Ready
10:00
10-minute sit
Sit comfortably. Soften your eyes. Begin when you are ready.
Sign in to keep your minutes. The timer works without an account.
Prefer a structured practice? Try one of our guided meditations.
Guide
How to use the meditation timer
The meditation timer keeps time so you can stop watching the clock. A bell marks the beginning and the end, and an optional interval bell can bring you back if your attention drifts.
Step by step
- Find a seat you can stay in comfortably — a chair with your feet on the floor works as well as a cushion.
- Choose a length. Five minutes is plenty to begin with; add a few minutes at a time if you want to sit longer.
- Pick something to rest your attention on: the breath, sensations in the body, sounds, or a quiet phrase.
- When you notice your mind has wandered, simply return to your anchor. Noticing and returning is the practice, not a failure.
- When the closing bell sounds, pause for a moment before you open your eyes and move.
Choose a way to sit
- Breath awareness
- Rest attention on the natural breath without changing it.
- Body scan
- Move attention slowly through the body, noticing without judging.
- Loving-kindness
- Repeat simple phrases of goodwill for yourself and others.
- Walking meditation
- Bring the same attention to slow, deliberate steps.
- Three-minute breathing space
- A short structured pause you can use anywhere.
What the evidence says
A large review in JAMA Internal Medicine (Goyal and colleagues, 2014) found moderate evidence that mindfulness meditation programmes improve anxiety, depression and pain, and low or insufficient evidence for many other outcomes. Most studies looked at structured programmes over several weeks, not single sessions.
Practise safely
- Most people find meditation calming, but some report difficult experiences such as anxiety or distressing memories (Lindahl and colleagues, 2017). If that happens, open your eyes, move gently and keep sessions shorter.
- If you have a history of trauma, psychosis or severe depression, consider practising with a qualified teacher or clinician.
- Meditation can support wellbeing, but it is not a replacement for mental-health care.
Sources
- Goyal M. et al. (2014). Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine. doi.org
- Lindahl J.R. et al. (2017). The varieties of contemplative experience: a mixed-methods study of meditation-related challenges in Western Buddhists. PLOS ONE. doi.org