“You should sit and meditate for 20 minutes a day, unless you’re too busy; then you should sit for an hour.”– Old Zen saying
Sounds pretty crazy right?
Then I thought about it.. and the more I thought about it, the more sense this makes. If your mind is busy, full of thoughts and to do’s.. it’s going to take more time to calm it down.
I mediate 15minutes a day.
For some, this may seem like a long time. For me, I need this amount of time to quiet my mind, and be able to focus. Start small. Try a minute, three minutes or five minutes.
When and where I meditate
It’s not every day I can get myself to a beautiful location to meditate like the photo above.
On the days that I can’t get to a beautiful setting, I meditate first thing in the morning.
In bed.
Not very exciting of a location, is it?
I’ll take a sip of water, turn off my alarms, and turn on my Insight Timerfor 15 minutes while sitting tall on my pillow.
The best meditation spot is where you will meditate.
Make sure you pick a quiet spot, free from distractions. This could be in front of a meditation alter, a quiet corner in your home, or somewhere out in nature.
For me, I’m going for convenience. My problem is, If I move myself into another space, I’m going to distracted. I start thinking about cleaning. What I should do with the space. How should it be rearranged. Maybe I should get a small buddha statue for my corner, or maybe a Ganesha instead. My mind goes wild.
The easiest way for me to focus on my meditation, is to do it in bed right after I wake up.
The best time to meditate is when you will do the practice.
I love to meditate first thing in the morning. It sets the tone for the day. My husband says I’m a nicer person on days that I meditate. (Arn’t I always nice!? hah!)
Another time of day I recommend is after work, or an hour before bed time. It helps your mind unwind from the busy day.
The best tools, are the ones you will use.
I absolutely love my Insight Timer! It’s simple and easy to use. The app also tells you how much time you have meditated since you installed the app. Mine says 51hours. Wow! That’s a LONG time!
Another app that I recommend is Calm. If you prefer to have calming sounds playing in the background while meditating, you’ll probably like this one more.
This is what I use, and what I’m comfortable with.
I hope you can find what works for you, and incorporate it into your routine.
Love and light,
Tiffany
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