“I’ve tried meditation. I can’t do it. My brain won’t shut up.”

I hear this at least three times a week. From yoga students, from friends, from strangers at barbecues who find out what I do for a living.

And every time, I say the same thing: if your brain won’t shut up, you’re doing it right.

Meditation is not about having an empty mind. That is the single biggest misconception about the practice, and it’s the reason most people try once, feel like failures, and never try again. So let’s clear it up and start fresh.

What Meditation Actually Is

Meditation is the practice of noticing where your attention is and gently guiding it back when it wanders. That’s it. The whole thing.

Your mind will wander. That is not a bug — it is a feature. Every time you notice your mind has drifted and bring your attention back, you are doing the mental equivalent of a bicep curl. That moment of noticing is the meditation.

A session where your mind wanders 50 times and you bring it back 50 times is not a failed meditation. It’s 50 reps.

Why Bother?

The research on meditation is extensive and, at this point, hard to argue with.

A 2023 meta-analysis in JAMA Internal Medicine reviewed over 18,000 studies and found that mindfulness meditation programs showed moderate evidence of improving anxiety, depression, and pain. Not massive effects — moderate ones. But for a practice that’s free, has no side effects, and takes ten minutes a day, moderate effects are significant.

Regular meditation practice has been shown to:

• Reduce cortisol levels (your primary stress hormone)
• Improve attention and focus
• Increase grey matter density in brain regions associated with emotional regulation
• Improve sleep quality
• Reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression

You don’t need to become a monk. You need ten minutes and a willingness to be a bit bored.

The Simplest Way to Start

Forget apps for a moment. Forget guided meditations. Forget everything you think meditation is supposed to look like. Here’s the most stripped-back version:

Step 1: Sit somewhere comfortable. Chair, couch, floor, bed — it doesn’t matter. You don’t need to sit cross-legged. You don’t need a cushion. Just sit in a way where your back is reasonably upright and you’re not going to fall asleep.

Step 2: Set a timer for five minutes. Use your phone. Put it face down.

Step 3: Close your eyes or soften your gaze. Take three slow breaths.

Step 4: Bring your attention to the sensation of breathing. Not controlling your breath — just noticing it. The air coming in through your nose. Your chest rising. Your belly expanding. The exhale.

Step 5: When your mind wanders — and it will, probably within ten seconds — notice that it’s wandered, and gently bring your attention back to your breath. No judgement. No frustration. Just a gentle return.

Step 6: Repeat until the timer goes off.

That’s it. That is a complete meditation session. Well done.

Common Objections (and Honest Responses)

“Five minutes seems too short to do anything.” Research from the University of Waterloo found that even a single 10-minute session of mindfulness meditation improved focus and reduced mind-wandering. Five minutes is enough to start building the habit. You can increase the duration later if you want to.

“I keep getting distracted by noises.” Good. Noises are an opportunity to practise. Notice the sound. Notice your reaction to it. Return to your breath. You’re not trying to create a sensory deprivation chamber. You’re practising awareness in the real world, where dogs bark and traffic exists.

“I can’t sit still.” Then try walking meditation. Walk slowly, paying attention to the sensation of each footstep. Heel, ball, toes. Lift, move, place. You can do this in your hallway, your backyard, or along the beach. Movement and meditation are not mutually exclusive.

“My thoughts are too loud and upsetting.” If you’re dealing with trauma or severe anxiety, sitting silently with your thoughts can sometimes feel destabilising rather than calming. That’s a real and valid experience. In those cases, I’d recommend starting with guided body scan meditations (where you focus on physical sensations rather than thoughts) or working with a therapist who incorporates mindfulness into their practice.

“It feels like a waste of time.” I understand that. In a culture that values productivity, sitting and doing nothing feels counterintuitive. But here’s the reframe: meditation isn’t doing nothing. It’s training your attention. And your attention is the foundation of everything else you do — your work, your relationships, your ability to be present for the moments that matter.

Building the Habit

The biggest predictor of a successful meditation practice is not technique — it’s consistency. Here’s how to make it stick:

Same time, same place. Link it to an existing habit. After your morning coffee. Before bed. Whatever works.

Start with five minutes. Not thirty. Not twenty. Five. Do five minutes every day for two weeks before you increase.

Expect to resist it. There will be days when you’d rather do literally anything else. That’s normal. Sit down anyway, even for two minutes. The habit of showing up matters more than the length of any single session.

Don’t grade yourself. There are no good or bad meditation sessions. There are only sessions you did and sessions you skipped.

When You Might Want an App

Once you’ve got a basic practice going and want some structure, apps can be helpful. Insight Timer is free and has a massive library. Smiling Mind is an Australian-developed app that’s completely free and has excellent programs. Headspace and Calm are paid but polished.

But the app isn’t the practice. Your attention is the practice. Everything else is just scaffolding.

Start Today

Not tomorrow. Not Monday. Today. Five minutes. Set a timer right now, close your eyes, and breathe.

Your mind will wander. Bring it back.

That’s the whole thing. And it’s enough.