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Zazen just sitting means this: sit upright, give your mind no task, and let thoughts come and go. Each time you notice you have been carried off, return to sitting without comment. No counting, no mantra, no goal. The whole practice is staying and returning.
What zazen is
Zazen is seated meditation in the Zen tradition. One form of it is often called just sitting: you sit, and that is all you do.
This post describes common practice in plain terms. It does not speak for any school or teacher, and teachers differ on details. If you have a teacher or a sitting group, their instructions come first.
Posture without strain
You do not need to fold your legs. A chair is a fully acceptable seat. Many people sit on the front half of a chair with both feet flat on the floor, so the back can stand up on its own.
Here is a simple setup:
- Seat. A chair or a cushion on the floor, whichever you can stay in without pain.
- Back. Steady and upright, the way you sit when you are alert, not the way you sit when you brace for a photograph.
- Hands. Rest them in your lap or on your thighs.
- Eyes. Many Zen traditions teach eyes open and lowered, resting on a spot on the floor a few feet ahead, without staring at it. That is one option. If open eyes feel odd, close them softly.
Shift if you hurt. Sitting through sharp pain is not the point.
What to do with thoughts
You will have thoughts. They are not a sign you are doing it wrong. Zazen does not ask for an empty mind; it asks you to stop chasing the thoughts that arrive.
The move has four parts:
- Notice. At some point you realize you are halfway through a conversation, a plan or a worry.
- Do not follow. Let the thought finish without you. You are not required to answer it.
- Do not fight. Many people find that pushing a thought away only keeps their attention on it. Let it pass.
- Return. Come back to sitting, to the weight of your body in the seat.
Thinking, back to sitting.
Say that line quietly, or only mean it. It is short on purpose. It names what happened and points you home, and it leaves no room for a lecture about how often it happens.
Returning fifty times in one sit is not worse than returning twice. Each return is the practice. Meet it the way you would meet a friend who wandered off mid-sentence: with a smile, not a scolding.
You may notice that some thoughts are loud and some are faint. Treat them the same. A plan for dinner and a worry about work get the same quiet answer, and the same road back.
Why it feels harder than counting
If you have used a counting practice or a guided session, silence can feel strange. Counting gives the mind a job. A voice gives it something to follow. Just sitting gives the mind no task at all, and that is the point of it.
The discomfort is common. Many people sit down expecting a technique, find none, and wonder whether they are missing something. You are not. The missing technique is the technique.
Expect to feel restless, bored or sleepy at times. Those are things that happen while you sit, and each one is another chance to return. A busy sit and a quiet sit are the same practice.
Your first sit: ten minutes
Choose the length before you start, so you are not bargaining with the clock halfway through. Ten minutes is a good first length. It is long enough to meet your thinking and short enough to finish.
A first sit of ten minutes. Choose the length first, then do not change it mid-sit.
- Minute 1: settle. Sit on a chair or cushion, back upright, hands resting. Lower your eyes or close them.
- Minutes 2 to 9: just sit. Let thoughts come and go. When you notice you have left, say "thinking, back to sitting" and return.
- Minute 10: stay for the end. When the end bell rings, do not jump up. Stay a few minutes in quiet before you move.
Afterward, note what it was like if you want to, and let it go.
No result is expected from this sit. You are not trying to feel calm, clear or deep. If something shifts, fine. If it does not, you still sat, and that is the whole job.
What to expect afterward
Sit in quiet for a few minutes once the bell has rung. Notice how the room sounds and how your body feels, then get up slowly.
Many people find that the first few sits feel crowded. That is normal and it is no reason to quit. Come back tomorrow, or the next day, for the same ten minutes. If you want help choosing a length once ten feels easy, our guide on how long to meditate walks through it.
When to add structure back
Just sitting is not a rule you must keep every day. On a busy day, when your mind will not settle, counting your breaths is fine. It gives the mind a job, and a job can make a crowded sit workable.
You can move between the two. Count when you need a handle, and drop it when you want the open sit. A plain timer lets you do either, because it asks nothing of how you sit. Keep the setup small, so there is less to decide before each sit.
Questions people ask
What does just sitting mean in zazen?
It means sitting upright and letting the mind be, without counting, repeating or following anything. Thoughts come and go. When you notice you have been carried off, you return to sitting. The sit itself is the practice.
Do I have to sit on a cushion with my legs crossed?
No. A chair is a fully acceptable seat. Put both feet on the floor, keep your back steady and upright without stiffness, and rest your hands in your lap. What matters is that you can stay still and awake.
Should my eyes be open or closed?
Many Zen traditions teach eyes open and lowered, resting on a spot on the floor a few feet ahead. That is one option. If open eyes feel strange, close them softly. Try each and keep whichever lets you stay with the sit.
What am I supposed to feel during zazen?
Nothing in particular. No result is expected from a sit. Some sits feel quiet and some feel crowded with thoughts, and both count as sitting. Dropping the search for a special state is part of the practice.
A bell to begin, a bell to end
I built SimplySit for exactly this kind of sit. It is unguided, with no teacher and no course, and you do not need an account. Set ten minutes on the dial, tap to begin, and the sit keeps running when your phone locks. Begin and end bells always ring, and silence is always an option.