A simple way to have your first experience
You don’t need to learn a technique. You don’t need to follow a teacher. You can simply begin.
Meditation may seem like something complex: a skill to learn, a practice that requires years of study, a particular posture or the ability to empty the mind.
There are indeed many techniques, traditions and structured paths. Some require specific teaching; others can be approached very simply.
To have a first experience, however, you don’t need to already know a technique.
You can begin by stopping for a few minutes, turning your attention to what you are experiencing and observing your experience.
Yoursaf does not teach you a meditation method: it offers you a simple starting point to begin experiencing it.
Meditating concerns your inner experience.
No one else can meditate in your place. You don’t have to prove that you meditate the right way, explain what you think or feel, or reach a particular state.
Even when you meditate together with other people, the practice remains personal.
The moment can be shared, but not necessarily what happens within us.
You can have a first experience right now, dedicating 5 to 15 minutes to the practice.
No special equipment or complex posture is needed.
Find a place where you can stay undisturbed for a few minutes: at home, at the office, in a park or on a bench.
If possible, put your phone and notifications aside and simply allow yourself this moment.
Sit in the position you prefer.
A chair is perfect, or you can use a cushion, sit on the floor or choose another position that lets you stay comfortable and alert.
There is no need to take a particular posture.
Close your eyes or let your gaze relax, resting it gently on a point in front of you.
Don’t try to relax at all costs: simply let this moment be what it is.
Bring your attention to what you are experiencing in this moment.
You can observe the breath, the sounds around you, the sensations of the body or the thoughts that cross the mind.
You don’t have to choose just one thing.
Observe what is there.
The mind will get distracted. Thoughts, memories, emotions or worries may arise.
It’s normal.
When you notice that your attention has wandered, don’t consider it a failure. You can simply notice it and return to observing.
You don’t have to fight thoughts or try to empty the mind.
Stay like this for a few minutes. You can set a timer so you don’t have to keep checking the clock.
When the time is up, don’t rush to get up. Gradually bring your attention back to your body and the environment around you, slowly move your hands and feet, and open your eyes.
There is no result you must achieve: you have simply dedicated a little time to your experience.
The breath is a possibility, not an obligation.
If focusing on the breath feels uncomfortable or unnatural, you can choose another anchor for your attention:
You don’t need to find a perfect anchor.
Choose what helps you stay present and, when the mind wanders, calmly bring your attention back to what you were observing.
Starting is simple, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy every time. Doubts, distractions or the feeling of getting nothing from the practice may arise.
If you can find a few minutes for yourself, you can start with as little as 5 minutes of practice.
Often it’s not about finding more time: it’s about choosing to dedicate a small part of the time we already have to the practice.
It’s normal for the mind to get distracted.
Every time you notice that you have moved away from your point of attention and return to observing, you are training your attention again.
So don’t consider distraction a failure: noticing it and returning to the practice is part of the practice itself.
Don’t necessarily expect to perceive an immediate result.
Meditation may take time and continuity before you can recognize what it offers you. Allow yourself to experiment without turning every session into a test of results.
Meditation is not a goal to reach, but an experience to live.
Over time, many forms of meditation have emerged, within very different traditions and paths.
Some use specific techniques, others involve the guidance of a teacher or are linked to particular philosophical and religious traditions.
Yoursaf does not establish which is the correct way to meditate.
Its role is another: to coordinate the moment of practice.
If you want to have this experience together with other people, you can join a Yoursaf session.
You don’t need previous experience, to belong to a school or to know a particular tradition.
You can choose between two modes.
No specific intention. No theme.
You stop, sit and observe your experience freely, without following a specific technique and without the session asking you to focus on a subject.
A shared intention.
The session proposes a common theme as a starting point for meditation.
The theme is a simple orientation, not an instruction on what to think or feel.
You don’t have to achieve a particular experience.
There are many schools, courses and structured paths, free or paid, for those who wish to deepen a particular tradition or learn a specific technique.
Some can be valuable paths for those who want to go deeper into the practice.
Yoursaf has a different role.
It does not want to replace teachers, schools or traditions that transmit specific meditation practices.
It does not want to tell you what to think, what to feel or which state to reach.
Its task is simpler: to reduce the distance between curiosity and practice, making it easier the moment you decide to begin.
Yoursaf does not teach a meditation technique: it offers you a space and a simple way to start experiencing it.
The guidance on this page is meant as a starting point.
It is not a technique to memorize and does not represent a single method for meditating.
There are many traditions and meditation techniques, some of which require specific teaching.
If you wish to deepen a particular practice, you can do so through the people, schools and traditions that teach it.
Yoursaf does not intend to replace these paths.
It simply offers you the possibility to start gaining experience.
You don’t have to be an expert.
You don’t have to already know a technique.
You don’t have to belong to a tradition.
You can simply stop for a few minutes and begin to observe your experience.
And if you want to do it together with other people, you can share the same moment with them. Not necessarily the same experience.