Imagine that you’re just beginning to meditate. You have a friend who told you she feels like she is more complete because of her meditation practice. She speaks of the many benefits to the mind and body that she has received, and you want to enjoy the same experience.
You ask her what a typical meditation session is like. She tells you she plans twice-a-day sessions ranging from 30 to 40 minutes each. That sounds like an awfully long time to you. It begs the question, “How long should I meditate as a beginner?”
While there isn’t really a hard answer for everyone, a specific number, you want to start with short sessions at first. Beginners to meditation often find it a difficult or unfamiliar process.
They have preconceived notions about meditating that may or may not be correct. As a novel practice you’re just beginning, you will need to develop some experience. Following a particular step-by-step meditating technique might be tough since you’re just starting out.
For All of These Reasons, Shoot for 5 to 10 Minutes
It doesn’t really take a long time to benefit from meditation. You can feel stress relief almost immediately in many cases, even as a beginner. If you can meditate outdoors with nature, in a grassy field, for example, you will find stress relief coming rapidly.
Wherever you meditate, start out with a five-minute session as a beginner. You can spend 30 seconds calming your mind and going through of breathing routine. Then spend four minutes meditating. Give yourself another 30 seconds to come out of the meditative state and reenter your environment.
There’s no right or wrong number year, but five minutes is a good starting point. You’ll eventually want to build up to 10 and then 20 minutes for a session. Everyone is different. You may not be able to meditate with focus and without distractions for more than 10 minutes. That’s okay.
You’ll find a session length that works best for you eventually. The key is to get started.
Most people find that meditation is very transformative in many ways. It truly can improve both your physical and mental states of being. You’ll become more self-aware and enjoy positive thoughts and fewer negative emotions. So get started, beginning with a five-minute session and only increasing that time when you don’t feel you are forcing yourself.
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