Beginners frequently conclude they cannot meditate because their attention keeps drifting. Drifting is what attention does when it is not being pulled by an external task, and the practice is built around that fact rather than despite it.
The brain has a default activity when unoccupied
Imaging studies consistently find a network of brain regions that becomes more active when a person is not engaged in an external task.
Its activity corresponds to self-referential thought, recalling past events, planning future ones and rehearsing social situations.
Sitting still with eyes closed removes external demand, which is precisely the condition under which this network becomes most active.
Wandering is usually detected late
Attention does not depart with an announcement. A person is typically absorbed in a train of thought for some time before noticing they left the intended focus.
Studies sampling people at random intervals during tasks find that mind wandering occupies a large share of waking time and often goes unnoticed until prompted.
The delay is why beginners overestimate how badly they are doing. The gaps they notice are the ones that ended, not the total.
The noticing is the trained element
Instructions in most concentration practices describe a loop, which is to hold a focus, notice that attention has left, and return it without commentary.
The return is the repetition being practised. A session with many departures contains more repetitions than one with few, which is the opposite of how it feels.
Framing the wandering as failure adds an evaluative layer that itself occupies attention, which is why instructions emphasise returning without judgement.
Different practices target different processes
Focused attention practices narrow onto a single object and train the detect-and-return loop directly.
Open monitoring practices instead maintain a broad awareness of whatever arises, which trains a different relationship to thought rather than the ability to exclude it.
Mistaking one for the other accounts for a good deal of confusion, since the instruction to notice thoughts is easily read as permission to follow them.
Why difficulty tends to increase before it decreases
Early sessions frequently feel busier than ordinary life, not because thinking has increased but because it is being observed for the first time.
Restlessness and boredom during this phase are commonly reported and are a predictable consequence of removing external stimulation.
For a minority of people, particularly with a history of trauma, sustained introspective practice can be distressing, and that is worth discussing with a clinician.