03 · Sit

The Meditations

Short seated practices, each taught the same way: a cue to hold, a few plain steps, and a way to carry it into the day. Yoga's own seated practice comes first; a shelf of neighboring traditions keeps it company below.

8 from the yoga tradition · 22 from its neighbors

The heart of this page is yoga’s own seated practice, each piece linked to the text it comes from. Below it sits a shelf of neighbors: short practices from other contemplative traditions, each labelled with where it comes from.

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How to sit

You are not trying to empty your mind. You are just practicing coming back. Here is the whole method.

Posture: Sit so the spine is tall and the shoulders are easy, whether on a chair, a cushion, or the floor. Rest your hands wherever they settle.
Eyes: Close them, or let your gaze fall soft and low. Whichever keeps you less distracted.
Breath: Breathe through the nose and let it slow on its own. Follow one breath, then the next.
The mind: It will wander. That is not failure, it is the practice. Each time you notice, come back. That noticing is the whole thing.

Why the mind churns in the first place: Yoga 101 · the restless mind.

From the yoga tradition

Practices rooted in the texts

The seated practice the texts on this site actually teach: restraint and observance held in attention, breath followed until it slows, concentration settling into stillness. Each links to the verse it comes from.

The neighbors

Yoga is one of several traditions that took stillness seriously. These practices come from the others: Buddhist, Taoist, Stoic, and more, grouped by the principle they work on. They are optional, and each is labelled with its home tradition rather than folded into yoga.

Presence

See clearly

Practices that sharpen attention: steadying the mind enough to see what is actually here, before the story about it.

Oneness

Understand reality

Practices that loosen the line between self and world: sitting with the fact that nothing, including you, stands entirely on its own.

Flow

Move with it

Practices of ease: meeting the day's current instead of fighting it, and finding the action that costs no force.

Compassion

Care deeply

Practices that open the heart on purpose: turning goodwill toward yourself, toward others, and toward what is hard to be with.

Reverence

Honor it all

Practices of attention as devotion: meeting light, water, and the passing of things as if they mattered, because they do.

Where next

Concepts · heard in classThe words your teacher uses, each explained and traced.