How do I start meditating at home: what exactly to do for the first 10-20 minutes?

Sit down, straighten your back, focus attention on the breath and bring the mind back to it whenever you notice it has wandered. Part of the “attention to breathing” technique is described in detail in the suttas; part consists of modern practical details. Below we sort out which is which.

From the suttas

MN 118 (called, precisely, the Anapanasati Sutta, that is, “Mindfulness of Breathing”) defines the practice like this:

• the practitioner goes to a forest, to the foot of a tree or to an empty dwelling;
• sits down cross-legged, straightens the body, establishes mindfulness;
• breathes in and out mindfully;
• taking a long in-breath, knows the in-breath is long; the same for a short one;
• trains, breathing in and out, to experience the whole body (a phrase sometimes read as the physical body and sometimes as the whole process of breathing);
• trains to calm the breath.

The sutta sets no duration; it only insists on developing this skill of observation and on repeating it many times.

The modern interpretation

Assorted recommendations useful for practice:

• You can start with ten minutes on a timer, preferably at the same time of day, in a quiet, calm place. The amount of time is not canonical - it is simply convenient at the start.
• A chair is fine, but not required. Any stable posture with a straight back will do, one you can sit in calmly for long enough. If pain arises, you may change the position of the body, arms and legs. Feet on the floor, hands on the knees or folded one over the other, eyes fully closed or half-closed, gaze lowered.
• Find the spot where the breath is most noticeable - it may be the nostrils, the area just below them above the upper lip, the chest or the belly - and focus attention there. MN 118 names no such point; it is a later device.
• It is important to steer the breath as little as possible - ideally not at all, without adjusting it. It is enough simply to notice, as it goes, what it is like.
• After a while the mind will most likely jump to other thoughts, memories, plans, inner dialogue. What matters is to notice this moment and bring attention back to the breath, praising yourself for having caught the jump and by no means getting upset. It is exactly this noticing of the shift of attention and calmly returning it to the breath that forms the core of the work in this practice. The sutta itself has no such details, but this is what makes up the practice of the first weeks, passed on as instruction for beginning meditators in many old traditions.

What to expect

Manifestations of one or more of the five hindrances (pañca nīvaraṇāni):

• sensual desire (kāmacchanda);
• ill will (vyāpāda);
• dullness and drowsiness (thīna-middha);
• restlessness and remorse (uddhacca-kukkucca);
• doubt (vicikicchā).

MN 10 prescribes, for each of them, being aware whether it is present now or not, how it arose, how it is abandoned and how it does not arise again. And it matters that drowsiness or restlessness on the cushion is not, for example, a sign of failure. It is the material the meditator works with directly, right in meditation. The collected mind at the end is the result of the practice.

The breath is not the only option. In MN 62, for example, before the practice of mindfulness of breathing the Buddha gives his son Rāhula a whole range of practices with meditation objects:

• earth, water, fire, wind and space;
• the four “immeasurable” qualities - goodwill, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity;
• contemplation of the unattractive;
• perception of impermanence.

If meditation on the breath brings anxiety or tension, a common later move is to start with goodwill (mettā): wishing well-being to yourself, then to people you know.

On safety

Meditation does not replace treatment. In acute psychosis, mania or a suicidal crisis, urgent professional help is needed; if your condition noticeably worsens, stop practising on your own and see your treating specialist. With panic attacks, bipolar disorder, the aftermath of trauma or severe depression, agree the format with your treating specialist and avoid intensive solo sessions and long retreats. Our club reads suttas; it replaces neither a doctor nor a meditation teacher.

Where to read: MN 118, MN 10, MN 62.