The Eight R's of meditation are Lorin Roche's map of what your mind, body and nervous system do when you sit: relax, release, replay, repair, restore, remember, rehearse and rest. After the rest comes the urge to stand up and go, or to stay for another round. The cycle turns again and again, and all of it is thinking. Thinking is meditating.
A free guide and videoMeditation Mythbusting, plus a gentle guided practice. Get it free below
What are the Eight R's of meditation?
When you sit for meditation, or stand, or walk, there are things your mind is doing, things your body is doing, and things your nervous system is doing. They go around and around in a cycle, repeatedly, for quite some time, until the cycle has been kind of used up. Our mentor Lorin Roche gave that cycle a name, the Eight R's: relax, release, replay, repair, restore, remember, rehearse and rest.
Picture it as a circle, like the face of a clock. For the first 5 to 10 minutes of a sit, for basically everybody, and perhaps for the first few months if you are new to this, you will spend almost all your time in this cycle. A busy sit is the body doing its work.
Who is Lorin Roche?
Lorin Roche is a mentor to Daniela and me, and the Eight R's are his model. He taught meditation for over 50 years, and he is the author of The Radiance Sutras, a poetic interpretation of the Vijnana Bhairava Tantra and its 112 gateways into meditation. That book changed my life, and Daniela's.
Daniela passes on something he says about the to-do list. Of course it comes up when you sit, she explains, 'because that's 1 of many ways that you show your love for those you care about in your life.'
What happens when you relax, release and replay?
Let's start at 3 o'clock on the circle. You have an urge to relax. You sit down or lie down and say, ah, I think I'm going to meditate for a few minutes. Oh, there's my cushion. Or there's my chair. You make yourself comfortable.
Relaxing lets your nervous system move into a space of releasing what has gone before. You might have had some tension that day, an argument. You might be worried about things. We all have worries and nervousness and anxieties. It's all part of our experience. So this starts to release, physically, through the body. Your nervous system relaxes. Your breath starts to change.
That leads to a natural replaying of what you are releasing. What happened? Oh, what happened there? You sit at the end of the day, and your day had a whole lot of chapters. So there's a natural replaying in your mind of things that happened.
What do repair and restore mean in meditation?
The releasing and the replaying give your nervous system a chance to adjust, to regulate. That's repairing. Repairing and restoring are your nervous system adapting and adjusting. You're releasing stress and tension. You're replaying what's gone before. And you're coming back to yourself.
Daniela describes her own experience of meditation in close to the same words, as a process 'of sorting, of releasing, of resolving, of integrating, of rehearsing, of connecting.'
Why does the mind remember and rehearse?
After that has had its play, maybe a couple of minutes have gone by, and you'll be like, oh, well, that was nice. Now you have a new beginning. Your body and your nervous system start to prime for what they believe is coming later. So we rehearse. Oh, I think I'll pick up the cat food, and then bring this. We're doing some planning.
Along the way, we remember. Remembering, releasing, replaying and repairing tend to what has gone before. Rehearsing and imagining lean toward what is coming later. The order is loose. It is a circle.
What is the rest, and the urge to stand up or stay?
When all this is happening, at some point there will be a moment of rest. On the clock, that's 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock. Resting is the in-between, where a cycle has finished. You could think of it as a circle, or like diving down into the ocean and then coming back up.
As soon as there is rest, you might have the urge to stand up, because you've had a little rest and you feel a little bit better. You'll say, wow, that was nice, I want to go work on my project now. Or you'll say, no, I'm staying. I'm sitting for 10, 15, 20 minutes. It's only been a few minutes. And another cycle begins. This happens every 90 seconds, 2 minutes, again and again and again.
Is thinking during meditation a problem?
Relax, release, replay, repair, restore, remember, rehearse. These are all thoughts. You're thinking. Thinking is meditating. Thinking is processing. It's totally okay. It's totally natural.
Daniela says it this way about a busy mind: 'It does not mean you have a monkey mind. It means you're engaged in your life with care, love, and presence.'
Think about when you were a kid, lying out on the grass, watching the clouds and figuring out what the shapes were, or stargazing. When you were younger, you meditated. You just did. You had space. And as adults, we deny ourselves this essential recalibration. At some point your mind will tire of giving you all the opinions, and you don't rush it. You let it have its say. That is the heart of Effortless Meditation.
What is the golden thought?
In that resting state, every once in a while, there will be a little space where there really aren't any thoughts. And since there aren't thoughts, you won't be aware of time passing. Then suddenly you'll have a thought like, wow, where was I? Or, I'm supposed to be meditating. Or, what was I thinking about? I was planning lunch.
A meditation teacher of mine called that the golden thought. Listen carefully here, because this is a very important point. The golden thought only and always happens in the present moment.
What we tend to do is use it to shame ourselves. Oh, I'm supposed to be meditating, and I was thinking about something else. Bad meditator, bad meditator. Instead, I want you to celebrate, because that's the dawning of awareness. Your nervous system is beginning to recalibrate to the present moment. So instead of letting that thought be evidence you weren't doing it right, let it be evidence that you were. You've just finished a cycle.
If you meditate with a mantra, the golden thought is your cue to drop back in, the way I describe in Mantra Meditation for Beginners.
How long does it take the mind to settle?
For most of us, once you're meditating regularly, the thoughts of past and future go on for somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes. Then, at 12, 13, 14 minutes, there'll be a little space, a little pause. It feels terrific. It feels like you've had a little nap. A little sunlight shines through in that resting state. Then the golden thought arrives, and you can smile to yourself and say, all right, that's wonderful. You gave yourself the cycle.
Sometimes you'll peek at the time, sure your 20 minutes are done, and it's only been 1 minute. Okay. Stay here a while longer.
Daniela tells a story about this. Picture all of us as photographers, staying in a cabin by a lake. Early in the morning we're pretty sure we hear the call of the loon. So we set an alarm for about 5, make a cup of tea, start down the hill at 5:25, check that every lens cap is off, and then we sit, and we wait. 'And the loon might come by and it might not,' she says. If we keep going down to the lake shore, at some point, something is going to happen. And when it does, 'a nanosecond is all you need.' That's why we keep showing up.
How can you practice with the Eight R's?
Give yourself permission to sit or lie down comfortably, really good and comfortable. Then let the cycle turn, and let your mind have its say.
The printable Eight R's card is part of the Effortless Meditation Course, along with the bonus lesson, The Eight R's, as taught by Lorin Roche. If you'd like to start smaller, the free guide includes a 12-minute practice with me.
So the next time you sit and catch yourself planning lunch, smile. That's the golden thought. You just finished a cycle.
Common questions about the Eight R's
What are the Eight R's of meditation?
They are Lorin Roche's map of what the mind and nervous system do in a sit: relax, release, replay, repair, restore, remember, rehearse and rest. After the rest comes the urge to stand up or to stay, and the cycle begins again, every 90 seconds to 2 minutes.
Who created the Eight R's of meditation?
Lorin Roche, the author of The Radiance Sutras, who taught meditation for over 50 years and is a mentor to Christopher Grant and Daniela Hess. They teach his model as a bonus lesson in the Effortless Meditation Course, with a printable Eight R's card.
Is it bad to think during meditation?
No. In the Eight R's, relaxing, releasing, replaying, repairing, restoring, rehearsing and remembering all show up as thoughts, and that thinking is the mind processing. As Christopher puts it, thinking is meditating. It's totally okay, and it's totally natural.
What is the golden thought in meditation?
It is the moment you notice, wait, where was I, or, I'm supposed to be meditating. That thought only and always happens in the present moment. Instead of scolding yourself, celebrate it. It means you have just finished a cycle.
How long does it take the mind to settle in meditation?
For most people who meditate regularly, thoughts of past and future carry on for about 10 to 15 minutes. Then a little space may open, a pause that can feel like a short nap. If you are new, the cycle may fill most of your sit, and that's fine.
You can meditate. Start with the free guide and video.
- Meditation Mythbusting: 10 common myths, busted (PDF)
- Your First Effortless Meditation, a gentle guided practice (video)
Sources: Christopher's teaching of Lorin Roche's Eight R's in an Effortless Meditation office hours recording (the course bonus 'The Eight R's, as taught by Lorin Roche'), the printable Eight R's card, the golden thought from Lesson 3 and the December 15, 2024 workshop, and Daniela Hess's words from that workshop and the office hours, lightly edited. The Eight R's model is Lorin Roche's.
More than a guided course. A living practice you carry into everyday life. See the Effortless Meditation Course, or browse the other articles.