What Is Meditation?

Do you have to stop thinking to meditate?

Your turn!

Question 1 of 2

Quarky sits down to meditate. What happens the second he closes his eyes?

The story

Quarky decides to meditate for the very first time. He sits down on a soft cushion, closes his eyes, and announces that he will now think about absolutely nothing. One second later he is thinking about sandwiches. Then rockets. Then whether a sandwich could fly a rocket. Every time his mind zooms off, Quarky notices it and floats gently back to his breath, and slowly he discovers the secret: meditation was never about having zero thoughts. It is about noticing where your mind went and kindly coming back to calm attention.

What you'll learn

Meditation means practicing calm attention.
Your mind will wander, and that is completely normal!
Noticing your thoughts and gently returning is the whole practice.
Calm takeaway: you do not have to empty your mind, just notice and return.
Quarky takeaway: being kind and patient with your busy mind is where calm begins.

Quarky 🧘 Mindfulness 💜 Feelings