How to meditate at home: a short guide to get started

A stick of incense burns at a steady pace. That made it a clock long before it was decoration.

In China, incense was used to measure time from around the sixth century, and by the Song dynasty there were purpose-made incense clocks: vessels with the stick or powder calibrated to a known burn rate. Japan adopted the method in the second half of the eighth century and refined it with the jokoban, a board with a bed of finely sifted wood ash so the burn would be more even. In temples it marked the hours of prayer and meditation. Monks used a stick to measure how long a zazen session lasted.

That's the whole method, and it still works just as well.

The method: one stick, one session

You light a stick, sit down, and finish when it goes out. No checking the time, no alarm. The smoke works as a countdown without you having to think about it.

The first thing worth doing is timing your own stick once. Brands and thicknesses vary, so light one on its own, watch it, and note how long it lasted. That number is your session from then on. If it's too long to start with, break the stick in half.

Ispalla incense comes with 10 sticks per box, on a 100% palo santo base. Ten sessions per box, one stick at a time.

Where to put it

The stick needs to be held at an angle with something to catch the ash, because the ash falls whole and hot. A wooden incense holder with a long channel does both: it holds the stick and catches the ash along its length, so your table or desk stays clean.

Keep it out of the way and away from curtains, paper or anything flammable. Leave a window slightly open, so the air moves and the smoke circulates instead of hanging heavy in the room.

How to sit

You don't need a special chair or a meditation cushion. The edge of an ordinary chair works, with your feet flat on the floor, or you can sit on the floor on any cushion from around the house that lifts your hips a little.

Three things, that's it:

• Back: straight but not stiff. The usual image is a string gently pulling you up from the crown of your head.
• Hands: on your thighs or one on top of the other in your lap. Let them stay there the whole session.
• Eyes: closed, or half-open looking at the floor about five feet ahead. The second is easier if you get sleepy.

What you do during the session

You count your breath. Inhale, exhale, count one. Again, two. Up to ten, then start over at one.

You're going to lose count. You'll get to seven and realize you've been thinking about something else for a while. That isn't failing at meditation, that is meditation: the moment you notice and go back to one is the whole exercise. It can happen fifty times in a session and the session still went well.

That's why the incense clock works better than a phone alarm. The phone tempts you to look at it, and looking pulls you out. The stick you see out of the corner of your eye or not at all, and when the scent fades you know you're done.

Something to hold

Holding something in your hand gives your attention a second fixed point. The weight is there the whole time, so when your mind wanders, there are two places to come back to instead of one.

Amethyst palm stones are just the right size to close your hand around: smooth, flat, with some weight. Each one comes out a different shade because they're cut from natural stone. Amethyst has traditionally been associated with calm and clarity.

If you'd rather start with nothing in your hand, that's fine too. The object is optional; the breathing isn't.

How often

Short and often goes further than long and once in a while. One stick a day, at the same time, builds the habit faster than a half-hour session on Sundays.

The time that works best is usually one that already has an anchor: before coffee, when you get home from work, or the last thing before bed. It attaches to something you already do every day and stops depending on you remembering.

If you'd rather skip the stick

Palo santo wood works differently: you light the tip, blow out the flame and it smokes for a few seconds, not a whole session. It's for marking the start, not for keeping time. You pass it through the room, not over your body.

The short version

1. Time how long a stick takes to burn, once. That's the length of your session.
2. Put it in an incense holder, away from anything that can catch fire.
3. Sit up straight, hands still.
4. Count breaths from one to ten and start over.
5. When you lose count, go back to one. That part is the exercise.
6. When the incense goes out, you're done.

Aromatic and decorative product; no medical or therapeutic benefit is attributed to it. Never leave incense burning unattended.