Foundations · Secular · MBSR
Basic Sitting Meditation
A sustained attention practice drawn from the core curriculum of MBSR (Kabat-Zinn, 1990): sit still, rest attention on the breath, and return when the mind wanders. It is the foundational sit for adults managing chronic stress or anxiety, and it is the base practice adapted in MBCT for people with a history of recurrent depression. Use it as a daily anchor — morning works well, but any consistent time holds.
Evidence basis
MBSR (Kabat-Zinn, 1990); MBCT for depression recurrence prevention (Segal, Williams & Teasdale, 2002); meta-analysis of mindfulness meditation for anxiety and depression, Hofmann et al., Cognitive Therapy and Research, 2010; attentional control and breath-focus mechanism, Jha et al., Cognitive, Affective & Behavioral Neuroscience, 2007
Duration
10 min
Posture
Sitting
Difficulty
Beginner
Format
Silent
Benefits
The practice
Step by step
- 01
Sit in a chair with your feet flat on the floor and your back supported but not slumped. If you prefer the floor, sit cross-legged or kneeling with a cushion under your hips.
- 02
Rest your hands on your thighs, palms down or up — whichever is comfortable. Let your eyes close gently, or lower your gaze to the floor a few feet ahead if closing them feels uncomfortable.
- 03
Take one slow, deliberate breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. This is just a signal to yourself that the practice is beginning.
- 04
Let your breathing return to its natural rhythm. Do not try to control it from here on.
- 05
Choose one location where you feel the breath most clearly — the nostrils, the chest, or the belly. Settle your attention there.
- 06
Notice the specific physical sensations of each breath at that location: the coolness or warmth of air at the nostrils, the rise and fall of the chest, the expansion and release of the belly.
- 07
When you notice that your attention has moved away from the breath — to a thought, a memory, a sound, a physical sensation — simply note that it has moved. No judgment is needed.
- 08
Gently redirect your attention back to the breath at your chosen location. This redirection is the core action of the practice; doing it once counts the same as doing it a hundred times.
- 09
Continue resting attention on the breath, noticing when it wanders, and returning. There is nothing else to do during this period.
- 10
If physical discomfort arises, note it briefly — 'tightness,' 'ache' — and return to the breath. If the discomfort is sharp or demands attention, adjust your position slowly and deliberately.
- 11
In the final minute, allow your attention to widen slightly. Notice the sounds in the room, the feel of the chair or floor beneath you, without leaving the breath entirely.
- 12
When you are ready to finish, open your eyes fully, take one deliberate breath, and pause for a moment before standing or moving on.
Modifications
Variations
Chair-only version for limited mobility: use a firm chair rather than a soft couch so the spine stays upright without effort. Place a folded towel under your feet if they don't reach the floor flat. Keep both feet grounded throughout — this replaces the postural stability that floor-sitting provides.
Compressed 5-minute version for short days: shorten the open attention period (cues 9–10) to roughly 3 minutes by setting a quiet timer. Keep the opening signal breath and the closing widening step — omitting them makes the session feel abrupt and reduces the carry-over effect.
Note
If you have a trauma history in which closing your eyes or sustained inward attention has previously triggered dissociation, flashbacks, or acute distress, keep your eyes open with a soft downward gaze throughout, and shorten sessions to 3–5 minutes until you have confirmed with a clinician that longer sits are appropriate. This practice is not a substitute for trauma-focused therapy. For people currently in a depressive episode (as opposed to using this preventively between episodes), note that silent sitting can occasionally amplify ruminative thinking; if the session consistently leaves you feeling worse rather than more settled, discuss with your provider before continuing independently.