If you’ve ever searched for the best meditation and felt discouraged when it didn’t work, you are not alone. In fact, this is one of the biggest reasons people quit meditation altogether—right at the beginning.
Meditation isn’t failing you.
You’re just being taught the wrong starting point.
Most people come to meditation because life feels overwhelming. Their mind won’t shut off. Stress is constant. Emotions feel loud. And they are told that the solution is to sit down, close their eyes, and somehow achieve peace.
But asking a busy, overstimulated mind to suddenly become quiet is like asking someone who’s never exercised to run a marathon.
It’s not realistic—and it’s not how meditation actually works.
Why Beginners Should Not Start With “The Best Meditation”
When people search for the best meditation, they’re usually looking for something external—a guided audio, a technique, or a method that will do the work for them. But meditation isn’t something that works on you. It’s something you build within yourself.
For beginners, jumping straight into long guided meditations, deep theta or delta states, or advanced techniques often creates frustration rather than peace. The mind is still too active. Thoughts keep interrupting. You feel like you’re “bad at meditation,” even though nothing could be further from the truth.
The missing step is mental control, not spiritual depth.
Before meditation can take you deeper, you need a basic ability to quiet your thoughts on your own—even briefly.
The Real First Step: Learning to Quiet the Mind for Seconds, Not Minutes
No one tells beginners this, but meditation does not start with 20 minutes of silence. It starts with seconds.
That’s exactly how I began.
When I first started meditating, my mind was nonstop. Thoughts raced constantly. Sitting in silence felt impossible. So instead of forcing myself into long sessions, I focused on something much smaller and far more achievable.
I practiced having no thoughts for just 10 seconds.
That was it.
I imagined that all my thoughts were inside my head, constantly moving in and out through open gates. In my mind’s eye, I would close those gates where nothing could enter or leave.
For those few seconds, there was no thinking. Just awareness.
I timed myself. Ten seconds. Then fifteen. Then twenty. Eventually, thirty seconds turned into a minute.
This practice did more for my meditation journey than any “best meditation” audio ever could—because it gave me agency over my mind.
Why This Works When Everything Else Fails
Thoughts don’t stop because you ask them nicely. They stop when the nervous system feels safe enough to settle.
By working in short intervals, you’re teaching your brain that silence isn’t dangerous. You’re not overwhelming yourself. You’re building confidence and capacity at the same time.
This is especially important if you’re meditating during a difficult season of life.
In my case, that season was intense.
I was navigating motherhood during COVID, with two kids under the age of three. My husband was a first responder. I was working a full-time job. There was no outside help. Life felt heavy, uncertain, and emotionally demanding.
Meditation wasn’t a luxury for me. It was survival.
But I didn’t need enlightenment. I needed mental space.
Those 10–20 seconds gave me just enough pause to breathe, respond instead of react, and show up with more grace—especially as a mother.
When to Introduce Other Meditation Techniques
Once you can quiet your mind for short periods on your own—even a minute—you have built the foundation most people skip.
This is the point where other meditation tools actually start to work.
Before that, techniques like brainwave entrainment can feel ineffective or overstimulating. But when your mind has some level of control, these tools become incredibly powerful.
Brainwave entrainment works by guiding the brain into slower, more coherent states. But it’s not meant to replace awareness—it’s meant to support it.
That’s why I don’t recommend jumping into it immediately.
First, learn how to turn the volume down yourself. Then let the tools help you go deeper.
The Role of Leverage: Why Wanting Peace Isn’t Enough
One of the biggest reasons people struggle with meditation consistency isn’t discipline—it’s lack of leverage.
Tony Robbins talks about leverage as the emotional reason strong enough to create change. Without it, even the best techniques fall flat.
At the time I was learning to meditate, I had two powerful reasons.
The first was motherhood. I wanted to handle difficult moments with more patience, presence, and grace. I didn’t want stress to dictate how I showed up for my children during an already challenging time.
The second was intuition. I knew that clarity wasn’t going to come from overthinking. I wanted to connect to my inner guidance so I could figure out the path that would lead to the freedom and lifestyle I desired.
Those reasons mattered deeply to me. They gave meditation meaning.
This is why simply wanting meditation to “work” isn’t enough.
You need to ask yourself why you want to meditate.
Not in a vague way—but in a real, personal one.
When meditation becomes the bridge between where you are and what you truly want, your mind stops resisting it.
How Meditation Becomes Effortless Over Time
Something interesting happens when you stop forcing meditation and start training the mind gradually.
Silence becomes familiar.
Stillness becomes accessible.
Thoughts lose their grip.
Eventually, you don’t need to time yourself. The mind naturally settles faster. And when you do introduce deeper practices—like brainwave entrainment—your experience changes completely.
Meditation stops being something you try to do and becomes something your body recognizes.
That’s when meditation becomes effortless.
Where to Start If You are New or Struggling
If you’re just beginning—or restarting after frustration—don’t look for the best meditation.
Start with the simplest skill: learning how to pause your thoughts for seconds at a time.
That single shift can change everything.
If you want help with this process, I’ve put together a free Effortless Meditator’s Cheatsheet that walks you through techniques to quiet mental chatter naturally and build control without forcing stillness.
Once you’re comfortable with that foundation, you can move on to deeper practices. I’ve also shared a separate blog post with the best meditations I personally recommend for going deeper once your mind is ready.
Meditation isn’t about doing more.
It’s about starting where you actually are.
And that’s when it finally begins to work.
