How long should I meditate?
-
Dr. Dean Ornish answered:How long you meditate is up to you. Traditionally, many people recommend meditating for at least twenty or thirty minutes once or twice a day. More important than how long you meditate is how regularly. It’s better to meditate for a few minutes every day than for an hour once or twice a week.
Sometimes, when I’m very busy, I’ll tell myself that I only have time to meditate for three minutes. No matter how busy I am, three minutes sounds manageable. Once I start, though, I usually find the experience to be so pleasurable and peaceful that I allow myself to continue. Getting started is always the hardest.
How long you meditate is up to you. Traditionally, many people recommend meditating for at least twenty or thirty minutes once or twice a day. More important than how long you meditate is how regularly. It’s better to meditate for a few... More -
Burke Lennihan RN CCH answered:In the beginning, it’s better to meditate for five minutes every day than to do it intermittently and try to meditate longer. It’s like exercising – you do better to exercise for a shorter time than to go to the gym only once a week and try working out for two hours. That won’t work! and neither will occasional bursts of longer meditations.
So make a commitment to sitting for five minutes every day, and preferably twice a day if you are really serious about making meditation part of your life. Try to do it at the same time each day, which helps to build up momentum for your practice. Most people can easily do 5 minutes, and before you know it, you will easily be sitting for 10 minutes.
Let your meditation time increase naturally. When you get into a real meditative state, you will not even be aware of the passage of time. (I ask my classes at Harvard Center for Wellness how long they think they just meditated, and they typically say 5 minutes, a few people will say 10 minutes, when actually it was 25 minutes!)
Everyone has ups and downs when they first start – days when their meditation is deep and silent and peaceful and other days when they feel like they just can’t do it. On days when you just can’t do it, try for a minimum amount of time – like 5 minutes – then try something else, like reading a spiritual book or chanting.
And when you’re having a good experience, it’s better to stop when you’re still enjoying it rather than forcing yourself to sit for an artificial length of time and trying to meditate while checking your watch. If you stop while you’re still enjoying it, you will look forward to the next time.
Once you’ve been meditating for a while, you’ll find yourself meditating for half an hour or even an hour. But let that come naturally. For now, make a priority of meditating regularly every day, preferably at the same time, even if it’s just for five minutes.
This information is based on the book I used to learn to meditate: Sri Chinmoy’s Meditation: Man-Perfection in God-Satisfaction, which has much more complete instructions.
In the beginning, it’s better to meditate for five minutes every day than to do it intermittently and try to meditate longer. It’s like exercising – you do better to exercise for a shorter time than to go to the gym only once a... More -
Yogi Cameron Alborzian answered:When on a spiritual path based on the practice of Yoga, you will develop an intuitive knowledge of how long you should practice any one technique over time. Before you get to that point, though, you will need to develop the discipline to commit to a daily practice. This is why it can be very helpful to begin with a very small amount of time for sitting (meditation) and then gradually build up to a lengthier commitment.
To build a sitting practice, try sitting for one minute on the first day, a minute-and-a-half the second day, and gradually build up to fifteen minutes by the end of the month. If you can sustain this practice over time, you will begin to see a significant difference in how you respond to the world around you.
When on a spiritual path based on the practice of Yoga, you will develop an intuitive knowledge of how long you should practice any one technique over time. Before you get to that point, though, you will need to develop the discipline to commit to a... More
