Sit Still

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      The 20 minute sit

      Six steps that add up to 20 minutes. Tap a step to preview it or to start from there. The voice says a line now and then and stays quiet in between; bells mark each step. Nothing leaves your device: sessions and goals are saved in this browser only.

        Goals

        The aim is 20 minutes a day. Morning before work is the anchor; the evening sit is a bonus. A finished session logs itself to the slot that matches the time of day (before noon is morning). Add the reminders to your phone's calendar so it nags you, not this page.

        Daily plan

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        Posture

        Pick whichever you can hold for 20 minutes without fidgeting; a chair is a fine place to start and stay. The shape is the same in all four: hips higher than knees, spine tall but not stiff, chin level, hands resting, eyes closed or soft. Some ache is normal; sharp pain means change position.

        Mantra sitting

        This is the style Rick Rubin practices: Transcendental Meditation. You sit with the eyes closed and think a meaningless sound silently, with no concentrating, no watching the breath and no trying to clear the mind. Real TM is taught face to face over four days and the teacher gives you your own mantra, so what is here is TM style, not official TM, and the sounds below are picked by you, not assigned. If you take to it, the real course is the next step. Pick Mantra above, sit back in a chair, and press Start.

        How it goes

        1. Sit back in a chair, supported, feet flat, hands in the lap. Comfort beats posture here.
        2. Eyes closed, half a minute of nothing. Let the body arrive.
        3. Think the sound once, silently. Never out loud, never in time with the breath.
        4. Let it repeat however it wants. Faint, vague, fast, slow, backwards. All fine.
        5. When you notice you are thinking, come back to the sound without any effort. That noticing is the practice, and it happens a hundred times.
        6. Twenty minutes, twice a day. Morning before breakfast and late afternoon or before dinner.
        7. Come out slowly: drop the sound, sit two more minutes with the eyes closed, then open them. Rushing out is what gives people a headache.

        Pick your sound

        Any of these will do. It should mean nothing to you, so there is nothing to think about. Keep it to yourself and never say it out loud.

        Saved on this device only. If the sound changes shape, stretches, blurs or disappears while you sit, leave it alone; that is the practice working, not you losing it.

        Common mistakes

        • Trying. No concentrating, no focusing, no holding the sound steady. Effortless is the whole method.
        • Pushing thoughts away. Thoughts during the sit are normal, even constant. You just come back.
        • Judging the sit. There is no bad one. Do not grade it while it is happening or after.
        • Saying it aloud or with the breath. Both turn it into a different practice.
        • Jumping up at the bell. Take the two quiet minutes at the end.

        How it differs from the other sits

        • No breath. The 20 minute sit counts breaths; this one ignores the breath entirely, and the breathing ring is switched off.
        • No body scan, no open awareness. One sound, start to finish.
        • Much less voice. Four or five lines in twenty minutes, then silence.
        • Supported posture is fine. Lean back. Nothing to hold up.
        • Both count the same toward the streak, so use whichever you will actually do.

        Walking with the dog

        Two miles is about 40 minutes and it counts. Two ways to do it. With earbuds: pick Walk above, press Start, pocket the phone; the voice gives one anchor every few minutes and a bell when it changes. Without: read the rules once before you leave and pick one anchor for the whole walk.

        Rules for a mindful walk

        1. Phone away. No podcast, no music, no checking. The walk is the thing.
        2. Pick one anchor before you leave: feet, sounds, breath, or what you see. Stay with it.
        3. Feel the first ten steps. Heel, roll, push off. Slow down a little.
        4. When the dog stops, you stop. Sniffing is his meditation. Stand and breathe until he is done.
        5. Name what pulls you. "Planning." "Remembering." Then back to the anchor.
        6. Halfway, do a 60 second body check from head to feet while you walk.
        7. Last block: no anchor. Just walk and take it all in.

        Anchors to rotate

        • Feet: the pressure moving through each sole, the ground's texture.
        • Sounds: nearest, farthest, the quietest one you can find.
        • Breath and steps: count steps per in-breath and out-breath, no changing them.
        • Seeing: colors and light, as if you had never been on this street.
        • The dog: where his attention goes, the leash's tension in your hand.
        • Air on skin: temperature, wind, sun, the difference between shade and open.