---
title: "What is meditation? (18 min) | Vipassana.Life"
description: "A Day 0 talk on what meditation is and is not, before the first sitting of the course."
url: https://vipassana.life/sittings/what-is-meditation/
lang: en
author: Ocean DYNN
site: Vipassana.Life
modified: 2026-09-23
---

# What is meditation? (18 min)

A Day 0 talk on what meditation is and is not, before the first sitting of the course.

[Audio](https://vipassana.life/a/day-0-aa-4-what-is-meditationaa-dJob9Jl26nhr852Q.mp3)
Listen · 18 min

- **Practice**: Ānāpānasati (mindfulness of breathing)
- **Part**: Part 1 · Day 0
- **Length**: 18 min
- **Level**: Beginner
- **Languages**: English, Spanish, Russian
- **Teacher**: Ocean DYNN
- **Next**: Part 1

The longest talk of Day 0, given before the first sitting so that the practice starts from a clear idea of what it is doing.

## Watch

[](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDNfIuv8bJQ)[What is meditation? Where it comes from and why it matters](https://vipassana.life/videos/NDNfIuv8bJQ/)

[Begin Part 1](https://vipassana.life/course/part-1-anapanasati-essentials/) · [Sittings](https://vipassana.life/sittings/)