Stillness · “Stillness Reveals”
Gassho Meditation
Calm and concentrate the mind by sitting with palms together at the heart and resting attention at the point where the middle fingertips meet, breathing slowly and returning whenever the mind wanders.
In 5 lines: Sit upright, eyes closed. Bring your palms together at your heart. Take a few slow breaths, then rest your attention on the point where your middle fingertips meet. Breathe calmly; each time you drift, return to that point. Continue ~10 minutes, then rest before opening your eyes.
What it is
Gassho (Japanese for “palms together”) is the simplest meditation Mikao Usui taught his Reiki students: sit with the hands pressed together in front of the heart, as in prayer, and rest the attention on the point where the two middle fingertips meet.
Breathe slowly and calmly; whenever the mind drifts, bring it gently back to that point of contact. Usui is reported to have asked students to do this morning and evening, often for about ten to fifteen minutes.
Stripped of metaphysics, it is a clean single-point focused-attention meditation with a built-in physical anchor (the touching fingertips), which makes it unusually easy for beginners. This entry treats Gassho as a concentration-and-relaxation practice. It does not assume or assert that anything is being “channelled.”
The Method
- Sit upright and settled. Sit in seiza (kneeling) or upright in a chair, spine easy, eyes closed or softly lowered.
- Bring the palms together at the heart. Place the hands together, prayer-style, in front of the centre of the chest. Shoulders relaxed, elbows soft.
- Take a few slow breaths to settle. Begin with a few deep, unhurried breaths, letting the body soften.
- Place attention at the fingertips. Rest your awareness on the point where the tips of the two middle fingers meet. This contact point is the anchor for the whole sit.
- Breathe calmly and naturally. Let the breath be slow and easy. There is no special breath count required — just unforced, settled breathing.
- Return whenever you drift. “As your mind wanders, return your attention to the point where the fingertips meet.” The practice is this gentle, repeated return — not a blank or thought-free mind.
- Continue ~10–15 minutes, then rest. If the arms or wrists tire, you may lower the hands to your thighs and keep going. Sit quietly for a moment before opening your eyes. Practise morning and evening if you can. (Sourcing note: Gassho meditation is attributed to Usui and transmitted through the Usui Reiki Ryoho lineage; the “attention at the point where the middle fingers meet” instruction is the standard taught form. The numbered protocol is a faithful description of the consistently-taught practice, not a reproduction of any one manual. Some lineages instead direct attention to the space between the palms — the difference is minor.)
Source & Lineage
Mikao Usui (1865–1926) taught Gassho as a foundational practice within Usui Reiki Ryoho, reportedly drawing on his Tendai Buddhist and Mount Kurama contemplative background.
It is often taught today as the opening of the longer Hatsurei-ho energy-cultivation routine, but the bare Gassho sit stands on its own. It passed through Chujiro Hayashi and Hawayo Takata into global Reiki lineages.
Common refinements
Gripping the hands hard. Light contact is enough; tension defeats the calm.
- Straining for sensations. Don’t chase warmth or tingling — just rest attention on the contact point.
- Fighting thoughts. Drifting is normal; the gentle return is the practice.
- Forcing the breath. Calm and natural beats deep and effortful.
- Pushing through arm fatigue. Lower the hands to the thighs and continue rather than ending the sit tense.
- Too short to settle. Give it the full ten minutes or so for the mind to quiet.