Excuse me while I check out!
With work, family responsibilities, getting the kids to school, helping with homework, taking them to practices, after school activities, grocery shopping, nurturing our significant relationships, not to mention trying to have a hobby and follow your favorite sports team…we are all faced with a daunting question.
When the heck am I supposed to do this meditation stuff? It is supposed to be relaxing right?
Well I don’t see myself doing much relaxing with all this other stuff going on. My mind isn’t going to relax for a hot second.
I can hear many of you right now relating to this reality.
And you are absolutely correct.
So, the question remains. With all that we have going on in our busy lives, how much is an effective amount of time to set aside for meditation?
Well, my first answer, and you’re going to love this is…
You should ideally be meditating…
…a minimum of…
…8 hours a day. EVERY DAY!
WHAT?
Have you lost your frigin’ mind?
I know, I know 8 hours per day of meditation seems ridiculous. And frankly it is. For me 8 hours of meditation would actually be a fantasy come true. Ahhhh…to be able to sit in a meditative trance, mind clear of all obstacles for 8 solid hours. Heck, even the act of sitting silently wrestling with my mind trying to achieve said meditative trance is to me the most productive use of my valuable time.
All it takes is 10 minutes
Sitting down to clear your mind for just 10 minutes is enough to increase focus, overcome stress and anxiety.
A 2017 study at the University of Waterloo in Canada revealed that a short stint of meditation will help block out the internal thoughts of restless people and allow them to concentrate more effectively. More on this later.
This is just one of many studies to demonstrate the benefits of meditation. Have you got 10-minutes? Or can you carve out 10-minutes to create more peace and sanity in your life? 10-minutes. Think about this, the average daily Facebook user spends 42-minutes per day scrolling through this addictive social media app. There’s your 10-minutes + right there! Uh huh, some of you even linked to this article from Facebook…so there.
So, with that said let’s look at how often you should meditate. Since you have now negotiated me down from 8+ hours per day EVERY DAY to 10-minutes, this should be a cinch.
What I recommend is starting out with something that is manageable but helps you create a habit. For instance. If you want to start of just meditating on the weekends for 10-minutes each session that is a start. If you take this route be sure and progressively add days as you master your weekend schedule. Remember the more time you dedicate to mind cleansing meditation the greater your levels of stress relieving inner peace you will create.
One of the drawbacks to starting with weekends is that you could be potentially giving up some of the concentration benefits of your meditation practice. In the study mentioned earlier what researchers found was increased levels of concentration at work. The study asked 82 people who describe themselves as anxious to perform a task on a computer with random interruptions throughout the assignment.Those who had a short meditation beforehand outperformed the other half who didn’t.
This is an important consideration. Though it may be easier to commit to weekends because of less demands, you don’t get the stress relieving benefits while you’re at work. If this is your goal you may want to begin your meditation practice on say, Monday, Wednesday and Friday for 10-minutes each day.
Again, gradually work to increase your length of meditation time up to 30 minutes and add a day to your routine every 3 – 4 weeks. Remember that if you work up to 30-minutes per day its perfectly fine to break your sessions up into three separate 10-minute sessions if that works better for you. The effects are cumulative just like in the fitness industry breaking your 30-minute cardio requirement up into separate 10-minute segments throughout the day is very effective.
I remember going through a period inn my life that was challenging, especially with time demands. I talked to one of my mentors about this and she recommended taking an additional 10 – 15 minute break each day during work and dedicating that to my meditation practice. It did wonders for my peace of mind, attitude and productivity.
The most important thing is to pick a duration and frequency that you can actually follow through on. The last thing you want to do is over commit and set yourself up for failure and yet another thing to feel anxious and stressed out about.
10 Minutes = Life Changing Benefits
Along with increased focus meditation has also been shown to reduce aging, specifically in the brain where studies illustrate increases in the amount of gray matter in older adult meditators. Gray matter volume usually decreases as we age. Meditation can also reduce blood pressure, reduce anxiety, help with depression, chronic pain, insomnia, addiction, and other health problems. It can lower your blood pressure, and a daily meditation practice can even boost your immunity.
Now remember this isn’t a magic pill that relieves all of these afflictions after your first 10-minute session. The people who reap the most of these positive benefits are those who create and maintain a consistent practice of meditation and mindfulness over several years. So pick a manageable routine to begin with and slowly build over time. And remember one of my favorite quotes, “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Now, excuse me while I go back to my room for my 8-hour meditation. 🙂
