My answers are – try different times for meditation and
find that suit you the best. I prefer
early morning meditation sessions but I have used late night sessions (just
prior to going to bed). On weekends, I prefer afternoons. Try different time
slots and see what works best for you. I
aim for 15 minutes of meditation. I also
use 5 or 10 min music pieces for shorter sessions (Check my website www.meditation-magic.com for
free download of these mp3s).
I spent two years of my high school in the coastal Indian town of Visakhapatnam.
My sister (Dr Suguna/ Editor of this blog) was a college professor of a women’s
college (gender only college are not uncommon in India). I feel privilege that
faculty members from this college continue to enrich my life. One of them, Dr. Vijayalakshmi (Retired Professor
of Languages – Hindi) shared this note with us.
It is when our lives
are full and busy that we need our daily meditation to help center us for the
day. Ironically, when we get busy, the first thing that tends to get cut back
is our meditation practice. We have less time and a lot on our plates, so it
makes sense that this happens, but in the end it doesn’t really help us.
Most of us know from
experience that we perform much better when we give ourselves time each day to
sit in silence. And the more we have to do, the more we need that solitary,
quiet time for the day ahead. As a result, while it may sound counterintuitive,
it is during busy times that we most need to spend more time in meditation
rather than less.
Expanding our
morning meditation by just 10 minutes can make a big difference, as can the
addition of short meditations into our daily schedule. Unless we are in the
midst of a crisis we always have five or 10 minutes to spare. The key is, that
spending that time in meditation, is the most fruitful choice. We could be
getting our dishes done or heading into work earlier instead, so it’s important
that we come to value the importance of meditation in the context of all the
other things competing for attention in our lives.
We can create more
time in the morning, either by getting up earlier or to prepare breakfast the
night before and use the extra time for meditation. We can also add short
meditation breaks into our schedule, from five minutes before or after lunch to
a meditation session at night before we go to sleep. When we come from a place
of centered calm, we are more effective in handling our busy schedules and more
able to keep it all in perspective. If more time in meditation means less time
feeling anxious, panicky, and overwhelmed, then it’s certainly worth the extra
time.
No time for meditation? Here is what you
can do . . .
" Everything good will happen in its own good time
if you let it, and don't worry yourself in the meanwhile."
~
Lao Tse
