Ten stages from your first sit to a still mind.
TenStages is a meditation trainer built on The Mind Illuminated. It shows which stage you are in, what to practice next and why it works, from your first sit to the deepest states of peace and insight.
Most meditation apps hand you a timer. TenStages hands you a map.
Where you are on the path, which obstacle is in the way, and the skill that gets you past it. Each session builds on the one before.
Inside the app
A map for every stage
Each of the ten stages has its own map, drawn from the traditional elephant path. You always see where you are and what lies ahead.
How your mind works
Every stage adds a piece to a model of attention and awareness grounded in neuroscience. The model grows as your practice does.
Guided by certified teachers
Guided meditations from certified teachers of The Mind Illuminated. Bring your doubts to them, and practice alongside the community.
The ten stages
The Mind Illuminated divides meditation into ten stages in four groups: novice, skilled, transition and adept. Every stage has a clear goal, the obstacles you will meet, and the skills that carry you through. Walk it below.
Novice
Stage 1: Establishing a practice
Sitting down every day is the whole first stage. Everything after it grows from this.
Stage 1 in detailStage 2: Interrupted attention
You notice the mind has wandered, and you enjoy noticing. That small moment is the skill.
Stage 2 in detailStage 3: Extended attention
Forgetting the breath happens less often, and drowsiness stops ending your sits.
Stage 3 in detailSkilled
Stage 4: Continuous attention
The breath stays in the foreground. Pain, memories and strong dullness become things to work with.
Stage 4 in detailStage 5: Overcoming subtle dullness
A pleasant, foggy calm is easy to mistake for depth. Here you learn to stay bright.
Stage 5 in detailStage 6: Subduing subtle distraction
The background chatter quiets until only the breath is left in the field of attention.
Stage 6 in detailTransition
Stage 7: Exclusive attention
Effort is no longer needed. Attention holds by itself and the mind starts to unify.
Stage 7 in detailAdept
Stage 8: Mental pliancy
The senses settle, the body goes quiet, and a steady meditative joy begins to arise.
Stage 8 in detailStage 9: Mental and physical pliancy
The excitement of joy matures into something calmer: tranquility, and a deep evenness.
Stage 9 in detailStage 10: Tranquility and equanimity
The quiet does not end when the timer does. It comes with you into the rest of the day.
Stage 10 in detail
Why we built it
We wanted an app that explains what meditation really is: how your brain behaves while you sit, why the mind wanders, and how you can become happier with what you already have.
We learn as much from the people practicing with us as they learn from the app. If it brings a little more peace into the world, it has done its job.
Attentively,
The TenStages team