How to Meditate, by a 3 Year Old

When my son was 3, he would teach guests at our house how to meditate:

“Sit down. Cross your legs like this. Put your hands together. Breathe in. Breathe out. That’s all.”

And really it is that simple. Watch your breath in and out. He now adds a bell to begin and end the meditation.

I would say that as an adult, we have the layering on of years of conditioning and reactions to our emotions. We may know how to focus in our professional work, but when it comes to focusing on sensation and sitting still this can be quite challenging.

Which is why keeping it simple is what is most effective for meditation.

Follow the breath in and out. Have a beginning and an end. Sit still. Even if it if just for the length of the bell. Bring yourself back to your breath even though you may wander 80 times in a minute. Over time, you will find yourself able to have greater moments of stillness. You will notice there are days or weeks where it is as if you are beginning all over again.

All of this is meditation: the ability to come back again and again, to the very simplest gesture of that which gives you life.