Even if you sit just for five minutes, do so each morning and each evening without question. It doesn't have to be perfect, but it is important that you do it. If you do, guaranteed your life will change, your life will heal.

Even if you sit just for five minutes, do so each morning and each evening without question.  It doesn't have to be perfect, but it is important that you do it.  If you do, guaranteed your life will change, your life will heal.

During the meditation, focus your awareness on your breath, each in-breath and each out-breath.  Feel your abdomen rising when breathing in, feel you abdomen contracting when you breathe out.  There is nothing to be accomplished, nothing to be gained.  Just pay attention. As thoughts and emotions arise, just notice them.  Don't attach yourself to them but also don't reject them.

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Instructions on sitting meditation

Each morning and each evening practice sitting meditation for at least five minutes.  Find a comfortable, quiet place and, if you like, create a small altar with a candle, incense, and some flowers.  You can do sitting meditation on a chair or a cushion.

Posture is very important in sitting meditation. It is itself an expression of awakening and it facilitates the easy flow of our breath. 

If you sit on a chair, put your feet flat on the ground, and sit upright without leaning against the chair.  If you sit on the floor, use a cushion or a small meditation bench to support your posture by lifting up you bottom so that your knees can easily touch the ground.  You can sit crossed legged in the full or half lotus position or adaptations of this way of sitting.  You can also sit in seiza, which means that you kneel and sit directly on your lower legs.  A common adaptation of this position is to use a cushion or bench to support your bottom.

Line up the plane of your ears with your shoulders and your nose with your belly button.  Put your shoulders back and lower your chin slightly.  Find a comfortable position for your hands. This could be putting the back of the left hand in the right palm with the thumbs touching forming a circle, and holding this circle in front of your navel.  Or you can simply rest your hands in your lap or on your thighs.

You can sit with your eyes open or closed.  If you leave them open, close them slightly, picking a spot on the floor in front of you where you can let your gaze rest.  If you keep them closed just be careful that you don't fall asleep.

If you experience physical discomfort sit with that for a while.  If it persists then slowly and mindfully shift your sitting posture slightly until the pain is relieved.  Your "sitting muscles" — physical as well as mental and spiritual ones — will get stronger over time.