6 Common Misconceptions About Meditation (And Why They're Just Not True)

You’ve probably read countless times that meditation can quiet your thoughts, ease your anxiety, and bring about countless other emotional and physiological benefits. And yet, are you meditating?

It’s a very human tendency to avoid those things that we expect to make us feel uncomfortable. Yet a lot of the assumptions we have about the difficulty inherent in sitting still are based on common misconceptions around meditation. These assumptions then become excuses not to meditate. The sad irony is the obstacles exist only in our imagination, typically in the form of unrealistic expectations about how we’re “supposed” to show up to the practice. What usually happens is the headspace required to avoid meditating requires more effort and guilt and self-criticism than simply sitting down and meditating.

Here’s a look at what you can do to make this simple yet misunderstood practice more approachable—and perhaps even likable.

6 Common Misconceptions About Meditation

1. “I don’t have time.”

Even short stints of meditation can bring about transformation. Research indicates that sitting in silence for as little as five minutes a day can reduce stress and enhance focus. Over time, a consistent practice can also incur beneficial physiological changes, including reduced blood pressure. And there’s also meditation’s primary purpose, which is to bring about self awareness, which can influence all aspects of your life.

Brooklyn-based yoga and meditation teacher Neeti Narula initially meditated for just two minutes at a time. As she explains, that approach allowed her to slowly acclimate to sitting quietly with herself for longer stretches of time. It also meant that she had no excuses when it came time to find 120 seconds to meditate.

Narula opted for early mornings, before the chaos of the day could derail her. And recent research supports that decision. A survey of meditation app users indicates they’re more likely to practice consistently when the meditate first thing.

As meditation researcher Madhav Goyal says, “We are all pressed for time.” And so it becomes a matter of meditation becoming a habit, although it may take some experimenting to find the time of day that’s most likely to work for you.

2. “I don’t know how.”

If you’re human, you can meditate. You may already practice a form of it if you’ve ever sat cross-legged during yoga class or are familiar with Savasana, the final resting pose at the end of class.

Simply sit somewhere, whether on the floor or on a chair or on a rock as you’re hiking. You might even prefer to lie down. Wherever you find yourself, settle into a comfortable position in a quiet space. Close your eyes and take a few deep, slow breaths. Trace your breath with your awareness as you let it fill your chest and abdomen and then slowly release. Do that several times, letting your awareness rest on the rhythm of your breathing. If your mind wanders, welcome to being human. Simply observe whatever has captured your attention and then return your awareness to your breath. That’s all you need to do. Breathe, observe, and bring your attention back to your breath when it strays.

If you practice that process consistently, even for a short amount of time each day, you’ll teach your brain and your body to bring this same observing mindset in any situation. That, in turn, allows you to pause in between stimulus and response, making your response to any situation in life more mindful and less reactionary.

3. “I’m afraid to be alone with my thoughts.”

There’s an irony to this common misconception about meditation. The act of sitting still with your thoughts can actually unchain you from the very thoughts that you’re trying to avoid.

“Unhealthy thoughts can chain us to the past. We can, however, change our destructive thoughts in the present,” wrote meditation teacher Jack Kornfield in The Wise Heart: A Guide to the Universal Teachings of Buddhist Psychology. “Through mindfulness training we can recognize them as bad habits learned long ago.”

Again, it comes back to witnessing and observing your thoughts rather than automatically believing or becoming lost in them. “Then we can take the critical next step. We can discover how these obsessive thoughts cover our grief, insecurity, and loneliness,” continued Kornfield. “As we gradually learn to tolerate these underlying energies, we can reduce their pull.”

The avoidant emotions of fear and confusion and uncertainty may give way to presence and observance and curiosity. As Kornfield explains, the transformation of emotions can be surprising, with even previous feelings of unworthiness potentially leading to dignity.

4. “I’m not doing it ‘right.'”

This is perhaps the most common misconception about meditation. “There is really and truly no one ‘right way’ to practice,” wrote Jon Kabat-Zinn in his book Wherever You Go There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life. Instead, it’s best to encounter each moment with a beginner’s mind. This is when we experience meditation anew, without expectation, simply witnessing it without resistance. “We look deeply into it, and then we let go into the next moment, not holding to the last one,” he explains.

“There is much to be seen and understood along this path; but it can’t be forced,” says Kabat-Zinn. “It is best to hold to and honor one’s own direct experience, and not worry too much about whether this is what you are supposed to feel or see or think about.”

When you can find trust in the face of insecurity during your meditation practice, he explains, you will find that something changes. And chances are it will be apparent not just in your meditation but in your every experience in life.

5. “My mind is too scattered. I won’t get anything out of it.”

Part of a meditation practice is not having any preconceived expectations around what you’ll experience during or after meditation. Expectations lead to strong emotions that can act as distractions, says Fadel Zeidan, associate professor of anesthesiology at UC San Diego School of Medicine and a leader at the UCSD Center for Mindfulness and the UCSD Center for Integrative Health. “Don’t expect to experience bliss. Don’t even expect to feel better. Just say, ‘I’m going to dedicate the next 5 to 20 minutes to meditation.’” That removes the pressure to achieve something during your practice.

During meditation, as feelings arise—annoyance, boredom, even happiness—you want to observe them but detach from them, he says. They, too, are distractions from the present moment, Zeidan says. “You’re becoming attached to that emotional feeling, whether it’s positive or negative. The idea is to stay neutral and objective.”

Perhaps the most harmful misconception about meditation is that you’re doing it wrong if you’re not experiencing a buddha-like state of contentment. That can happen. But that’s not the finish line. The point of meditation isn’t to achieve anything. It’s to observe yourself.

Continually catch your thoughts as they wander, bring your attention back to the sensations of your breath, and rest easy in the knowing that a busy mind is part of the practice. Actually, it’s the reason behind the practice.

6. “I don’t have enough discipline to stick with it.”

You might wonder why you’d bother to start meditation when you’ll end up quitting. But meditation is like any habit. It takes intentional action at the outset to become part of your routine, Goyal says. He places meditation on par with bathing or eating in terms of making it a priority.

Life sometimes gets in the way. It happens. But just like when you forget to brush your teeth, simply start again. Even when lapses of a week or more occur, Goyal says, it’s important to make the effort to come back and continue regularly. It may seem slightly more difficult to sit still, but just as you wouldn’t expect to run 10 miles after a long time away from training, he says, don’t come to meditation with lofty expectations. You might sit for two minutes. Or you might surprise yourself and sit for 20 minutes. All that matters is that you find a way to sit still with yourself for any amount of time on a regular basis.

RELATED: 12 Ways to Make Sitting in Meditation Easier

This article has been updated. Originally published September 2, 2021.