How Long Should I Meditate for Effective Results?

Meditation can help us improve our physical and mental health, and it has become more and more popular in recent years. In fact, in 2017, 14.2% of people in the United States tried meditation. Research shows that regular meditation can help us cope with anxiety. Stress can help us deal with emotions. More and more people are addicted to their meditation practice, which helps them feel focused and calm.

But what if the needs of life limit the time we can meditate? If you miss a day, how important is it? Is five minutes a day enough to experience the benefits of meditation? Twenty minutes? Unfortunately, there is no simple answer, but there are some useful tips on how long to meditate.

For How Long Should I Meditate?

For best results, you should begin with meditating for 5-10 minutes first. As you become more experienced, you can increase the limit from 15 minutes to 30 minutes. The quality of the meditation is more important than the duration. Try to relax and stay calm and not be limited by time.

There is no limit to the number of times you can meditate per day. 1-2 times a day is enough, once in the morning and once in the evening. In the morning, you can meditate to set your day and night intentions. You can do the same thing, but this time you can change your technique to help you fall asleep or say thank you.

Meditation frequency is also called binaural beat. They are considered auditory hallucinations. These are two clock cycles, the frequency is less than 1000 Hz, and the difference does not exceed 30 Hz. In the past, these beats were mainly used for music. But recently they have been associated with some health benefits.

A 2017 study by the University of Waterloo found that 10 minutes of meditation a day can help anxious people avoid falling into repetitive, anxiety-inducing thoughts.

Another study from the University of Osnabrück in Germany showed that exercising for ten minutes a day helps to improve cognitive function. At the end of the study, participants noticed positive changes in attention and the ability to retain active information, a function called “working memory”.

Although you may want to extend the meditation time to more than 10 minutes, remember that many people complain that they cannot sit for more than 20 minutes. Although you can meditate for more than 10-15 minutes a day, it requires a lot of patience, mental strength and dedication.

What Happens After Long Meditation Sessions?

According to NCBI, there is not much connection between the length of the meditation course and the results achieved. There was not enough information during the study to determine whether a long conversation is beneficial to the brain compared to a short 5-minute conversation.

So, what is the point of meditating longer than necessary? Here are a few reasons:

• Meditation is relaxing, so you can lower your current blood pressure and immerse yourself in that moment. The main reason many people start their meditation journey is because it gives them peace of mind. If you are stressed during the day, long meditation will help.
• Long-term meditation allows you to focus on yourself and collect your thoughts. When we are all constantly moving and following social media, it helps to focus on ourselves. You don’t have to target a specific length of meditation. After a few minutes, you can sort out your thoughts.
• It lifts up your mood. Although there is no research on meditation time, there is plenty of evidence that meditation can make you more relaxed and happier. It seems better to do something in 5-10 minutes. If you can lengthen it a bit, meditation will make you enjoy a long time of solitude.
• Most meditators close the bedroom door and play soft music at the beginning. No matter what your daily activities involve, meditation is a personal experience of yourself. Sometimes the best result is a little privacy and unity.

As you can see, meditation has many benefits, especially if you practice it for a long time. Although research has not yet confirmed such research, countless practitioners will confirm this statement.

However, research has shown that people who meditate for a long time respond much faster to stress. There is a clear correlation between the number of years a person meditates and his stress management.

This means that 5-10 minutes a day will have a complex effect on the results for many years!

What Happens if You’re an Expert in Meditation?

When you become a meditation expert, you will definitely enjoy a longer meditation time. You can focus on what you think instead of wondering how to do it. It becomes an evolving process. You will never become an “expert” until you can completely clear your mind.

If you can devote more time to your schedule, it is a good idea to meditate as much as possible. Don’t see it as a necessary task, but as a good time to improve yourself.

Beginners should shoot in a short period of time to stay comfortable and not forced, but experts can shoot as much as they want. Many people meditate for 30 to 60 minutes, some even longer. You need to meditate immediately instead of sticking to an exact time every day.

The Bottom Line

Although monks can meditate for up to an hour, you don’t have to do so. Sitting quietly for ten minutes a day in meditation is enough to get long-term results. Never compare your own time with the time of others.

If you can sit or lie quietly for ten minutes and try to do the same for five minutes at the same time, that’s great. This is not just a game. Meditation requires patience and kindness from ourselves and others.

If you cannot find ten minutes a day, please take a step back and try to meditate for about one minute every day or morning and evening. When you are satisfied with it, press for 2 minutes, then press for 5 minutes, and so on. Keeping yourself stable and on the track of excellence will only hurt you!