Whats The Best Amount Time To Meditate And Why?
How much time you spend meditating depends on a few factors. The first is, are you new to meditation or have you been meditating for awhile? The second is, how frequently are you meditating. And the last factor is, why are you meditating.
Now the last question may seem a bit strange but it’s actually the most important question of all. Unless you have a compelling reason to meditate you may find that even a few minutes may feel like hours if your hearts not in it. If that’s the case then you’re probably better off finding something else to do that actually interests you.
All too often people meditate because they think they ‘should’ do it, rather than make it a choice to help improve their quality of life in some way. My compelling reason to meditate is that I love it. I love how it makes me feel, I love how it opens my mind, and I love how it enhances my creativity and brings harmony to my life.
But that wasn’t always the case. Originally, I began meditating to help cope with anxiety and panic attacks. Once I had them under control, I fell in love with everything else that meditation gave to me. Most of which was totally unexpected.
So if you don’t know why you’re meditating then write down as many reasons as you can think of why it’s something you want to make a part of your everyday life. Even if you can only come up with one powerful reason to get started – that’s good enough.
Meditation Time For Beginners
What is the best amount of time to meditate for beginners?
Again, that depends. Are you meditating daily, or every now and then? If you’re meditating daily then you can start out with say 5 minutes a day and see how you go. If that feels too short for you then you can always extend it to 10 or 15 minutes. If it feels too long, then shorten it by a minute or two.
In any case, it’s more important that you develop a daily meditation routine that you feel good about. If it needs to be shorter, to begin with, so that you stay motivated then set the length of time that is enjoyable for you.
If you can meditate daily for seven days in a row then you are well on your way to mastering your meditation practice. Contrary to popular belief this is all the time it takes to develop a new habit. Those that say it takes 30 days or longer are usually the ones that tend to lack self-discipline.
Is It Bad To Meditate At Night?
The short answer is no. However, it’s not really a great idea to meditate if you are tired because you’ll probably fall asleep unless you are doing an active meditation. There are so many types of meditations that meditating at night can be a brilliant idea as long as you choose one that suits your needs.
I have a habit of waking up at around 3 am most nights and not being able to go back to sleep. When that happens, then I sit up in bed and meditate for 20 to 40 minutes depending on how I feel. If my meditation is deep then I’ll stay meditating longer.
Once I’ve meditated then I simply lay back down and fall asleep within minutes – every time! I used to toss and turn when I woke up in the middle of the night and it wasn’t until I listened to my inner voice that was telling me to meditate that I got the benefit of both meditation and falling asleep again.
I’ve also found that I’m not waking up tired at all after meditating at 3 am. I’m waking up feeling refreshed, energized and raring to go. I also meditate as soon as I get out of bed in the morning for around 30 minutes. This also helps me to set the tone for my day to come from a space of calm and clear headedness.
Whats The Best Time To Meditate For Greatest Benefits?
The optimum time that is scientifically proven to bring the most benefits from meditation is 20 minutes a day. This was measured by countless studies over a variety of time-frames. Meditating for 2o minutes a day over an 8-week period was consistently found to get the best results.
While the studies ended after 8-weeks it was not suggested that people stop meditating after that time-frame. It was suggested that this was the minimum time frame you could expect to get the most benefits from consistent meditation practice. They found once you could meditate for 20 minutes a day for 8-weeks, you could continue it as long as you wanted to.
I’ve found that 5-minutes a day of meditation is the best place to get started to develop a successful meditation practice. Once you can do 5-minutes easily, then extend it to 10 minutes. Then. every seven days increase it by another 5 minutes meditation daily until you get to 20 minutes a day.
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Michael Atma
Meditation Dojo Blog
Email: hello@meditationdojo.com
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