There are a lot of different recommendations for how long you should meditate, as well as for how often you should meditate. Some sources say to do an hour every day, but you may not have that much time. Below you’ll find research-based recommendations for how long — and how often — to meditate.
God, today help me set aside everything I think I know about You, everything I think I know about myself, everything I think I know about others, and everything I think I know about my own recovery so I may have an open mind and a new experience with all these things. Please help me see the truth.
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It is normal to experience a broad range of emotions. In fact, emotions are what make us human! Common emotions include sadness, joy, excitement, fear, guilt, anger, shame, and anxiety, to name a few. Experiencing a broad range of emotions is natural and unproblematic. However, intense emotions or rapid fluctuations between positive and negative emotions can be a source of great pain and distress for you and for those around you.
[Read more…]Mindfulness can help us in so many ways. It helps us feel more calm and centered. So why is it so hard to make it happen?
Practicing mindfulness can feel complicated and can leave you feeling discouraged or thinking you’re “doing it wrong.” Who would have thought that something associated with serenity and emotional health. could be so frustrating?
It’s only more frustrating when we realize that feeling frustration might be the opposite of what mindfulness is supposed to create.
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Meditation and mindfulness practices have become more accepted in Western cultures since the late 1990’s. There are several reasons for this. A primary one is the research and writing of Jon Kabat-Zinn, a scientist who adapted a Southeast Asian Buddhist meditation practice for a Western audience.
His work focuses on a practice called mindfulness meditation. Kabat-Zinn initially, in the late 1970s, focused on patients suffering from chronic pain. His research showed promising results for these patients. His work led to an expansion in research on what other conditions improve with mindfulness meditation. In the following years, studies showed that mindfulness and meditation produce benefit for those suffering from other conditions as well. These include hypertension, insomnia, as well as various anxiety and mood disorders.
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