What are the 7 stages of meditation?

In traditional traditions like Raja Yoga or specific Buddhist frameworks, the "stages" of meditation describe a progressive evolution of the mind, taking the practitioner from basic physical relaxation through continuous concentration, all the way to deep states of absorption and profound insight.

Depending on the exact school of thought, the 7 stages of meditation usually manifest in the following ways:

The 7 Stages of Mindfulness (Psychological Progression) :Many modern and classical techniques track the journey of stabilizing your attention:

1-  Physical relaxation: Releasing bodily tension and preparing the body to sit comfortably.

2-   Mind-wandering & forgetting: Training the mind to recognize and stop wandering when it forgets the meditation object.

3-  Extended attention: Overcoming the forgetting phase and developing the ability to hold a continuous, sustained focus on your anchor.

4-  Overcoming gross distractions: Reaching a milestone where you are no longer derailed by strong disruptions or sudden thoughts.

5-  Overcoming subtle dullness: Clearing away quiet, underlying sluggishness to reach a deeper sense of clarity and mindfulness.

6-  Subduing subtle distractions: Peeling back quiet thoughts and achieving an exclusive focus on the object of meditation.

7-   Exclusive, effortless focus: Attaining a transition state where your concentration becomes perfectly stable and sustained.