How Much You Can and Should Meditate Per Day

Meditation is a method of overcoming the delusions of the mind, purifying and transforming negative attitudes, finding peace and developing wisdom. In order for the practice to be effective, you need to know how many times a day to meditate and how much time.

The word «meditation» comes from the Latin 'to reflect, think, decide' . Actually, the process of meditation is significantly different from the usual way of thinking. Meditation is the liberation from any thoughts. This process usually occurs due to unidirectional concentration on a single object: breath, candle flame, sound, rising sun, etc.

Concentrating and distracting the senses from all objects except the object of concentration is the" core" of meditation. Making plans, remembering, thinking is a thought process that takes a lot of energy, often wasted. Gradually, you will learn not to pay attention to distractions. During meditation, you can see "who is the boss in the house" — the thoughts, which, as it turns out, live their own life, or the mind, trying to concentrate on the chosen object...

How long should we meditate everyday so that thoughts are not the master of the mind? The correct answer is as long as it takes to change the state of mind. It is equally important that the practice is regular, i.e. daily. Yours thoughts form the reality according to the principle «what we thought yesterday, today we will say, and tomorrow we will do».

Everyone can check this principle by accumulating some meditation experience and observing thoughts. We become what we think about : we focus on positive, pure, elevated objects — our mind is purified and our life also changes towards purity. Focus on negative or conditionally negative objects leads to the opposite result.

You can meditate at any appropriate time, as long as it does not interfere with others and your responsibilities. It is useful to consolidate the habit of meditating at the same time every day. For example, you can meditate immediately after waking up and before going to bed. Start with five minutes and then increase the time.

Practicing meditation for at least 20 minutes every day is a task that requires serious attention. It is easy to watch TV every day, eat sweets, get up late, and browse the Internet, but it is a little more difficult to brush your teeth every day (remember how difficult it was to start in childhood). It is harder to go for a regular morning jog or walk, and even harder to learn something new every day.

Practicing meditation or reciting mantras is usually even more difficult. Devoting even five minutes a day to meditation is a big burden for some people. Why? Because there is no direct and familiar connection: action- quick result. The result in meditation does not appear immediately. It becomes noticeable over time..

The duration of meditation is not as important as regularity, the habit of practicing every day.

At first, it can be very difficult. Just like during a general cleaning. Old resentments, fears, and forgotten situations can start to surface in meditation. If such phenomena occur, continue to practice and gradually this period will pass. No matter how hard we try to forget all this, it will negatively affect us until we work out our negative emotions. If resentment pops up, you need to mentally ask for forgiveness and forgive the offenders. If there is a feeling of pain due to a negative situation, continue practicing: the pain will gradually dissolve. It takes time, the same as the pain did not occur simultaneously. This is an independent deep therapy at the level of the subconscious, such therapy outside of meditation can be performed by experienced psychologists.

In the practice of meditation, the main thing is not the duration of meditation, but its regularity and quality. It is better to practice for 15 minutes every day than to sit for 3 hours on a case-by-case basis, looking at the "soup" of the latest thoughts and images.

To begin with, it is advisable to choose your feasible minimum — the amount of time that you can definitely practice every day. Let it be 5 minutes, but you will know that every day you practice for at least 5 minutes. Experience shows that the most difficult thing is to start.

In difficult periods of life, when, as they say, not up to meditation, try to use a trick for the mind: "I'll only sit for 5 minutes and that's it." Perhaps after sitting for 5 minutes, you will want to continue, because the mind gradually calms down and the state changes. This method is applicable with hatha yoga, and, in general, in any class.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step"

The art of small steps creates a long journey is a method that allow you to integrate meditation into your daily lifestyle, regardless of your busy schedule. In difficult times, it is especially important to practice meditation. The load on the psyche is higher, which means that cleansing measures are needed more seriously.