Time spent meditating

[tabularasa]

I am pretty new to this mindfulness meditation. I find it very helpful and useful to realise thoughts are just thoughts and not set in stone, but I have one thought that dominates my mind concerning meditation and like starting anything new most people are not confident they are doing it right.

My question; Is it OK to meditate for 10 minutes 5 or 6 times a day rather than one 50-60 minute session?

I have the opportunity to do both but find the 10 minute sessions easier. And overall which is more beneficial? I am liking meditating to the act of studying and it is suggested that when studying it is best to study in 15-20 minute bursts rather than one long period of study and I was wondering if the same applied to meditating.

Thank you

Alan

 

[nickygstar]

Hi Alan,

I am no expert, but I have been doing regular mindfulness for about two years. You can meditate in sections if you like, this can have advantages and disadvantages. The advantages lie in that you may find you are able to be mindful of the breath, or which ever object (or no object) for a longer total duration throughout the day because you are giving yourself a boost, or a top up. The other advantages is that it is possible to meditate once in the day and then not really carry it into your daily life because it is kind of kept to that time, and by meditating several times, you are constantly reminded of your aims and thus your motivation (which is key) to be mindful in daily life could be much higher. The disadvantages of this is that part of what you learn from meditation is patience and persistence through aversion. If you find after 15-20 mins of meditating you are getting bored or impatient, then it may be useful to be mindful of these particular feelings, this can lead to deeper understanding of the practice. Also, if you study, you might find that longer sessions increase your attention span and concentration for that.

Thanks for the interesting question because it has made me question how I may address my lack of motivation I have for the practice sometimes.

If it interests you, you may want to use this tool http://media.audiodharma.org/documents/Gil_103002_Journal.pdf Mindfulness can become so much more than a state of mind, and this sheet is helpful to gain mindfulness on a larger scale, whereby you become aware of more than just the moment.

Cheers,

Nick

 

[tabularasa]

Thank you very much Nick, the advantages and disadvantages you mentioned was very helpful.

I am lucky enough to be able to do both short and long sessions. So I think I might start alternating, on some days doing short sessions to increase my awareness during the day and on other days doing the longer sessions to improve my patience and attention span.

Again, thank you.

Alan