I've always had an interest for meditation. But for years, I was on the wrong track because of apps like Headspace. From 2015 onwards, every once in a while, I would casually do 10 minute breathing exercises. Sometimes, it made me feel a tiny bit good. But most of the times, nothing significant. The apps were good to get into a habit of meditation, but the experiences were always shallow. I was about to give up when someone from Twitter (𝕏) in 2019 recommended [a loving-kindness meditation](https://jackkornfield.com/meditation-on-compassion/). And for the first time, I felt waves of love and compassion. For the first time, I saw the power and potential of meditation. But unlike apps like Headspace, I didn't have a clear path to follow after this experience, so I stayed with the suboptimal Headspace. But in 2025, things changed. I discovered [Nick Cammatara](https://nickcammarata.com/)'s tweets about meditation which led me to Nadia Asparouhova's blog post "[How to do the Jhanas](https://nadia.xyz/jhanas)". Jhanas were presented to me as "tapping into infinite happiness" and reaching "profound insights about the nature of reality" through practicing meditation. Sounds incredible, right? I needed to know more. Jhanas provided the transformative meditation path I was looking for. And as I researched how to "feel" them, two books came up: *[The Mind Illuminated](https://www.amazon.fr/Mind-Illuminated-Meditation-Integrating-Mindfulness/dp/1501156985)* by John Yates and *[Right Concentration](https://www.amazon.fr/Right-Concentration-Practical-Guide-Jhanas/dp/1611802695)* by Leigh Brasington. The books precisely scope the ways to train the mind to reach these altered states of consciousness, profound bliss in meditation, and reaching insights (from the Buddhist samatha-vipassana traditions). They notably helped me realize that focusing the attention on the meditation object (like the breath) should *not* exclude awareness of one's surroundings. Balancing attention and awareness (which is called mindfulness) is key. These books are worth a read. But they do lack the spiritual aspect of meditation, which seems profoundly bound to the practice. So I started reading *[The Art of Happiness](https://www.amazon.fr/Art-Happiness-10th-Anniversary-Handbook/dp/1594488894)*, which follows the conversation between the Dalaï Lama and a psychotherapist. Fascinating too. And this is where I'm at currently! I've been doing longer meditations in the morning, with awesome results. Almost every day now I've been feeling the "body buzz" called piti, waves and rushes of joy filling my whole body. What a way to start the day! I come to work with a huge smile on my face.