Starting your practice

What do I need to start meditating?

If you type meditation supplies into Google or Amazon, you’ll immediately find a million different products that are supposed to help you in your practice: Special chairs and cushions for sitting, incense sticks to burn and decorative bells to ring, even heart rate monitors with built-in phone apps to measure how relaxed you are. But all these accessories are completely optional, and most will just be a distraction when you’re first trying to set up your practice. The only actual essentials for meditation are a working set of lungs and a comfortable place to sit.

If you don’t have that first part down, you should probably stop reading this guide and go talk to your doctor! But assuming you can breathe consistently without discomfort or pain, your next step is to go looking for a quiet place that’s free from any major distractions, like a spare room or an office. (My house doesn’t have a lot of empty space, so I just unroll a blanket at the foot of my bed and post up there.) The space you’re meditating in doesn’t need to be pitch black, or even particularly dark, but make sure there aren’t moving sources of light that can draw your attention away. If you’re inclined to the more spiritual side of things, you might want to set up a little altar or hang up some inspiring images that help you feel a sense of peace and calm. But these decorations aren’t necessary at all, and you shouldn’t feel pressure to use them if you don’t have the urge to.

How should I sit?

Traditionally, jhana meditation is done in something called the lotus (or half-lotus) position, which is the cross-legged posture most of us think of when we try to picture the stereotypical enlightened monk meditating in the wilderness somewhere. But there’s nothing magical about this particular way of sitting, and for some of us it can be more trouble than it’s worth. That’s why, for most of my practice, I’ve used a small folding bench to meditate in a kneeling position instead. I still highly recommend this method if you’re just starting out; it’s very accessible for those of us who aren’t particularly flexible, while still requiring you to engage your core a little bit, which keeps you from just totally zoning out.

If you have trouble finding a suitable bench, or have any other issue that makes kneeling difficult, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with just sticking a pillow behind your back and sitting upright in whatever chair you have around the house. (Office chairs are especially good, since most come with built-in lumbar support for long periods of sitting.) Don’t let spiritual pride make you think that sitting on the floor with crossed legs and an aching back is somehow more enlightened than just using your kitchen chair, when the only thing that actually matters is ensuring you can sit still and comfortable for as long as you need to.3

How long should I meditate for?

When you’re just starting out, all that really matters is consistently meditating every day. Don’t get wrapped up in trying to hit some arbitrary target immediately; one great way to ruin a meditation practice is to jump right into miserable hour-long sessions you aren’t ready for, just because you think that’s what “real meditators” do. Instead, pick a comfortable length – maybe fifteen minutes for an absolute beginner – until you feel like you aren’t ready to stop when the bell (or beep or whatever) goes off.

Of course, if you’re only meditating for that short amount of time, it’s very unlikely that you’ll be able to cultivate piti or reach any of the jhanas. But those shorter periods are a good training ground for developing skills that will allow you to slowly expand your sessions until you hit thirty minutes to an hour, which I think is a good place to land for a daily practice. (I personally aim for two half-hour sessions every day, or one hour-long session on weekends.) I would also suggest getting an app on your phone that lets you set flexible timers and has a nice, gentle sound for letting you know the time is up. It can be surprisingly jarring to hear your phone’s default alarm sound once you start really getting focused, whereas a gentle bell or chime will let you keep going as long as you’d like.