Meditate for 10 minutes every morning

Why a wandering mind matters

A well-known study by researchers at Harvard pinged about 2,250 adults on their phones at random moments of the day. Their minds were wandering in nearly half of those moments, about 47 percent. People also reported feeling less happy while their minds wandered than while they focused on what they were doing. Meditation does not ask you to stop that pull. It asks you to notice the drift and come back, again and again.

How a short sit trains your attention

The most studied form is mindfulness meditation, and it is simple to describe. You pick an anchor, such as the feeling of your breath, and gently return to it each time you notice your mind has wandered. Each return works like one repetition at the gym. A busy session still counts, because every return is the exercise itself.

There are several styles, and none is clearly best for everyone.

A common question is whether every day is too much, or whether 10 minutes is too little. Daily practice is what most trials asked of people, so every day is a normal pace. Ten minutes a day adds up to about 70 minutes a week, or a little over nine hours across eight weeks. In one trial, a 13-minute daily session was enough to show changes, so long sittings are not needed to begin.

What the research found

A large review in JAMA Internal Medicine pooled 47 randomised controlled trials with about 3,500 participants. It found moderate evidence that mindfulness programs eased anxiety, depressive symptoms and pain over about eight weeks. The effects were small to moderate. Meditation also did not do better than other active approaches, such as exercise, so it is one good option among several.

In a separate trial, adults new to meditation listened to a 13-minute guided session every day for eight weeks, while a comparison group listened to a podcast. The meditators reported less negative mood after four weeks and did better on attention and memory tests by eight weeks. Brain imaging work on an eight-week course called mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) found more grey matter density in areas tied to learning, memory and emotion. Both studies were small, and the first included only adults aged 18 to 45, so they show promise rather than proof.

Making it part of your morning

The hardest part of meditation is usually remembering to do it. Tying it to something you already do, like making coffee or tea, removes the daily decision. Sitting in the same chair each time lets the chair become a reminder, as long as it is not also where the laundry lives. On a rushed or rough morning, sit for five minutes or even five slow breaths, and keep the habit alive.

Expect your mind to wander constantly at first. While your coffee cools, your only job is to notice the drift and come back. After a few weeks, you become someone who starts the day with a quiet sit before the noise. If meditation stirs up distressing feelings, or low mood or anxiety lasts for weeks, talk to a doctor or therapist rather than relying on practice alone. Which chair in your home could you sit in tomorrow while your coffee cools?

References

• Goyal, M., et al. (2014). Meditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA Internal Medicine, 174(3), 357–368. doi.org/10.1001/jamainternmed.2013.13018
• Basso, J. C., et al. (2019). Brief, daily meditation enhances attention, memory, mood, and emotional regulation in non-experienced meditators. Behavioural Brain Research, 356, 208–220. doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2018.08.023
• Killingsworth, M. A., & Gilbert, D. T. (2010). A wandering mind is an unhappy mind. Science, 330(6006), 932. doi.org/10.1126/science.1192439
• Hölzel, B. K., et al. (2011). Mindfulness practice leads to increases in regional brain gray matter density. Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, 191(1), 36–43. doi.org/10.1016/j.pscychresns.2010.08.006