How to know if your meditation is working

Many of us are drawn to the idea of meditating – motivated, perhaps, by scientific evidence that it supports wellbeing, health and cognition. In practice, though, if you’ve ever downloaded a meditation app, there’s a good chance that you’ve stopped using it, or use it only occasionally. Research suggests that most new adopters of mental health-related apps give them up within a month.

It’s easy to neglect a meditation practice in part because its benefits can be difficult to confirm objectively (outside of a research lab), according to David Creswell, a neuroscientist at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh who studies meditation. From one day to the next, meditation might strike you as useful and fulfilling, or it might feel unsatisfying, pointless, even counterproductive. ‘People don’t know if it’s working for them,’ Creswell says.

Part of the problem is that meditators are frequently left to judge progress just by how they feel in the moment. If you’re experiencing sadness or agitation despite meditating, it’s easy to conclude that meditation is failing you, or that you’re doing it wrong, even if progress is happening beneath conscious awareness. Getting some external feedback that your efforts are paying off could make the difference between quitting meditation and sticking with it.

Researchers like Creswell have been developing measures that could offer more objective ways of gauging any benefits you’re experiencing. Scientists have linked the meditative state to metrics of the brain, breath, heart and nervous system – and several of these metrics, initially developed in labs, have become accessible to meditators at home. In theory, they could turn your meditation practice from an intuitive art into a measurable skill.

There are multiple ways of gauging progress

Of course, meditation is not a single practice with a single aim. People turn to mindfulness meditation hoping to become more aware of their thoughts, emotions and bodily sensations without being overwhelmed by them. Focused-attention practices (like concentrating on the breath) are aimed at building mental stability and reducing distraction. Meanwhile, loving-kindness or compassion meditation is typically pursued to cultivate warmth, empathy and emotional resilience. Depending on which practice you’re drawn to, the benefits and related signals of progress may differ.

In their book Altered Traits (2017), the psychologists Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson describe two broad goals of mindfulness meditation in particular – one transformative and one more pragmatic. (There are similar distinctions in other meditation traditions.) The first goal focuses on deep spiritual development: in this scenario, your meditation techniques – and related measures of progress – are less about cultivating comfort than observing and accepting difficult feelings. Doing so may gradually change how you perceive and react to life’s ups and downs. The other goal they describe, to reduce stress and boost overall health, is perhaps less profound, but also valuable. If simple stress management is your objective, you’re mainly trying to soothe the nervous system and enjoy some good old relaxation.

Should you track the effects of meditation?

Researchers and practitioners have debated the utility of meditation metrics on technical and philosophical grounds. There are scientists who see promise in them if they are interpreted with care. But as Amishi Jha, a neuroscientist at the University of Miami, points out, the available metrics come with research gaps and can yield questionable results. Ultimately, she says, what you should be aiming to cultivate is ‘your inner sense of how meditation is helping, so you can start relying on that’.

With this in mind, meditation metrics might be most useful early in a meditator’s journey, when the feedback could help reinforce meditation as part of a routine. It might seem counterintuitive to use metrics as a beginner, only to potentially give them up later – like a runner who stops timing his races the faster he gets. But the runner’s goals are anchored in external performance, whereas the meditator seeks internal performance. The meditator is more akin to a musician who uses a metronome for a while until she starts feeling the rhythm within.

That raises the question of how to define a ‘beginner’ meditator. Though I’ve been meditating for more than five years, I still consider myself a neophyte in many ways, and experimenting with the tools I’ll describe in this Guide finally accelerated my learning curve.

I became interested in meditation metrics this past spring, during the most challenging period of my life, when my mother was dying of cancer. Over her last two months, I doubled my daily meditation time to 30 minutes, thinking it might help me weather the storm – and, some days, I did feel more stable and present for my mom, dad, wife and son. But other days were more overwhelming than ever. I had no objective way to figure out what, if anything, my sessions were doing, unlike my exercise app, which faithfully quantifies every workout in great detail.

So, I reached out to scientists studying meditation to see how meditators might get clear feedback on their progress. Trying out these methods proved useful in a number of ways: they underscored for me how concentrating on the breath makes it slower and more rhythmic, and how that translates into nervous system activity; showed me how many minutes of meditation were sufficient to help shift my physiology in a healthy direction; and revealed my tendency to notice negative sensations over positive ones, prompting me to pay closer attention to emotions like joy and calm.

Measuring the effects of meditation strengthened my sense that it is gradually improving my emotional stability. I’m also sharing these tools with family members to help them start their own meditation practices. I hope that, like training wheels on a bike, they will help you build confidence as a meditator, too.

Before you start assessing the effects of meditating, decide what you’re looking to achieve through your practice. As mentioned, there are various methods of meditation, and they involve different aims. Consider the measures that follow, pick the ones that best suit your specific goal(s), and explore them one at a time.

Try traditional self-observation

There are ways to begin gauging your progress even without the emerging technology I’ll describe later. For millennia, meditators have harnessed the power of self-observation to track improvements in breathing, warm feelings in the chest, distractibility and tension.

Traditionally, meditators have kept journals or ‘practice logs’ where they jot down how long they sat, challenges such as restlessness and distractibility, and emotions such as compassion. To make this useful, you might spend a few minutes before and after each session reflecting on your intention for the practice (such as calm, focus or kindness) and, afterward, the most salient aspects of your meditation experience (for example, intermittent mind-wandering or more steadiness than usual). Later on, you could note if and how the session influenced the rest of your day. Perhaps you felt less emotionally reactive as a result. If you discuss your sessions with fellow meditators, including meditation teachers, they can help you interpret these experiences and normalise any obstacles.

Many meditators also conduct daily-life experiments, in which you go about your ordinary activities – like eating or cleaning – while focusing on your Zen or mindful resilience. As outlined by thinkers like Jon Kabat-Zinn, the idea here is to test how well your meditation practice translates to the rest of your life and how it improves over time. You could pick one routine activity each day and set a simple intention, such as observing bodily sensations while washing dishes, or noticing and accepting feelings of impatience while driving in traffic. Afterward, you’d consider whether you met your intention and any related challenges you had.

Although these old-school methods are tried and true, more modern tools potentially add a layer of objectivity. By collecting data on various states of the mind and body, you can monitor changes during meditation, compare such states before and after a session, and track longer-term outcomes. The rest of the Guide includes promising examples of these tools as well as caveats and limitations.

Log your distractions

If you’re new to meditation, you might not realise you’re mind-wandering until plenty of distraction has already occurred. Noticing when the mind has drifted, and seeing how quickly you can return to the present moment, lies at the heart of meditation – in particular, mindfulness meditation. This repeated mental pivot can strengthen attention and emotional regulation, and some tech-enabled methods are available to support this process.

A computer-based program developed by Yuval Hadash, a post-doc at Carnegie Mellon and the University of Haifa, has meditators verbally note when mind-wandering disrupts their focus on the present moment. The computer’s microphone picks up the meditator’s spoken observations about what’s happening inside their head. Afterward, they receive an analysis of the meditation. A study found that the program performed well as a measure of mindful awareness during meditation, with past meditation practice associated with greater awareness when using the program.

When Hadash let me try this program myself, I liked hearing my real-time self-assessments during the session. Usually, when I sit with my eyes closed for 30 minutes, random thoughts surface repeatedly, even as I maintain some awareness of the present moment. It’s hard to monitor these shades of grey to understand the quality of a given session. But naming what I was observing out loud made it clearer when I was half-drifting. In addition, hearing myself voice these observations felt warm rather than critical. Just knowing my session was being followed externally, though, also provided a reassuring sense of accountability. (Similar effects are well-documented in other areas of performance.)

Hadash is developing a publicly available version of the program. Until then, he suggests, you can use an auto-transcription app to record your self-described distracted thoughts, sensations and emotions. Track what you notice with very brief descriptions, even just one or two words, since generating short labels is easier and less likely to pull you out of the meditative state. After the session, review the transcript for patterns such as repeated types of distraction, shifts toward calm or agitation, or moments of sustained presence. Doing so may help you understand how your attention changes over time and where your practice might benefit from adjustment.

This kind of thought-tracking can be informative as a periodic test, Hadash thinks; relying on it too much could interfere with deeper meditation goals like ‘being with your experience and dropping notions of right or wrong’.

Measure your breath rate

Some meditation metrics show changes that occur over a single session, and you can see how this session data improves over weeks, months or years. One that Creswell recommends tracking is your breath rate. ‘During a good meditation session, your breathing gets really slow and rhythmic,’ he explains. Research has shown that decreased breath rate coincides with engagement of the parasympathetic nervous system. This is the ‘rest and digest’ yin to the high-stress yang of the sympathetic nervous system (which is responsible for the ‘fight or flight’ response).

One way to assess these changes involves meditating with your phone sitting on your chest, so that the phone’s accelerometer and gyroscope pick up on your breathing patterns. Creswell has co-developed an app, Equa, that is designed to analyse and translate these respiration signals. His research suggests Equa can provide important information about the quality of a meditation session. ‘We can predict if your mindfulness skills are improving,’ he says. ‘Much like you might go to the gym with your heart-rate monitor, you can now go into our meditation training and see how your breath rate changes.’ (The app is accessible for free with the passcode EQUAEL.)

The goal, Creswell says, is to spend more time meditating in the optimal breaths-per-minute ‘zone’ linked to mental health improvements, though ‘the field is in the early days on this,’ he adds. According to some research, the zone is 4 to 9 breaths per minute, he explains. The idea is for meditators to track the number of minutes spent within that zone across their training sessions.

Several other devices and apps measure respiration, but they typically do so only indirectly, inferring respiration from other metrics, which translates into rougher approximations than numbers captured by sensors on the chest.

Note that, while breath rate may be useful for assessing certain kinds of meditation sessions (eg, mindfulness meditation), it may not matter much for meditation types that might not slow the breath, such as mantras, open-monitoring or loving-kindness.

Monitor changes in physiological stress

Devices like smart watches can estimate stress levels by detecting electrodermal activity (EDA), which refers to changes in the electrical conductance of the skin caused by sweat, even in trace amounts known as micro-sweat. If your watch offers the option, you can program it to begin a meditation session, take your EDA reading (this might involve resting your palm over the display) as you meditate while taking deep breaths and, when you finish, the device will provide the EDA metric.

After meditating, you might notice that EDA has decreased as your stress levels decline. ‘It’s a particularly clean marker of stress reactivity because it reflects activity of the sympathetic nervous system,’ says Matthew Sacchet, associate professor at Harvard Medical School and director of the Meditation Research Program at Massachusetts General Hospital.

If stress levels are high and your meditation practice is aimed at reducing them, a decrease in your EDA could be a positive sign. It’s probably less informative if your practice is built around monitoring and accepting painful thoughts, since that approach could temporarily increase stress.

Assess your heart rate variability

A metric called heart rate variability (HRV) could give you a window into how your nervous system responds to stress and relaxation. HRV is based on the time gaps in between each heartbeat. The heart may feel like a steadily beating drum, but tiny changes in the lengths of these intervals occur with each heart stroke. Certain aspects of HRV, called high-frequency components, or HF, relate to how much the parasympathetic nervous system has down-shifted into a state of deep rest, Sacchet says.

To measure this properly, you’ll have to wear a heart monitor – preferably a chest strap, which is more accurate than wrist sensors – and download an app, such as Elite HRV, that calculates HRV with HF components. You’ll want to stay still as you meditate; motion skews the measurement.

If you’re mentally still as well, your HF may be higher, which could indicate deeper rest. Adding slow, rhythmic breathing might help. I had to combine steady, deep breath and mindfulness before I saw higher HF numbers. Meditation approaches such as mindfulness and focused-attention may be more likely to increase HF than more cognitively active or emotionally arousing practices.

With regular practice over time, you might notice increases in your HF level, depending on your meditation style, skills and breathing patterns. But more research is needed and, for now, Sacchet says, ‘caution is warranted in interpretation’. There isn’t an optimal HF range, as baseline levels and meditation’s effects vary widely among individuals. If your number stays the same, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’re not benefiting from meditation.

Track your average heart rate

The first technological signal of my progress with meditation came from my exercise app. I happened to notice that, since doubling my meditation time, my average heart rate, calculated each day and averaged across each month, had dropped to a new monthly low – a change linked to better stress management and overall health. My sleep, exercise and nutrition habits hadn’t changed, so meditation seemed like the only factor that explained the difference. The reinforcement felt hard-earned, supporting my resolve to keep up my practice.

Average heart rate tends to rise and fall from day to day in repeating cycles, and scientists have just started to recognise the significance of changes in these multi-day heart rate cycles. Whereas average heart rate numbers for one day can be outliers driven by daily behaviour, monthly averages may reveal more meaningful patterns. Many smartwatches and bands already record this data. You can review it in the device’s app, sometimes displayed in a timeline graph, while looking for changes in your averages along with cyclic rises and dips. A decrease in these numbers is a potentially positive sign.

Look for changes in everyday behaviour

Meditation can help you become more aware of how delaying gratification leads to feeling better later on, according to Eric Loucks, professor of medicine and epidemiology at Brown University in Rhode Island. In a mindfulness-based programme that he developed to help reduce blood pressure, he says: ‘we invite meditators to apply their self-awareness to their relationship with food and notice what’s happening in their thoughts, emotions and physical sensations.’ Increased self-awareness can apply to exercise, too: a meditator can ‘see what arises in their physical sensations’ while working out, and this might promote a calmer, less reactive mental state, improving one’s tolerance for exercise intensity.

Loucks suggests measuring these potential benefits with the help of a fitness tracker. ‘Are you walking more? Has your weight come down? Are you noticing how ultra-processed foods actually drive more craving and add more to your weight?’ If high blood pressure is a concern for you, his research suggests that meditators can see positive changes on this metric as well, possibly due to increased awareness of things like physical activity, eating, and medication adherence.

In my case, extended daily meditation sessions overlapped with better adherence to intermittent fasting: my overnight fasts averaged close to an hour longer. That shift could be mere coincidence, or it could reflect some increased tolerance for discomfort derived from the extra minutes spent meditating.

Sleep is another factor, measured by many wellness devices, that may improve with meditation, as one learns to accept anxious emotions, says Judson Brewer, a psychiatrist at Brown University. Over time, meditators can look for trends such as falling asleep more quickly and fewer nighttime awakenings.

Phone-checking is one more behaviour you could keep tabs on. Brewer suggests this habit can reflect high stress levels: he argues that today, ‘more and more people turn to distraction when something uncomfortable is happening’, such as ‘needing to make a tough decision, feeling lonely, or even being bored’. He proposes using an app – or plain old paper and pencil – to track whether you gradually check your phone less often. Rather than monitoring continuously, this could involve occasional sampling, such as noting how many times you check your phone during a fixed period – say an hour of work, or an evening at home – and repeating that snapshot every few weeks to see if the pattern shifts. Built-in screentime tools on your phone can also help capture these patterns.

Test for improvements in attention

Regular meditation has been shown to improve attention and working memory. Amishi Jha, the neuroscientist at University of Miami, has found that meditators improve on tests of attentional control after a minimum of about 12 minutes of meditation per day, five days per week, for four weeks. ‘That data is based on research with many groups, but in particular high-stress groups like active military duty,’ she explains.

Working with the US Department of Defense, Jha developed an app to help military service members use mindfulness to strengthen their attention. Users are encouraged to take stock of their attention and focus before and after meditation, and to reflect on these qualities outside of meditation, such as when performing their duties. ‘The goal is not to chase scores,’ Jha explains. ‘The point is to bring the trained capacities into their daily activities.’ A version of the app designed for the general public will be available from March 2026.

Outside of an app, you might self-assess whether you’re able to read for longer without re-reading paragraphs, for example, or stay focused on tasks without checking your phone or switching tabs. Some screen-time tools show how often you switch between apps and how long you stay engrossed in a single activity. Changes over several weeks could be a real-world signal of stronger attentional control.

Rethink your approach to meditation, if needed

Some research suggests that daily meditation for two weeks could be sufficient to start seeing improvements in mindfulness skills and stress buffering, Creswell says. If it’s been a few weeks and you’re not progressing on any meditation metrics, it might be worth trying another form of meditation or re-examining your techniques. In her book Peak Mind (2021), Jha emphasises that not everything you can do with eyes closed has the same benefits. For instance, some people focus on positive imagery during meditation. This might produce some positive changes, but it could disappoint if you’re looking to improve, say, your attentional control. For that, you might have better luck with another approach, such as mindfully attending to your breath.

Stagnant metrics could also be a sign that meditation simply doesn’t suit your temperament or needs. Meditation isn’t universally beneficial. Some individuals with certain forms of anxiety, for example, may find meditation inherently uncomfortable and unhelpful.

Before you decide that meditation isn’t for you, though, consider consulting a meditation teacher. ‘If you feel stuck in your meditation practice, real-live teachers are wonderful resources, and they’re now more widely available online,’ Creswell says. Hundreds of certified teachers are available for mindfulness meditation alone, through communities and programmes such as Unified Mindfulness and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction. With the guidance of a teacher, or a meditation technique that better fits your needs, you might begin to notice those improvements you’ve been seeking.

If you’re interested in how mindfulness practices could support higher levels of attentional control, Amishi Jha’s book Peak Mind (2021) breaks down the relevant neuroscience and offers an actionable roadmap.

Daniel Goleman and Richard Davidson’s book Altered Traits: Science Reveals How Meditation Changes Your Mind, Brain, and Body (2017) explains mindfulness in ways that are accessible without oversimplifying the practice. Grounded in rigorous study, it shows how meditation can lead to enduring changes in the brain and behaviour.

An article co-authored by Davidson, ‘Do Meditation Apps Really Work?’ (2025), looks at potential benefits of digital meditation apps specifically, including positive changes in the body after several weeks of practice, and how developers might improve such apps in the future.

Mindfulness meditation can be useful in reducing anxiety and countering unhealthy cravings. In the video ‘Judson Brewer on the Practical Applications of Mindfulness’ (2025), the Brown University neuroscientist discusses how meditation apps can serve these purposes and enhance wellbeing.