Chan (禪) is the Chinese ancestor of what the West knows as zen. The word comes from the Sanskrit dhyāna - absorption, collectedness - and travelled through China to Japan, where it became zen.
At Body.Mind, Chan is part of the Qi Gong practice. Not an extra at the end of a session, but its quiet half: the same work, only without the movement.
An empty mind is not the goal
The most common reason people give up sounds like this: “I cannot do it, my thoughts just keep running.”
Everyone’s thoughts run. They still do after twenty years of practice. Anyone who claims otherwise either does not practise or is not telling the truth.
Chan does not measure success by how many thoughts you have, but by how quickly you notice you have drifted - and how calmly you come back. That is the whole exercise. Not preparation for the exercise, not the route to some deeper exercise. That is it.
If in fifteen minutes you drift a hundred times and come back a hundred times, you have done a hundred repetitions. That is good practice, not bad.
What separates Chan from an app
- No voice in your ears. Nobody guides you. You are alone with your breath - uncomfortable at first and essential in the long run. A voice telling you what to notice does precisely the work you were supposed to do.
- Posture matters. Straight spine, relaxed shoulders, chin slightly tucked, hands on the thighs or in the lap. The body holds the mind, not the other way round. Which is why in Chan you do not lie down.
- Relaxation is not the aim. It comes, but as a side effect. Chase it and it disappears, leaving only the disappointment of failing at it.
- No progress tracking. No series, no statistics, no streak. The absence of measurement is itself part of the practice.
- Part of the practice, not a break from it. You sit after training, when the body has already settled and the breath is already deep. The entrance is far easier then.
Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.
How to sit - fifteen minutes
- Sit on the edge of a cushion or chair. Feet on the floor, knees below the hips, pelvis tipped slightly forward so the spine stands on its own without your abdominals holding it up.
- Let the shoulders drop. Chin slightly tucked, the back of the neck lengthening upward. Do not puff out the chest.
- Eyes half closed, gaze resting on the floor two metres ahead, unfocused. Closed eyes lead to sleep or to a film; wide open eyes lead to distraction.
- Breathe through the nose into the belly. Do not force the breath longer and do not count - just notice where you feel it. Nostrils, chest, belly: pick one place and stay there.
- When you notice a thought, let it go and return to the breath. No commentary, no judgement, no “there I go again”.
- Repeat for fifteen minutes. Same time every day. The same time matters more than the length.
What happens in the first weeks
Week one: restlessness. The body hunts for a position, you itch in impossible places, time drags. That is not a sign of failing - it is a description of everyone’s first week.
Week two: boredom. Often worse than the restlessness because it is less dramatic. Many people stop here.
Weeks three to four: something shifts. Not in the meditation, but outside it. Someone says something that would normally anger you, and you notice the anger before you react. That delay is half a second and it changes everything.
After a few months: fifteen minutes is no longer long. Sometimes it is even too short.
Common mistakes
Sitting too long at the start. Forty-five minutes in your first week is a reliable way to stop sitting by week three. Fifteen is enough, and it is long.
Waiting for the right mood. Sitting when you are restless is in fact the practice. Sitting when you are already calm is a rest.
Grading every session. “Today was good, yesterday was bad.” That judgement is just another thought. The bad sessions often do the most.
Keeping it separate from life. Chan is not fifteen minutes cut out of the day. It is a training of attention meant to spill into how you wash the dishes.
Where we practise Chan
Chan is not a separate slot on the schedule. It is woven into the Qi Gong classes (Mon, Tue, Wed, Thu at 17:30) - usually at the end, once the body has worked.
The reason is practical: seated practice on its own, cut out of context, rarely takes root. A body that has just spent an hour breathing and opening sits down far more easily than one that came straight from a desk.
If you are interested, tell the teacher. You will get guidance for practising at home and answers to the questions that turn up after the first few weeks - and those questions turn up for everyone.
