Do You Meditate?

If you are anything like me then when you practice yoga you focus on the asana -- poses that stretch the body (and often the mind). You know that meditation is an important part of the practice and you might sneak in a minute or two of stillness at the beginning or end of your asana fiesta.
Or maybe you sit and meditate for five, ten, twenty minutes a day.
Or maybe you think you should. And you don't.
At one time or another I have fallen into all of these categories. When I began yoga it was hard for me to sit for ten seconds. I was so used to moving and doing and multi-tasking that I'd completely forgotten how to get still. As I became more involved with my asana practice I gradually started to unravel and could proudly hit the ten second mark without even a flinch. From there my endurance grew so that now, ten years later, I can sit for ten minutes straight and not run screaming from my zafu.
Doesn't sound like much, does it? Well, for me, ten minutes feels like a huge victory. (Even then, I go in and out of my meditation practice more often than I would like to admit.) But I know that every time I meditate I feel like I want (need) to do it more.
Where do you sit on meditation? Or do you sit at all?
Looking to learn more about meditation? Check out our collection of meditation articles.



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Comments
I have come to meditation through yoga, though my yoga practice has declined to mostly nothing. I sit from 5 to 10 minutes and my goal is to do it every day, not to make it longer. I have a zafu and zabuton that I keep in the corner of the bedroom. I feel like I am constantly learning new ways to meditate but as this short article said, the more I do it, the more I want to do it.
Posted by: Daniel | October 27, 2009 11:57 AM
Especially now that I'm in law school, I love to meditate. I started doing it while I was in a foreign country all alone and sad. It was a great way to let my inner feelings surface without being overwhelmed. Now I do it to give myself a valid excuse to sit and do nothing. Also, when I cannot sleep because I'm thinking about too many things at once, meditation never fails. I love it! (oh, and to start my meditation I OM. it settles the mind and calms the spirit)
Posted by: Paige | October 27, 2009 12:06 PM
*****
It really is a great victory--even ten minutes. To be able to quiet the mind at will for ten minutes is a lot harder than the next ten minutes.
My greatest change has been to be able to quiet the mind and meditate at will in the midst of any day-to-day activity, like doing the dishes, or taking my 90 year old Dad on a ride, which used to be a chore, but now is a joy just because my shift of awareness.
Bob Weisenberg
http://YogaDemystified.com
*****
Posted by: Bob Weisenberg | October 27, 2009 1:28 PM
I started mediating formally with my yoga practice over a decade ago. Before that I used to get entranced watching trees sway, which I believe was a meditation. If I oversleep in the morning and have limited time I will choose to mediatate over asana practice. Nothing quite gets my day going like it.
Posted by: Meredith | October 27, 2009 1:35 PM
i ways always afraid to meditate. but when my life wasn't going well, i jumped into a 10 day meditation retreat. it was the most difficult thing i've ever done, but i came out the experience more peaceful than ever with increased energy and stamina. whereas i would normally procrastinate resolving issues, i had a renewed zest to experience even the most mundane tasks.
Posted by: jay | October 27, 2009 3:05 PM
I am happy to say that I have been practicing Transcendental Meditation for 35 years. I started meditating 20 minutes twice a day for the first 10 years and then 30 min twice a day after that. My yoga instructor says it's unusual because most people she knows discover meditation after doing yoga for a while. But for my wife and I (she also practices TM) we came to yoga with the quiet mind of an existing meditation practice.
Posted by: Bruce | October 27, 2009 6:04 PM
I meditate when I need to meditate. It is never on a regular basis. For me, that wouldn't be very meditative. Asana practice is meditative for me, so if you include that, I do several long meditative sessions every week.
Posted by: Scott | October 27, 2009 6:52 PM
I practice zazen. My practice wanes and dwindles. i strive for 30 minutes three times a week in addition to my asana practice.
Posted by: abby | October 28, 2009 2:36 PM
I wrestle with meditation. I find being confronted with myself very intense. While I'm able to breath through and mindfully watch asana alright, breathing through and mindfully watching my mind, is an entirely different matter. I am committed to it and do meditate 5 to 20 minutes a day (closer to the 5, to be truthful), but it's a slog for sure.
Posted by: Narasu Rebbapragada | October 30, 2009 7:14 PM
I have been diagnosed with Complex Miagraines and my doctor prescribed several medications that make me feel sluggish and scattered. I use meditation for more of a focused mindset when I experience an "episode." I never time myself, but I usually sit quietly for at lest 5-10 minutes at a time. I center my thoughts on images that makes me feel happy, ex: a clear blue ocean, my first love "music"...I incorporate this as a part of my daily routine. I find that meditation calms me and allows me to focus on the truely important aspects of my life and that helps minimalize my espisodes.
Posted by: Ama Adeigbola Sutton | November 4, 2009 2:00 PM
. At times doing a daily practice for three years. during those ten years I have never had a regular mediation practice. I started a loving kindness practice over a year ago and I slowly learned and began a regular mindfulness practice. I sit daily for 30 minutes. I did not set out to do this but rather stumbled on my practice. It was the right time in my life. As a result of my practice I have a renewed priority to established a more consistent yoga practice. The change in my life has been subtle but dramatic. A colleague at work asked if I was no medication or something because I am so non-reactive now. I had to laugh
Posted by: Kirsten Elliott | November 5, 2009 2:02 PM
all the great sages have several things in common, but the one saying they All tend to stress without any hesitation is ....to be one with the Divine.......meditate..meditate....meditate... the more the devotee does this, the sooner the devotee realises the oneness of his/her connection to the spirit that we all are.
I tend to believe that one should spent at minimum one hour a day in deep meditation...
Posted by: bryant kidd | November 7, 2009 4:50 AM
When things get challenging, I can tap into it. A deep sense of peace and certainty comes flooding back, no matter what's going on around me. It works in a traffic snarl in Rome, on a stage in London, in a noisy restaurant in Madrid, on a crowded train in India (well, almost). A fleeting recall is all it takes.
Posted by: Elaine Smith | November 10, 2009 5:50 PM
meditation is the best form of yoga. meditation is about exploring urself by talking to urself. It seeks coherence between mind and body , SO THAT THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN WHAT YOU THINK AND WHAT U DO. happiness prevails after that
http://www.squidoo.com/yoga-beginners
Posted by: yoga beginners | November 14, 2009 1:49 PM