Another common question that a new meditator may have is “how long should I practice for?”
That’s kind of subjective based on what your individual goals are. BUT I feel that there are some things to consider when deciding on a length for your daily practice(s).
Daily mindfulness work, be it:
Mindful Movement (like yoga)
Breathwork
Meditation
Something Else (Get creative)
Is a holistically beneficial practice to have in your daily schedule.
Spending time honing your awareness & building a stronger mind-body connection only serves to level you up each day & each time you do it.
“But how long should I practice for?”
That’s the thing with this type of work. You want to do it daily because it is great to spend time alone with yourself.
Aware of your own presence, fully immersed in the present moment, building yourself & your awareness.
That’s good stuff right there. Beneficial. Stat boosting.
Make no mistake you should practice daily.
But be wary of over practice.
You want to practice a length of time a day where it does not interfere with day to day work.
Bare Minimum?
I would say a morning ten minutes & an evening ten minutes at a bare minimum.
Personally, I do a minimum 15 minutes in the morning & 15 minutes in the evening.
Where can I get extra work?
Above we mentioned mindful movement being a suitable form of practice.
So if you incorporate yoga into your day, like for example if you use it as part of your daily workout regiment (on top of your regular normal work)
You can fit extra mindful moments into your day. Maybe you do yoga daily, maybe you do a few times a week.
Either way you get benefit out of it if you are being present & focused on the task at hand!
Even if you don’t want to do full blown yoga, you can get work in during your daily stretching.
If you stretch before or after a workout, or in the evening/morning you have the opportunity to turn it into a mindfulness practice.
Just put your focus on your breathing while you stretch. Feel the air come into your nose, feel the air go out of your nose.
What’s too much?
Too much is when it interferes with the work getting done.
Mindfulness practice is useful as a tool. The practice itself is not life. You use it to enrich your life.
That being said, as frequently as you can live your regular life in a state of mindfulness is only goin to be good for you.
When life becomes practice, you can practice all the time!
You do not need to practice for an hour a day. That is unnecessary. No need to meditate for an hour at a time.
I’m not goin to tell you what to do. You can do it if you want.
But let’s refer to the Bhagavad Gita 3.4
You gotta act on it. Do the work & then put the work to action in your daily life.
Stay Blessed
Fighter (Twitter Link)
P.S. You can learn introductory breathwork & mindfulness (plus some other daily work) directly from me here: Daily Practice - Consult Call