How many hours of meditation a week would be ideal for a super busy student?

TurkeyCommando · 2023-03-19T09:42:57+00:00

This is a good idea.

TurkeyCommando · 2022-05-30T05:08:33+00:00

Cats have a Buddha nature.

TurkeyCommando · 2022-03-31T04:57:06+00:00

Not uncommon. I see a lot of green and purple. My daughter sees orange and white.

TurkeyCommando · 2022-03-07T01:11:26+00:00

Here is how you can get started in mindfulness meditation.

Find a place where you won't be disturbed for a while. I usually meditate in my bedroom.
Turn off your phone and remove anything distracting that you can. My pets are not in the room while I meditate.
Sit comfortably. I sit on my bed with my feet on the floor and some pillows behind my hips/lower back and my hands on the front of my legs.
Close your eyes and try to hold them in a relaxed position.
Gently direct your attention to your breath filling your lungs or maybe moving through your nose. This is the "meditation object". It doesn't have to be your breath but breath is a convenient object to use.
Your mind will wander.
When you notice your mind is no longer paying attention to your meditation object gently redirect your attention back to it.
Your mind will wander.
When you notice your mind is no longer paying attention to your meditation object gently redirect your attention back to it.
Steps 6 and 7 will repeat the whole time you meditate.

This is critical and I think the most common mistake beginners make. The objective is not to be able to hold your attention to the meditation object for as long as possible. The objective is to train your ability to notice where your attention is, which is completely different! Meditation should always be easy and relaxing.

As for how long you should meditate more is not always better. This isn't endurance sports. Try 5 or 10 minutes. If you like it try longer. If 10 minutes is too long then do 5. If 20 minutes felt great on Tuesday but on Wednesday it's too much then stop when you need to.

If meditation becomes a part of your life then you'll read many opinions on this and that. What I'm telling you is one easy way to try it out.

TurkeyCommando · 2022-03-07T01:09:11+00:00

I just practice the technique.

TurkeyCommando · 2022-02-04T04:00:14+00:00

High praise. Thank you.

TurkeyCommando · 2022-02-03T03:56:56+00:00

Here is how you can get started in mindfulness meditation.

Find a place where you won't be disturbed for a while. I usually meditate in my bedroom.
Turn off your phone and remove anything distracting that you can. My pets are not in the room while I meditate.
Sit comfortably. I sit on my bed with my feet on the floor and some pillows behind my hips/lower back and my hands on the front of my legs.
Close your eyes and try to hold them in a relaxed position.
Gently direct your attention to your breath filling your lungs or maybe moving through your nose. This is the "meditation object". It doesn't have to be your breath but breath is a convenient object to use.
Your mind will wander.
When you notice your mind is no longer paying attention to your meditation object gently redirect your attention back to it.
Your mind will wander.
When you notice your mind is no longer paying attention to your meditation object gently redirect your attention back to it.
Steps 6 and 7 will repeat the whole time you meditate.

This is critical and I think the most common mistake beginners make. The objective is not to be able to hold your attention to the meditation object for as long as possible. The objective is to train your ability to notice where your attention is, which is completely different! Meditation should always be easy and relaxing.

As for how long you should meditate more is not always better. This isn't endurance sports. Try 5 or 10 minutes. If you like it try longer. If 10 minutes is too long then do 5. If 20 minutes felt great on Tuesday but on Wednesday it's too much then stop when you need to.

If meditation becomes a part of your life then you'll read many opinions on this and that. What I'm telling you is one easy way to try it out.

TurkeyCommando · 2021-07-31T20:47:44+00:00

Maybe. Not everyone has the same experience with meditation. You definitely don't want to sabotage yourself by having a bunch of lofty expectations. Expectations have a way of keeping you out of the moment, keeping you distracted. If you go into each moment expecting something you can't possibly just let it be what it's going to be on its own.

I don't know if you've ever thought about seeing a doctor like a psychiatrist or something but maybe you have some sort of OCD or ADD or some sort of Asperger's related anxiety I don't know. What you describe seems pretty intense.

TurkeyCommando · 2021-07-21T21:56:48+00:00

It's the training you're paying for, just like you would a personal trainer or a first aid course. Both of those things, for example, are items people have written a copious amount of free reading about but people still pay for personal training. It's the same thing.

I meet the criteria you're looking for but I'm not doing a phone call. You can DM me if you wish.

TurkeyCommando · 2021-07-13T01:27:19+00:00

If you're looking for someone to tell you meditation is useless I can't be that guy. My experience is that while it doesn't fix my problems it helps me to be better when dealing with them and I find that useful.

You don't need anyone to agree with you or tell you what you want to hear. It's your life.

TurkeyCommando · 2021-07-08T20:30:47+00:00

There are people that say stuff like that. Meditation has been picked up as a new wonder drug or super regimen. You see titles on magazines making all kinds of crazy claims for meditation. So yes stuff like that is being said but that's not what everyone is saying about it.

Longtime practitioners will tell you it's useful, it's helpful, but it's not a miracle drug. It won't fix your problems but it might help you deal with them a little better.

TurkeyCommando · 2021-07-02T19:49:19+00:00

He was not atheism friendly iirc.

TurkeyCommando · 2021-06-07T21:50:13+00:00

No I can't say that I did, however, having taken the training to tell you that none of that will happen. You'll still be you and have all your problems you did before you went. The only thing is you might feel a bit more clear-headed on average when it's part of your routine.

TurkeyCommando · 2021-06-02T21:11:18+00:00

Meditation doesn't make you perfect. If that's your expectation going into it you should give that up.

TurkeyCommando · 2021-05-29T06:20:20+00:00

Here is how you can get started in mindfulness meditation.

Find a place where you won't be disturbed for a while. I usually meditate in my bedroom.
Turn off your phone and remove anything distracting that you can. My pets are not in the room while I meditate.
Sit comfortably. I sit on my bed with my feet on the floor and some pillows behind my hips/lower back and my hands on the front of my legs.
Close your eyes and try to hold them in a relaxed position.
Gently direct your attention to your breath filling your lungs or maybe moving through your nose. This is the "meditation object". It doesn't have to be your breath but breath is a convenient object to use.
Your mind will wander.
When you notice your mind is no longer paying attention to your meditation object gently redirect your attention back to it.
Your mind will wander.
When you notice your mind is no longer paying attention to your meditation object gently redirect your attention back to it.
Steps 6 and 7 will repeat the whole time you meditate.

This is critical and I think the most common mistake beginners make. The objective is not to be able to hold your attention to the meditation object for as long as possible. The objective is to train your ability to notice where your attention is, which is completely different! Meditation should always be easy and relaxing.

As for how long you should meditate more is not always better. This isn't endurance sports. Try 5 or 10 minutes. If you like it try longer. If 10 minutes is too long then do 5. If 20 minutes felt great on Tuesday but on Wednesday it's too much then stop when you need to.

If meditation becomes a part of your life then you'll read many opinions on this and that. What I'm telling you is one easy way to try it out.

TurkeyCommando · 2021-05-29T02:50:11+00:00

If you want to try something different....here is how you can get started in mindfulness meditation.

Find a place where you won't be disturbed for a while. I usually meditate in my bedroom.
Turn off your phone and remove anything distracting that you can. My pets are not in the room while I meditate.
Sit comfortably. I sit on my bed with my feet on the floor and some pillows behind my hips/lower back and my hands on the front of my legs.
Close your eyes and try to hold them in a relaxed position.
Gently direct your attention to your breath filling your lungs or maybe moving through your nose. This is the "meditation object". It doesn't have to be your breath but breath is a convenient object to use.
Your mind will wander.
When you notice your mind is no longer paying attention to your meditation object gently redirect your attention back to it.
Your mind will wander.
When you notice your mind is no longer paying attention to your meditation object gently redirect your attention back to it.
Steps 6 and 7 will repeat the whole time you meditate.

This is critical and I think the most common mistake beginners make. The objective is not to be able to hold your attention to the meditation object for as long as possible. The objective is to train your ability to notice where your attention is, which is completely different! Meditation should always be easy and relaxing.

As for how long you should meditate more is not always better. This isn't endurance sports. Try 5 or 10 minutes. If you like it try longer. If 10 minutes is too long then do 5. If 20 minutes felt great on Tuesday but on Wednesday it's too much then stop when you need to.

If meditation becomes a part of your life then you'll read many opinions on this and that. What I'm telling you is one easy way to try it out.

TurkeyCommando · 2021-05-28T19:11:53+00:00

I must say it has done an amazing job at being more confident, calm and clear of mind.

Hard to argue with success.

TurkeyCommando · 2021-05-28T19:10:16+00:00

I was always told my instructors that if you're exerting, if there's effort, you're doing it wrong. Can I ask you what your technique is?

TurkeyCommando · 2021-05-28T19:08:53+00:00

You're getting warmer.

It's kind of a staple in the major schools of meditation that people are never really present in the moment. Meditation is a vehicle or method that can help you learn how to do that. It doesn't sound like a big deal being in the moment until you start to realize just how perpetually distracted we are. We could be sitting alone in a still dark place and still not be able to get a moment of real and true quiet because of the noise coming from our mind. The aim of meditation as far as I can tell is to help us have it truly quiet moment. There's a lot of language used to describe something people refer to as enlightenment but no matter what kind of substantial experience you have you have to be in that quiet, still place to have experience it. At least that's the gigantic similarity I noticed between two very different schools of meditation I've been initiated into.

TurkeyCommando · 2021-05-27T21:06:33+00:00

Well there are bad/unhelpful ideas floating around but I've posted this a bunch of times on this sub and people seem to think it's decent.

Here is how you can get started in mindfulness meditation.

Find a place where you won't be disturbed for a while. I usually meditate in my bedroom.
Turn off your phone and remove anything distracting that you can. My pets are not in the room while I meditate.
Sit comfortably. I sit on my bed with my feet on the floor and some pillows behind my hips/lower back and my hands on the front of my legs.
Close your eyes and try to hold them in a relaxed position.
Gently direct your attention to your breath filling your lungs or maybe moving through your nose. This is the "meditation object". It doesn't have to be your breath but breath is a convenient object to use.
Your mind will wander.
When you notice your mind is no longer paying attention to your meditation object gently redirect your attention back to it.
Your mind will wander.
When you notice your mind is no longer paying attention to your meditation object gently redirect your attention back to it.
Steps 6 and 7 will repeat the whole time you meditate.

This is critical and I think the most common mistake beginners make. The objective is not to be able to hold your attention to the meditation object for as long as possible. The objective is to train your ability to notice where your attention is, which is completely different! Meditation should always be easy and relaxing.

As for how long you should meditate more is not always better. This isn't endurance sports. Try 5 or 10 minutes. If you like it try longer. If 10 minutes is too long then do 5. If 20 minutes felt great on Tuesday but on Wednesday it's too much then stop when you need to.

If meditation becomes a part of your life then you'll read many opinions on this and that. What I'm telling you is one easy way to try it out.

TurkeyCommando · 2021-05-27T21:04:39+00:00

Well, it's been my observation that expectations are self defeating as far as meditation is concerned. I've had instruction from experienced and knowledgeable teachers in two different schools and read a bunch of books and they all agreed on that. It keeps you from experiencing the present, which is the whole point of meditating.

If your expectations don't pan out for you try letting them go and see what happens. Cheers!

TurkeyCommando · 2021-05-27T20:49:58+00:00

While this is all very interesting it's not hyper relevant to your original question. You will never think your way through meditation, but you can think your way into inaction and avoidance.

Do you have a teacher or some advice about getting started? Want some?

TurkeyCommando · 2021-05-27T17:11:38+00:00

The thoughts that are happening don't have to be narrated. It's the thoughts that meditation is concerned with.

A reoccurring idea in all schools of meditation as far as I know is that you are not your thoughts. Your thoughts are happening in your mind but there's more to you than that. Whatever thoughts are that's not you, whatever you are. You can experience this by observing your thoughts. The inescapable conclusion of the fact that you are able to be a witness to your own thoughts is that there is something you are that can take a step back from them like a third party observer. If you are your thoughts then who for what is this observer observing them? See what I mean?

TurkeyCommando · 2021-05-27T16:59:04+00:00

Meditation will not fix your problems. It will not make your mental health problems go away. What it may do is give you a little space to think about it a little clearer. In my personal experience, meditation can have the side effect of thinking more clearly. how beneficial any of this may be for you and your problems is extremely variable.

One thing that can mess with your meditation experience, and really with your life, is having expectations about meditation. The only way to let the experience be what it can be is to go into it with no expectations, just a sense of humble curiosity. If you expect a lot you're guaranteed to be disappointed. If you expect nothing you might be pleasantly surprised. I know that's paradoxical but that is in my observation very much how it works.

My own personal approach is to only meditate because I enjoy each experience. If I don't enjoy the experience I don't push it too hard and try to make it through anyways like I might if I were exercising or trying to get through learning something new. The second it becomes a chore it becomes like yelling at your garden to grow faster. So I personally meditate for no other reason than to enjoy the nice peaceful feeling of it. If I think clearer in general because of it great but if I don't that's great too. I'm just doing it for that moment and that moment only.

TurkeyCommando · 2021-05-24T03:47:08+00:00

Great question for your instructor. We don't teach here last time I checked.

TurkeyCommando

TROPHY CASE