Meditation is a powerful practice that can be truly life changing.
Whether you:
Are struggling with anxiety
Want to better manage your stress, anger, or emotions
Read all the successful people do it and you want a slice of that pie too, or
Simply want to connect or honor some time with yourself
This age old practice is certainly the key to achieving all of that and more.
When we first begin meditating, what originally seemed like an almost-too-simple practice, can become a bit daunting.
One question many of my clients often ask me about meditation is - how long should I meditate for?
Some practices suggest that the answer to how long you should meditate is 45 minutes a day, others say 30 minutes a day, yet others suggest you should meditate for 20 min + doing so 2x a day.
This conflicting information can be what stops us from meditating at all, for various reasons such as:
If I don't know the answer and potentially don't meditate long enough as a result, then it won't work, I won't get the results I want, and I essentially wasted my time. So why even begin?
I don't have the time, or ability to commit, to meditating 30-45 minutes a day so I might as well not even start.
Information overwhelm - which is what meditation is supposed to give you relief from!
So how long should you meditate for? What's the final end-all, be-all to this debate? Is meditation something you can use to improve your life, after all?
The answer is actually quite simple!
And as you follow this easy process to find the answer to this question within yourself, you will reap the results of meditation that you are looking for, and more.
Enhanced concentration
Seeing your goals to the end
Connecting deeply with the essence of your being
A sense of balance no matter what stresses are around you
Emotional strength and maturity
Intuitive nudges and insights that lead you to your heart's desires
Faster success with manifestation / law of attraction
Here's the easy process. Ask yourself, how long can I meditate for today, and how long do I need to meditate for today? And that's your answer.
Yes, meditating for 15-30 minutes is ideal. However, even 5 minutes of meditation adds up over time and will do wonders.
There is no better guide to this than yourself. Meditation is a very personal process. It is time spent between you and you. It's how you access your true inner core, guide, and power. So the answer will be individual to each person, and unique to each day depending on what is going on in your life at the time.
The only rule for how long you should meditate is - it's important that you meditate for whatever amount of time YOU CAN. That's better than not meditating at all.
So if 15 minutes or 30 minutes or 45 minutes sounds too overwhelming, or like something you can't commit to in the long-term... scrap those numbers! Pick an amount of time you can commit to, or simply ask yourself each day, how long can I meditate for today?
With regards to the question - how long do I need to meditate for? This speaks to what is going on in your life at the time. If you are dealing with a lot of stress, you may want to prioritize your meditation and devote more time to it. On days where things are light and breezy, you may not need as much of it - or you may want to sit with yourself longer just for the fun of it. Again, it is all up to you, your style, and the themes of your life at the time.
There will always be conflicting information no matter what realm of life or skill you choose to look into. At the end of the day, we have to learn to trust we know what's best for ourselves.
You'll find that through meditating, even just 5 minutes a day, your trust and belief in yourself will only continue to grow, as you connect to the depths of who you are and all you can be.
If you enjoyed this article on how long you should meditate, check out some of my other articles on meditation here - and watch my in depth video on everything you need to know about meditation here.
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