and return to following the breath. No need to judge     yourself when this happens; just gently note it and attend to your breath and      posture.

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• End your session. After the allotted time, you can consider your meditation       practice period over. But there’s no need to give up any sense of calm,               mindfulness, or openness you’ve experienced. See if you can consciously allow these to remain present through the rest of your day.

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Breath meditation is a vital practice in itself, but it also represents the very foundation of all of Buddhist meditation’s varied forms. 

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What is Meditation?

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Meditation is the practice of intentionally working with your mind. There are several asian words that translate to “meditation.” These include bhavana—which in Sanskrit means both “meditation” and “to cultivate”—and the Tibetan word gom, which literally means “to become familiar with.” Basic Buddhist meditation starts with practices to help calm and concentrate the mind. From there, you can begin to investigate the nature of reality and develop insight.

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The most common form of meditation is breath meditation, in which you rest your attention on your breath, as described in the instruction above. Different Buddhist traditions have slightly different instructions for breath meditation. Vipassana meditation is the form of meditation thought to have been taught by the Buddha himself.