Conventionally: A practice involving stillness, attention, and awareness. Methods vary widely: breath focus, body scanning, open awareness, concentration practices.
More accurately: A method to shift from conceptual mind (thinking about experience) to direct experience (being with what's actually here).
We spend most of our lives in language: narrating to ourselves, labeling, categorizing, judging. Meditation interrupts that narrative and reveals what's underneath: the raw, unmediated reality of this moment. Like the difference between mentally processing a menu and actually tasting the meal.
Some traditions emphasize concentration (single-pointed focus). Others emphasize insight (investigating the nature of experience). Some use mantras, visualizations, or body practices. At Innerscapes, we teach technique that serves recognition: starting with practical foundations (alignment, breathing, setup) and introducing deeper inquiry as you're ready.
The goal isn't to accumulate meditation hours. It's to recognize what's here before the story about it arises.
