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Understand the practice · Lesson 5 of 11

When Your Mind Wanders, That Is the Practice

See why a wandering mind is not a sign that you are bad at meditation, and learn to count your returns instead of your calm moments.

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THE WRITTEN LESSONFollow along at your pace

A wandering mind isn’t a sign that you are bad at meditation. It is the very thing you are practicing. This lesson shows why, and how to keep going when your thoughts keep running off.

Everyone wanders

Everyone’s mind wanders, even experienced teachers’. One well-known teacher recalls her first try: one breath, and she was gone. Thoughts about an email, lunch, or whether you are doing this right will keep arriving. That is normal.

Three seated people with thought bubbles: An email, Lunch, and Am I doing this right? A tag under the third says Teacher, and a chip says That's normal.(opens the full-size picture)
Even a teacher wonders if they are doing it right.

The cycle

Researchers describe it as a cycle with four phases. Your mind wanders. You become aware of it. You shift your attention back. And you stay with the breath for a while. Then it starts again.

Four cards arranged in a loop with dashed arrows and a circular arrow in the middle: Wander, Notice, Come back and Stay.(opens the full-size picture)
Wander, notice, come back, stay, and around again.

Noticing is a success

The key moment is noticing. When you realize you have drifted, that is not a failure. It is a success. Thoughts don’t have to go away. You see them as events that come and go.

A card with an eye and a green check says Notice. Beside it, the word Failure is crossed out in red and the word Success has a check.(opens the full-size picture)
Noticing counts as a success.

Repetitions

Think of each return as one repetition at the gym. A session with forty wanderings holds forty repetitions. If you came back even once, the session worked.

A dumbbell labeled One return = one repetition, next to a counter showing 40 and the word repetitions. A chip says Came back once? It worked.(opens the full-size picture)
More wandering means more repetitions.

Come back gently

Come back gently, without judging yourself. Saying thinking softly in your head can help. If the breath makes you tense, rest on another anchor instead: the sounds in the room, or the feel of your feet on the floor.

A seated person beside the chip Gently, no judging and a speech bubble that says thinking. Three cards below show Breath, faded, then Sounds and Your feet, both highlighted.(opens the full-size picture)
If the breath is hard, try sounds or your feet.

First-week snags

Two snags are common in the first week. If you keep nodding off, sit upright, practice earlier in the day, or open your eyes partway. If you doubt yourself, remember: getting lost, noticing and coming back is how it is done.

Two cards. Sleepy? lists Sit upright, Earlier in the day and Eyes partway open. Doubting? lists Lost, Notice, Come back, followed by a check and the words Doing it.(opens the full-size picture)
Both snags have a simple fix.

YOUR TURN

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Read the full lesson script

In this lesson, you'll see why a wandering mind isn't a sign that you're bad at meditation. It's the very thing you're practicing.

Everyone's mind wanders, even experienced teachers'. One well-known teacher recalls her first try: one breath, and she was gone. Thoughts about an email, lunch, or whether you're doing this right will keep arriving. That's normal.

Researchers describe it as a cycle with four phases. Your mind wanders. You become aware of it. You shift your attention back. And you stay with the breath for a while. Then it starts again.

The key moment is noticing. When you realize you've drifted, that's not a failure. It's a success. Thoughts don't have to go away. You see them as events that come and go.

Think of each return as one repetition at the gym. A session with forty wanderings holds forty repetitions. If you came back even once, the session worked.

Come back gently, without judging yourself. Saying thinking softly in your head can help. If the breath makes you tense, rest on another anchor instead: the sounds in the room, or the feel of your feet on the floor.

Two snags are common in the first week. If you keep nodding off, sit upright, practice earlier in the day, or open your eyes partway. If you doubt yourself, remember: getting lost, noticing and coming back is how it's done.

So remember: everyone wanders, noticing is a success, and every return is one repetition. Before the next lesson, in your next session, count your returns, not your calm moments. Next, you'll explore the main types of meditation.