The Science and Practice of Meditation

From the guide

People have been sitting still and turning their attention inward for at least two and a half thousand years, and probably far longer. Only in the last fifty years have scientists started to measure what happens when they do.

The results are more interesting, and more modest, than the headlines suggest. Meditation is not a cure-all, and it does not instantly rewire your brain. But a large body of research shows that regular practice can reduce stress and anxiety, help prevent relapse into depression, and change how you relate to your own thoughts. Meanwhile, the traditions that developed meditation never saw it as stress relief. For them it was a path to insight, freedom and the sacred.

The first thing to understand is that meditation is not one thing. Watching the breath, repeating a mantra, cultivating compassion and resting in open awareness are as different from one another as running, swimming and yoga are different forms of exercise. They train different capacities and seem to work through different mechanisms.

This guide explains the main families of meditation, what research does and doesn't show, and how the traditions understand the practice. Then it gives you a four-week plan to begin, along with honest advice about the obstacles everyone meets along the way.