Meditation is mental fitness. Not in the vague wellness sense, but in the same way that lifting weights is physical fitness — it trains specific capacities through repetition. The capacity here is sustained attention: holding focus, noticing when it drifts, and returning without frustration. Everything else in this practice track builds on that skill.
The five-minute protocol
Sit with your back straight. Close your eyes. Focus on your breath — not controlling it, just following it. Notice the air entering your body, filling your lungs, and leaving again. When your attention wanders, bring it back. That is the entire method.
The wandering is not a problem. It is the repetition that matters, the same way a bicep curl matters because of the return, not because you held the weight perfectly still. Do not track how many times you drifted. Do not grade the session. Five minutes of this, daily, is the starting point.
Building to fifteen minutes
Once five minutes feels routine — not blissful, just familiar — extend to ten, then fifteen. The process does not change. Sit, breathe, return. After the session, stand and stretch slowly. Look around. Notice what the world looks like when your attention has been deliberately quieted for a few minutes.
When to move on
You do not need to master meditation before continuing. You need a repeatable sit — something you can do most days without negotiating with yourself about it. Once that rhythm exists, move to visualization practice, which uses the same attention muscles in a more directed way.