Meditation timer

How long should a beginner meditate?

Ten minutes is the length most people can actually keep doing, which matters more than any theory about the ideal duration. Five is a perfectly real session if ten feels like a negotiation, and there is nothing virtuous about sitting longer than you will repeat tomorrow. The durations here are labelled by what they are for rather than left as bare numbers, so the choice is about the sit rather than arithmetic.

What is box breathing?

Four counts in, four holding, four out, four holding, repeating. It is symmetrical, which makes it easy to follow without counting, and it is taught well outside meditation to people who need to steady themselves before something demanding. The ring on this page is that pattern: it grows on the inhale, holds, shrinks on the exhale, holds, and you match your breath to it.

Watching a countdown while trying to settle is self-defeating, so the timer steps back to small grey text once a sit begins and the breathing guide takes the centre. If you have reduced motion turned on in your system settings, the ring holds still and the phase names carry it instead.

What is a mantra actually for?

It gives attention somewhere to be. Most people cannot simply stop thinking on request, but repeating a short phrase in time with the breath occupies the part of the mind that would otherwise be replaying an argument from Tuesday. The phrase itself matters less than having one.

Pro writes them for whatever you brought with you: a bad day, something you are dreading, wanting to be less wound up. Each comes tagged to the inhale or the exhale, and the one you pick appears under the breathing ring on the matching half of the cycle so the words and the breath stay in step.

Do I get a bell partway through?

If you want one. A soft tone opens and closes every sit, and you can add interval bells every minute, two, five or ten. They are useful as a gentle check that you are still here rather than composing an email, and some traditions use them to mark sections of a longer sitting. The tone is synthesized in the page, so nothing downloads and no notification permission is ever requested.