i'm new and have a question!

[mughals]

hi everybody, i've just started including meditation into my life in hopes of 'grounding' myself a little more. I came across project meditation and downloaded the instruction cds on how to meditate. I've been doing the 10 minute sessions twice a day, for about a week and a half now. i'll just keep plugging away at it and hopefully i can see some returns in the future. i would like to integrate life flow 10 now into my routine whilst meditating. Although the full hour of LF 10 seems a bit much. Can i just do 10 minutes of LF , up it to 20 mins at times, without nullifying the benefits of the program? are there any consequences of not doing the full hour?

any help is much appreciated...thanks.

[Hazelkay]

Welcome to the forum.

Absolutely not necessary to do an hour.

What you are doing is exactly right - starting with 10 mins and gradually increasing.

Very experienced meditators may be meditating for an hour at a time, but in the beginning it is much better to take things slowly.

Keep us posted as to how things are going.
peace and joy

[GilesC]

I agree with Hazel, there's absolutely no need to do an hour. The lifeflow CD's last for that long for those who choose to meditate for that long. The downloaded lifeflow tracks are only 40 minutes long.

To get benefit from the entrainment tracks requires (so we are told) about 8 minutes for the brain to 'tune in' to the beats before the effects take hold. So, doing 10 minutes will give you a couple of minutes (thereabouts) of entrainment.

Most people who learn things like Transcendental Meditation, are started at about 5 or 10 minutes and over several weeks increase that time up to 20 minutes, with 20 minutes being the standard. After more experience this is often increased to 30 minutes. Some schools of meditation teaching suggest that more than 30 minutes in a single session offers no additional benefit, though some believe in extended periods of meditation.

As a beginner you sound like you're doing it just right, starting at a comfortable time and gradually building it up as you feel it is right. Aim to get to at least 20 minutes and you'll be well on your way.

Hugs

Giles