How to meditate for two minutes (and why that is enough to start)
A two-minute meditation you can do today, with answers to the problems beginners run into most.
Most people who want to meditate never start, because they picture twenty silent minutes on a cushion and cannot find the time or the patience. So start with two. Two minutes is short enough to do today, and short enough to do again tomorrow, and doing it again tomorrow is the part that matters.
The two-minute sit
- Sit. A chair is fine. Put both feet on the floor and sit a little upright, so you are alert but not stiff.
- Set a timer for two minutes. Then you can stop checking the clock. The breathing timer has a two-minute session.
- Find your breath. Notice where you feel it most clearly: the nostrils, the chest or the belly. Rest your attention there.
- Count if it helps. Count each out-breath from one to ten, then begin again.
- Come back. Within a few seconds your mind will wander. When you notice, return to the breath. No comment needed.
- Stop when the timer ends. Take one more breath before you get up.
That is all of it. There is no special state to reach.
What is supposed to happen?
Less than you might expect. You will sit, your mind will drift to lunch or an email, you will notice, and you will come back. That moment of noticing is the whole exercise. Each return is one repetition, in the way a lift is one repetition at the gym.
A sitting full of wandering and returning is not a bad sitting. It is a sitting with a lot of repetitions in it.
Is two minutes really enough?
To change your life, no. To begin, yes. The difficult part of meditation is not sitting for a long time. It is sitting regularly. A practice small enough to be impossible to skip builds the habit, and once the habit exists, making it longer is easy. People who start with ambitious sessions tend to stop within a couple of weeks.
Longer and more consistent practice does appear to bring more benefit, so let it grow when you are ready. Add a minute when two feels short.
Make it stick
- Attach it to something you already do. After brushing your teeth, while the kettle boils, before opening your laptop. An existing habit is a better reminder than an alarm.
- Same time, same place. It removes the daily decision.
- Never miss twice. Missing a day is normal. Just sit the next day.
- Keep it at two minutes for the first week, even if you want more. Finishing slightly keen is better than finishing bored.
Common problems
“I can’t stop thinking.” You are not supposed to. The aim is to notice thinking, not to end it.
“I feel restless.” Try a walking version: walk slowly across the room, feeling each step. Or give your mind more to do with a counted pattern such as box breathing.
“I get sleepy.” Sit more upright, open your eyes, and try a different time of day.
“I don’t know if I’m doing it right.” If you sat down and came back to your breath at least once, you did it right.
Where to go next
When two minutes is comfortable, try five. Change the anchor from the breath to sounds, or to the feeling of your feet on the floor. If you would like something to reflect on, read the daily koan before you sit.
Meditation is safe for most people. If sitting quietly brings up strong distress, stop, and consider speaking to a doctor or a qualified teacher before continuing.