FAQ

Unlike other meditation apps, The Way offers a single, long-term pathway that covers all the key areas of a deep and fulfilling meditation practice in one single program.

With The Way, you never have to make a choice, as you journey from Mindfulness into Awakening along a clear, tested, step-by-step sequence of meditation training, organized into 900+ meditation sessions.

The Way is made up of daily meditation sessions (Sits).

These meditation sessions are clustered into Retreats, each on a different topic.

Each Retreat begins with a Talk to introduce the relevant theory, before moving on to the meditation sessions.

Together, the Retreats form Trails, which lead you through all the different parts of the meditative journey.

Try doing one Sit each day.

On the occasional day when there is also a Talk, it’s ideal to do both the Talk and the Sit.

A 10-minute guided sit is certainly sufficient to build up a meditation practice. But if you prefer to sit for longer, we have included an option to listen to the exact same guidance for 15, 20 or 30 minutes.

There is also a self-guided timer, so you can put what you’re learning into practice with additional time sitting, if you want to.

If you feel comfortable or prefer to do two sits per day, that is a wonderful way to progress as well. Some students enjoy doing one session from the pathway, and one additional self-guided session later in the day.

The Way seeks to reconstruct the age-old experience of following a single program of meditation training for the long-term. This model allows a student to grow their practice more consistently, and get deeper into the possibilities of meditation than with a multitude of individual short courses. This way, the meditative path can help bring about shifts and transformations that help us in many areas of life.

Henry Shukman teaches mindfulness and awakening practices to a wide range of students from all traditions and walks of life. Henry is an authorized Zen Master in the Sanbo Zen lineage, and is the Spiritual Director Emeritus of Mountain Cloud Zen Center in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

In addition to teaching meditation, Henry is an award-winning author and poet. His struggles and traumatic experiences as a youth, combined with a spontaneous awakening experience at 19, paved the way for Henry to develop a well-rounded approach to meditation.

A manifesto, a map, and a manual, Original Love is an essential guide for spirituality in the twenty-first century.

It replaces the concept of original sin with original love as the true foundation of our life.

In Original Love, Henry takes readers on a journey through the four zones of practice, with personal anecdotes, inspiring stories and helpful advice for new and seasoned meditators. Going into more detail on the theory behind the practice, it is essential reading for anyone on the journey of The Way!

Yes! Henry holds regular online sessions and in-person events. Subscribers to The Way get access to regular live Q&A sessions.

You can see a full list of all upcoming and past events in the ‘Events’ section of the app, accessible from the Settings and Account page!

Yes! The Way is free to download and we offer a 7-day free trial to see if you enjoy the pathway.

From your mobile device, tap ‘My Way’ and then go to ‘Account information’. Then tap on ‘Subscription’. Select which subscription option you want, and then follow the prompts to set up your subscription via the Apple App Store or Google Play.

If you have any issues, please contact us at info@thewayapp.com for support.

You get access to the entire meditation pathway of 900+ meditation sessions, as well as talks and videos. You also get access to the Support Library, Community features, as well as a 20% discount on all live events.

We offer scholarships to anyone who would not otherwise be able to follow The Way. We're honored to be supporting the practice of students from marginalized communities - young, retired, unwaged, unhoused, in recovery, bipoc, lgbtqia+. If finances are tight, please don't hesitate to visit our scholarship page to find out more and apply (100% of applications are granted, no questions asked).

Yes, we do. With one simple, single payment you can have access to The Way forever. Please see the Lifetime page on our website for more details.

Please note: Lifetime does not include the option to share your account with others!

For subscriptions via Apple App Store: from your mobile device, tap ‘My Way’ and then go to ‘Account information’. Then tap on ‘Subscription’. Then tap ‘Edit’. You will be taken to your Apple account subscription management screen.

For subscriptions through Google Play Store: Please go to your Google Play Store subscription management screen on your phone to make changes or cancel your subscription.

Your subscription will remain active until the end of your current billing cycle.

There are two ongoing subscription options: monthly and annual. In the US, the subscription cost is $12.99 (monthly) or $99.99 (annual).

(Please note, pricing will vary slightly between countries, based on Apple's and Google's automatic cross-currency rates. For more information please see the app listing on App Store or Google Play)

Yes, you can! From your mobile device, tap ‘My Way’ and then go to ‘Account information’. Then tap the ‘Gift’ button. From here, you can easily send an annual subscription to friends or family members!

When registering, please make sure to use the special subscriber discount code. You can see the relevant discount code in the Events section of the app.

Please try restoring purchases. To do this, go to ‘My Way’, then go to ‘Account Information’, then ‘Subscription’. You will see the subscription screen. At the bottom of the screen is an option to ‘Restore Purchases’.

Please reach out to info@thewayapp.com for any help!

For iOS: Please note, as an app developer, we are not able to process refunds directly from subscriptions made via App Store. Apple retains the sole right to process them. Refunds can be requested via Apple.

For Android: Please get in touch with us at info@thewayapp.com and we can help.

Guided meditations are the simplest way to learn and practice new techniques of meditation, which are necessary to explore the foundational and the deeper sides of meditation.

If you are able to, having a free, unsupported and balanced spine is often deemed the most effective posture for meditation. This can be done sitting or kneeling, with chairs or cushions. However, it is by no means strictly necessary, and meditation can also be done sitting with a supported spine or lying down.

Try smaller time increments that are easier to fit into your schedule. Deep, positive changes can build up over time with a short (10 minutes) but daily habit. It’s more effective to meditate for 10 minutes a day than an hour once a week. If you can, try to build a habit by meditating at the same time each day. For example, right after waking up in the morning, or just before you eat lunch.

For iOS users:

From the Home Screen, touch and hold an empty area until the apps jiggle Tap Edit in the upper-left corner Tap Add Widget Select The Way's widget, choose a widget size, then tap Add Widget

This article from Apple provides more details.

For Android users:

On your Home screen, touch and hold an empty space Tap Widgets  Find The Way's widget Touch and hold the widget and slide it to where you want it

This article from Google provides more details.

It's possible you've signed up with a different email. Try logging in using another email account and see if that works. If you are unable to retrieve your 6-digit login code or no longer have access to that email address, select “reset password” to login with your old password.

If you do not have access to your email and do not remember your password. please contact support at info@thewapp.com for help.

If you log in and your progress has been reset, it’s likely that you’ve created a new account under a different email address.

If you're enjoying using The Way, we’d really appreciate a review, on the App Store or Google Play!

If you find a bug or have other feedback on how we can improve, please click the button below to leave feedback, or contact support at info@thewayapp.com

This may be because your mobile phone screen is timing out, halting playback.

Please go to ‘My Way’, then select ‘Meditation preferences’. Under ‘screen settings’. select the option to ‘keep screen on’. This will ensure that your screen does not time out from within the app while the meditation is still playing.

If you are using AirPods with an Apple device, it is also possible that you have "Pause media when falling asleep" feature turned on, which automatically pauses the playback and overrides the app. To turn off this feature, please connect your AirPods, open the iPhone Settings app, select the AirPods, and then scroll down to find and toggle "Pause media when falling asleep."

If you have an Android device, it is also possible that the Android "battery optimization" feature is forcibly turning off the audio of the meditation sessions within The Way app. This is a feature of the Android operating system and not of The Way app. In order to fix this, please go to your phone Settings, then Battery Optimization, and then click “disable” or “don’t optimize” for The Way.

Tap ‘My Way’, then ‘Meditation Preferences’. Then tap ‘Connect’ under Apple Health. This will enable you to log all minutes spent in meditation with The Way.

Every session is available to download for offline use! In order to do so, simply tap the ‘download’ icon in the top-right corner of each session icon, along the pathway. There is no limit to the number you can download.

You can bookmark a session at any time by tapping the ‘bookmark’ button within any meditation session. You can bookmark multiple sessions and design your own retreats to revisit!

To check which email address is linked to your account: click on the Account icon in the top right of the screen. Next, click “Your Account.” You will see your account information at the top of this page.

In order to change your account email: in the same Account screen, click on 'edit' next to your email. This will let you update or change the email address linked to your account.

Please note: if you created your account using Apple or Google secure sign-on, you will not be able to change the email address that is registered to your account.

To change the duration of your sit, tap ‘My Way’, then ‘Meditation Preferences’ then click 'Your Account'. From here, you can change your usual sit length.

Simply navigate to the most recent email you were sent by us. Click on 'manage your subscription preferences' at the bottom of the email. Here you can choose which, if any, communications you'd like to receive from us.

(1) Mindfulness: the ability to be truly aware of present moment experience, and succumb less frequently to entrapment by thoughts and reactivity.

(2) Support: the understanding that you are not a lone agent, but in fact are part of a rich network of causes and effects.

(3) Flow: the ability to rest in deep states of absorption and ease, where the sense of self goes quiet.

(4) Awakening: the project to truly pierce the illusions we carry around with us and see into the true nature of ourselves and our relationship to the world.

All four zones are necessary for a fulfilling meditation practice. Here at The Way, Henry will lead you systematically through them all.

The teaching that Henry guides you with in The Way is a fusion of modern mindfulness, Jhana practice, some Theravada Buddhist approaches and Sanbo Zen, while also informed by the latest neuroscience and cognitive science.

No. The Way has teaching rooted in Zen traditions, but is strictly secular. All teaching is simply an invitation to explore your own direct, first-person experience for yourself.