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How long do you meditate?
EonTrinity
Evansville, WI New
in Meditation
Being newer to meditation, I find myself meditating (breath) twice a day between 15 and 20 minutes. During the day, I recenter and do 30-60 second breath exercises to return me to the present and keep me focused on now. Even this has had a remarkable effect on me.
How often do you meditate?
What kinds of meditation are you doing?
ET.
6
Comments
Hi @EonTrinity.
I usually meditate for around 40 to 60 mins each morning.
I start with a short breathing meditation to calm the mind, recite some prayers then do one of the analytic meditations on the Lamrim (stages on the path to enlightenment). I finish by dedicating the merit I have accumulated for the benefit of all beings.
Similar to you, I try and come back to the breath or meditation object throughout the day and remember my motivation to not harm and help sentient beings.
Glad to hear you're getting something out of this practice. Keep it up!
I meditate for 35 to 40 minutes at a time four to six times a day either Samatha or the Metta Bhavana.
It varies. I only do one formal sit, which ideally is about 45mins. This morning it was about 35min and needs to go up. If it goes over an hour or less than twenty mins, then I have to change it in some way.
The time for me, is less important than the regular daily discipline.
People are different, have different requirements. I spend a lot of informal time being meritorius, mindful and an example to squirrels and other sentients.
"When am I NOT meditating....?"
25 mins is my standard session. Yesterday, I did a one hour marathon, just to see what would happen. Woohoo!
On the cushion approx 50 minutes to one hour daily, this is split into two sessions-morning and afternoon/evening, ( 25 to 30 minutes per sitting), off the cushion 24/7/365...
I can't really pin down a specific type/kind, it's just familiarisation...
When sitting it's just sitting and when not sitting mindfulness is in motion ie, monitoring thoughts, words & deeds....
"I" feel somewhat fortunate in that it's an wholesome karmic pattern flux "I" find my self flowing in...
Like @Shoshin, shikantaza on the cushion for 1-2 hrs daily split up all over the place. When insomnia or nocturnal panic sets in there can be two sessions of 25 minutes separated by 20 minutes kinhin walking zazen between 1 and 3 a.m.. Morning before work 20-25 minutes. Afternoon 25 minutes if it can be worked in (part time employee). Before bed 20-25 minutes. Hasn't always been this way (years abandoning the cushion) but coming back feels like refuge. Sometimes sessions are whittled down to 15 minutes if too tired. Flux and flow. I like that @Shoshin
-and-
Is this a koan?
Is the answer when two hands are typing...or...?
I haven't had hour long sessions in a long time and paying the price. It feels as though I had left cleaning chores behind and the space is left open for bacteria to spread. In this case the bacteria would be anger, greed, and delusions.
Quality over quantity
frequency frequency frequeny
If you are talking about the formal stuff, now it's about 2 hours each day.
I don't track the so called 'informal' or as @fedrica said, when am I not...?
You are right, @sova - Quality counts.
Peace to all
This morning I used the insight timer. I focussed on relaxing my eyes on the timer counter, whilst softening the breath. Yesterday I meditated with a herbal tea, which I used as a mindful break into mindful tea sipping. Tomorrow I may be back on the 'just sitting', or maybe more focus on a mantra or noting or ...
... So many ways but in essence gentle attention ...
It varies. I usually sit 30 mins in the morning and a few minutes in the evening (like 10, depends on the day). I often do walking meditation as well. But I find I meditate quite well when I run, which helps me push through my running barriers as well. Sitting practice is different than everyday-life practice, as obviously when I am driving or running etc my brain is engaged in other things. But it has the same effect on me. Gardening is a big meditation for me in the summer
I guess any time my mind has a single focus and isn't running amock, I kind of consider that a meditation. I also meditate weekly with my sangha for about a half hour (and then discussion for another half hour or so).
Indeed.
Dowloaded the app associated with such a practice/focus.
http://www.onemomentmeditation.com
Some use a mindfulness bell. Most mobile phones, tablets, browser add ons etc probably have a simple timer program that can be utilised ...
Just a simple recentering reminder can build up into a beneficial effect ...
@lobster you use insight timer too? Do you participate in the groups? I have not come across any marine crustaceans there.
@Swaroop I have used it more in the past. I did download it again recently. Did a couple of sessions, found it too fiddly to sign in and set up. Much easier to just set a timer, which I rarely do.
The social aspect was too new agey and diverse for my particular ranting style at present. I had to dumb down my extremely profound, symbolic, ultra-spiritual and humble insights. I have temporarily transcended its usage ... When I feel the Boddhisattva action need kick in, I may return
People have different needs at different times, I may use it again in the future. I find it is an excellent format, if choosing the right groups, it motivates ones practice.
@lobster yeah. I agree with you. I also use the timer function mostly. In the age of instant messaging their chat room function is very slow and rather clumsy to use. Let us see if it improves in future.
Woohoo indeed!
Part of the reason for personal interaction with a teacher is because of their personal experience. Buddhists are fortunate to have a heavy emphasis on meditation. The same emphasis can be found in internal martial arts, some forms of other religions but I feel we have the richest heritage and experience.
Very simply, if the dream is frenzied and engrossing, how are you going to wake? If the dream is too calm and serene, why would you want to awaken?
How long will you meditate ... ?
I'm relatively new to meditation I try and do 20-30 minutes once a day, anything over half and hour and I tend to get fijative, this is something I hope to work on over the coming weeks
OP, those re-centering breath moments are really helpful. That's great that you're doing that, in addition to meditation. There's no time requirement, minimum or max, for meditation. Usually beginners find that spending just 10 minutes trying to maintain attention on the breath is enough of a practice, enough of a challenge. It all depends on the individual. It may come more easily to some, so that 15 or 20-mins. would be more appropriate. It's about increasing your time as you get better at it.
I meditate each night before I sleep. It can go from 15 mins to 45 mins. I try to meditate in the mornings but usually I end up doing mantra chanting on the drive to work. Sometimes I do a 15-20 min session on my lunch break when time and workload permits.
_ /\ _
I love the word fijative.
Lots of potential ...You probably mean fidgety? However it is possible you are using it in another sense related to becoming fixated ...
Becoming restless/bored/unsettled is very common. Just as it is common to become a peace of mind junky [oops what a give away]
Imagine that - not trying to get somewhere or away from somewhere. Do we sit properly/improperly/undefined?
My whole life is a meditation ( I got that off the Dairy Lama ).
Re-establishing mindfulness of the body at regular intervals is very helpful, it has a grounding effect and brings you back into the present. Breath is popular, though I use bodily sensation generally.
@SpinyNorman couldn't breath be considered a type of bodily sensation? Or do you mean specifically how your body is touching physical things (floor, cushion, clothing) rather than how your body feels separate from what it is touching?
Yes, that's right, breathing is a bodily sensation, it's the one that most people use I think. I normally use the sensation of pressure resulting from weight/gravity, it's always there, and I find it quicker and easier than the breath.
It's good to experiment with this stuff, find what works best for you.
I've been doing about 20 min of walking meditation and 30 min of sitting a day.
Reading everyone else's, I feel a bit like a slacker. Indeed, I need to spend about twice the amount. Came back to meditation about 3 months ago. I find the discipline very hard some days.
That's a solid practice if you are doing it regularly. I have met lots of lay-Buddhists who don't have a regular practice at all.
@SpinyNorman Thanks. Keeping the sitting regular is the biggest struggle for me! Even more than length of time sitting. I tend to conceptualize how much it's going to suck. Usually, once I actually sit, it's not nearly as bad (like a lot of things).
@Deformed Many days I get only a 30min sit in the morning before I get ready for work plus mindfulness and centering with the breath sporadically through the day. I don't consider hiding in the washroom with my beads and my mantras a solid sit,
haha. Never feel bad about doing what you can do. You should be proud of yourself.
Thanks for the encouragement @RuddyDuck9!
I'm not sure fijative is a real word I often just make my own words up because its fun and confuses people, when I talk about being fixative I do mean fidgety, I can focus pretty well for 20 minuits or so but eventually my mind starts to wander, I might get a tickle on the end of my nose, or get distracted by the buzzing if a fly, which breaks me from my calm state, as I say I'm relatively new to this, about three weeks in total so I'm not to hard on myself at this point in certain it will all come together in time.
The Metaphysical poets such as John Donne had similar distractions ^^.
I throw myself down in my chamber, and I call in, and invite God, and his Angels thither, and when they are there, I neglect God and his angels for the noise of a fly, for the rattling of a coach, for the whining of a door; I talk on in the same posture of praying, eyes lifted up, knees bowed down, as though I prayed to God; and if God or his angels should ask me when I thought last of God in that prayer, I cannot tell. Sometimes I find that I had forgot what I was about, but when I began to forget it I cannot tell. A memory of yesterday’s pleasures, a fear of tomorrow’s dangers, a straw under my knee, a noise in mine ear, a light in mine eye, an anything, a nothing, a fancy, a chimera in my brain troubles me in my prayer.
Personally I find god, his angels, hell realm picnics and other phantasms 'a nothing, a fancy, a chimera in my brain' ...
... and now back to the Buddhist present time ...