The Japanese word gassho (gaw-show) means “two hands coming together.”

• Practice gassho by comfortably holding your hands in front of your heart center, palms together. Your hands should be held so that if you were to exhale through the nose the exiting breath would gently touch your fingertips.
• Inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth during the course of this meditation. Rest your tongue on the roof of your mouth as you inhale; while exhaling, let your tongue drop to the bottom of your mouth. Positioning the tongue as described completes the circle of energy within the body and mind.
• Close your eyes and sit in a relaxed position, either on a chair or on the floor. Keep your back as straight as possible without straining it.

The purpose of gassho meditation is to increase the energy of the practitioner and to put him or her into a meditative frame of mind. Practice it every day either in the morning or the evening (or both) for 20 to 30 minutes.

The instructions for gassho meditation are simple: Concentrate all of your attention on the point where both middle fingers touch and forget everything else.