How long do you meditate for. i find it hard to get peace and quite, don't normally manage more than half an hour. am i missing out on something?

I take it that you did not study meditation with a particular discipline that prescribes the length or guides you to certain periods morning and evening?

Currently I don't meditate at all. I have 2 small kids that wont let me .
I want to meditate in the morning but most of the time the kids will wake up with any noise.
Maybe in a couple years they will know to stay in bed until I get them.

there is no right or wrong when it comes to meditating.

You can meditate for 10 minutes, for a quick refresh
Or hours for a deeper experience. It's all about what feels right to "you"

For a beginner I think 30 minutes is a good start. Try exercise before meditation, it helps loosens muscles and eases tension so that you can sit for a longer period of time.

Can someone suggest a good book or website that provides an introduction to meditating? I am curious and would like to get into a habit of doing it but I want to do it right. I have heard many great things about its benefits. How did you you get started?

don't normally manage more than half an hour

I cant even get 5 minutes with out thinking about trying not think.

It's a technique Im told, and with all techniques it takes practice.

The biggest problem most people have with meditation, is that they feel they have to stop thinking

when you meditate, naturally various and sometimes quite random thoughts will pop into your head. That's okay and perfectly normal, you're not doing anything wrong. All you have to do from this point on, is acknowledge your thought and then push it aside. Buddhists use the term neti neti, meaning "not this" to put these thoughts away. I have found after going thru the motions of acknowledging all my thoughts and sending them away with "neti neti", the mind gradually becomes clearer and it becomes easier to achieve that "clear mind"

My legs turn to jelly about 30 min into meditation. I use the lotus position, but I think next time I will try a sitting meditation. I can see why hatha yoga is considered important.

To still my mind, I use a combination of music, incense and candles and mantra chanting. However, I actually quite like it when spontaneous visualisations happen in the meditation. I just let them flow and when you let this happen you actually go deeper into a meditative state.

I really do use a use a complete combination of techniques in a single session - creative meditation, visualisations, colour breathing, different kinds of breathing techniques, chanting, music.

I can meditate at an hour at a most. However, I do feel one day when I have time, that I want to try several hours, just to see if does anything.

Originally posted by worldwatcher
The biggest problem most people have with meditation, is that they feel they have to stop thinking

when you meditate, naturally various and sometimes quite random thoughts will pop into your head. That's okay and perfectly normal, you're not doing anything wrong. All you have to do from this point on, is acknowledge your thought and then push it aside. Buddhists use the term neti neti, meaning "not this" to put these thoughts away. I have found after going thru the motions of acknowledging all my thoughts and sending them away with "neti neti", the mind gradually becomes clearer and it becomes easier to achieve that "clear mind"

I'll elaborate on that slightly..

the problem isn't thinking... its CHOOSING what you think... you must allow the natural state of the mind to resume its course (thats what meditation is) .. it is Chaos.. you don't choose or have an opinion on anything.. it is all FLUX... Order is a joke... you cannot have a "ROCK" or platform to build off of in water... if the water rises so does your rock, same thing if it sinks.

Meditation is Chaos... Controlled Chaos.. it is flowing with the water, it is the water... rocks will be tossed around and broken in flowing water... Meditation is a safe boat, made of water, made to flow with the water, not on it, or in it.

Everything is FLUX... there are no certainties.... Whatever you are doing, you are doing right.... keep that in mind... I am doing everything right. We've been trained on this right and wrong crap we cannot honestly tell the difference... so when you're meditating simply tell yourself everything is correct, everything is right... just Flow... Turn on, Tune in and drop out.. lol
Meditate for the Chaos... awaken for the Order, and you will combine the two.

I just started meditating a few weeks ago. Without a MP3 or CD or something I can't go more then five minutes. Really it's kinda funny! I'll glance at a clock before I start, then meditate, and It'll totally feel like an hour, I open my eyes and... WHAT!?!? It's only been like 5 minutes max! Soo I usually use a CD or tape mediating guide thing. Then I can mediate the length of the thing about half and hour or so.

So far I have noticed I'm a LOT more relaxed and calmer but no enlightenment or anything yet! Guess I'll have to keep working...

'I take it that you did not study meditation with a particular discipline that prescribes the length or guides you to certain periods morning and evening?'
to cut a long story short, no, what time is good? lol

'I'll glance at a clock before I start, then meditate, and It'll totally feel like an hour, I open my eyes and... WHAT!?!? It's only been like 5 minutes max!'



If i lived alone or had definite time alone i would spend longer meditating, i only meditate once a day, when i wake up, and usually i've got to be somewhere so half an hour is long enough, or some idiot phones me or knocks on my door. Now that sumer is approaching though i think i'm gonna start meditating outside in the sunshine.