Within the Thai Forest Tradition, mindfulness of breathing (ānāpānasati) stands at the heart of practice. Attention is steadily placed on the in‑and‑out breath, often at a single point, and this simple yet profound discipline serves to cultivate both calm concentration and clear insight. From this basis, the mind is gathered, unified, and made capable of seeing its own processes with precision. Breath meditation is not treated as a mere technique, but as a doorway through which the deeper qualities of samādhi and wisdom can mature together.

Alongside sitting, there is a strong emphasis on walking meditation (caṅkama), where slow, deliberate steps are taken with continuous awareness of bodily movement and sensations. This form of practice allows mindfulness to permeate movement and helps bridge the apparent gap between formal meditation and ordinary activity. Walking and sitting are often alternated, so that steadiness of mind is trained in different postures and conditions. In this way, the cultivation of mindfulness becomes less confined to a cushion and more a quality that can accompany every gesture.

Contemplation of the body (kāyagatāsati) is another central strand, extending from awareness of posture and movement to reflection on the body’s elements and its unattractive aspects. Such contemplation may include detailed reflection on bodily parts, as well as death contemplation and cemetery meditations, all of which are intended to weaken attachment, vanity, and sensual fascination. By repeatedly turning attention to the body in this way, practitioners learn to see it as a conditioned, impermanent process rather than as a solid basis for identity. This bodily focus also grounds the mind, preventing meditation from becoming abstract or disconnected from lived experience.

Loving‑kindness meditation (mettā) is cultivated to soften the heart and balance the rigors of insight and renunciation. Feelings of goodwill and compassion are deliberately extended to oneself, to loved ones, to neutral persons, and even to those regarded as enemies. This cultivation of unconditional friendliness serves both as a concentration practice and as a means of transforming habitual ill will and fear. In the broader training, mindfulness is encouraged to infuse daily activities—eating, cleaning, and other routine tasks—so that the forest environment, the simplicity of life, and the formal meditations all converge in a single, continuous path of samatha and vipassanā.