Advice on When to meditate

[Lotus7]

Hello all!

 

I have been unable to get on here very much lately, which saddens me. I have just recently started a new job that requires me to work incredibly long hours each day and week. Right now I am working 60 plus hours a week. Don't get me wrong, I am very blessed to have such a great opportunity with a great company, and I truly enjoy the work I am doing. However, I am having trouble finding the time to meditate. I have to get up pretty early everyday, (around 5 or 6 in the morning; early for me :-)), and as soon as I get ready I have to leave for work. I get home around 5 or 6 in the evening, and am extremely tired.

 

Do any of you have this issue? I would like to just hear some advice on how to better manage my time to where I can incorporate meditation with my busy schedule. I try my best to keep a calm mind throughout the day, but it is not the same.

 

Anyway, just some thoughts for the moment. Any replies or advice would be helpful!

 

Namaste, Matt

[doc benway]

I've struggled with this for years. I work long hours and early mornings.

First - make your commute and your work a meditation.

Second - to practice specific Daoist meditation techniques, I find that I simply must MAKE the time. I will never FIND the time.

It means getting up an hour earlier than I would otherwise. I find my sitting to be much more effective in the early morning. In the evening I am too emotionally and psychologically drained.

For each hour of meditation, you need 1-2 fewer hours of sleep per day. Meditation is more restful to the mind and body than sleep. It may not seem so in the beginning, but after some period of steady practice this may become evident.

Good luck!

[Lotus7]

Thanks Steve! That is very helpful!! It is good to know that I can relate to someone with a similar situation. I have that is best to meditate in the morning, and you nailed it on the head when you said that it is difficult to meditate after a long day. It is near impossible, at least for myself. I just need to discipline myself to wake earlier, because deep down I know that it will make my day much more enjoyable while having a calm state of mind.

If I may ask, what sort of meditation do you like to start your day off with? Or does it vary?

Thanks again, great advice!

 

-Namaste Matt

[Sloppy Zhang]

People gotta make the best out of what they got, and for someone who's gotta work long hours or always on the go, I'd say it's very important to turn something into an act of consciousness meditation. You could say that everything you do could be meditation, which is true, but it's also very much true that you've got to work your way up to that.

 

What is your lunch break like? You can turn that into a mini-meditation, where you observe the changes in your consciousness and your body as you eat, and try to reach a state of calmness and emptiness.

 

Depending on what type of commute and work you have, and your relative experience with meditation, you can definitely turn those into meditation, but maybe not at the beginning stages.

 

I would suggest once more that the type of meditation you should probably be doing is the awareness kind where you are just observing what's going on throughout the day. I had a job in sales once, where as I was meeting people and talking to them, I maintain my awareness of what I was thinking and feeling, where that stuff was coming from, and how I could turn it into a positive.

 

So play around with it a bit.

[RiverSnake]

I do not practice any formal meditation as of late. However, i have made the effort to turn everything i do into a meditation.

 

-When i'm driving in my car or listening to my teacher lecture i always try to "be".

 

-The rewards of taking your practice wherever you go can are worth their weight in gold.

 

-Good luck

[Gerard]

Try to meditate in real life (not just the formal sitting/standing/walking methods), watch your mind at all times and observe changes. Being on the bus/subway/driving can involve rhythmic breathing and a more relaxing pace of practice. In fact, real meditation starts after you do the quiet one at home, in the park or in the woods.

[markern]

Thanks Steve! That is very helpful!! It is good to know that I can relate to someone with a similar situation. I have that is best to meditate in the morning, and you nailed it on the head when you said that it is difficult to meditate after a long day. It is near impossible, at least for myself. I just need to discipline myself to wake earlier, because deep down I know that it will make my day much more enjoyable while having a calm state of mind.

If I may ask, what sort of meditation do you like to start your day off with? Or does it vary?

Thanks again, great advice!

 

-Namaste Matt

 

I find that I can get a lot out of doing something like six healing sounds even if my mind is not still and I am quite tired emotionally. After that I feel so much better that meditation is a lot easier. After all healing sounds is supposed to clear out bad emotions. Doing some tai chi or simple moving qigong has a similar effect. So you could maybe try to do something like that first and then do meditation. I have also found the inner smile to give me more when it is harder to meditate than breath based meditation. In time, as you become better at meditation you might well find that despite the stress of a long days work you can still your mind in a minute or two anyway.

 

You could also try doing stuff that is more powerful. AYPs I AM mantra is VERY powerful and so is spinal breathing which is a part of that system. People usually find that they CAN`T do more than 20 minutes of the I AM mantra in a session otherwise they get overloaded. So just I AM mantra for 10-20 minutes + spinal breathing for 5-10 should give you good progress. I strongly recommend adding some sort of strong grounding practice and a bit of microcosmic orbit to the AYP practices though as they tend to not be so grounded and they ognore the front channel to much. You don`T have to do those two a lot but five minutes standing and a little bit of orbit while you commute should be enough I think.

 

The Kundalini Awakening PRocess system is also very powerful. 45 minutes a day is sufficient and several of the practices can be done while you are doing other things. WHen you gain some mastery over it you can for example keep the secret smile running while you are surfing the web.

 

Also, if you have a partner, consider making sex your practice. Check my posts about karezza in old threads about sex. Read one of diane Richardsons books about tantra and read the book cupids poisoned arrow. Having sex like htat you can, perfectly safely, save up ALL your jing and about double its effect in addition to training in awareness and concentration.

 

I also second the advice about practicing mindfulness in every day life. Someone told me Tich Nath Han recommends mastering mindfulness during one activity at a time. So for example the first few weeks you only practice mindfulness when you brush your teeth. Once having really good mindfulness during that activity is automatic you add another activity for a few weeks. After a year you will have QUALITY mindfulness during most of your activities.

Edited April 12, 2011 by markern

[doc benway]

Thanks Steve! That is very helpful!! It is good to know that I can relate to someone with a similar situation. I have that is best to meditate in the morning, and you nailed it on the head when you said that it is difficult to meditate after a long day. It is near impossible, at least for myself. I just need to discipline myself to wake earlier, because deep down I know that it will make my day much more enjoyable while having a calm state of mind.

If I may ask, what sort of meditation do you like to start your day off with? Or does it vary?

Thanks again, great advice!

 

-Namaste Matt

Glad I could help Matt.

I usually start sitting quietly with an intention of total awareness. I do a slow internal scan and then open myself to awareness of everything going on inside and outside of "me" for a bit, including breath awareness. Then I devote some time to a number of internal routines that are a part of the system I currently practice which is called Kun Lun Xian Zong Pai. If you're interested in that, feel free to send me a PM or email.

[Apech]

I think that that transition between the speed of the world and the stillness of meditation is very hard. I think getting up 1/2 hour earlier and doing some then is a good idea - if you can manage this - or otherwise in the evening but not either immediately on getting home or just before going to bed. The best thing is to set a routine so it just becomes part of your life ... do it at the set hour whether you feel like it or not - just sit for 20 - 30 mins say and don't worry if it seems good, bad, pointless ... or what ever just do it.

 

The advantage of systems like Taoism or Buddhism is that it gives advice or answers to your behaviour in the day as well. For instance not getting caught up in strong workplace emotions. infighting, bitterness and so on ... they sap your energy. So a good ethical approach to your work life will support your practice. If you do energy work you could do some breathing exercises quietly at lunch time or at your desk also.

[joeblast]

As long as I'm not getting to bed too late, I dont feel quite proper if I dont sit before going to bed. Its like landing a plane Gotta do it while you still have enough mental & physical capital available. Start out with 5-10 minutes a bit before bed!

[DalTheJigsaw123]

Bumpin'

[rex]

If the day is just too full there's always some sort of dream/night practice.

Edited April 13, 2011 by rex

[Non]

If you can polyphasic sleep that would be good.

 

On a Forshang BUddhist website http://www.forshang.org/ there is an article that says whyit's actually more healthy to sleep 5-7 hrs (of course it can also depend on requirement). Generally a person who is not in a sleep deficit is probably better doing 5-7 hrs of sleep a night than 8. THe article then says that aside from that it may actually be even better to sleep twice a day of 2-4 hrs. It explains it's better for the cardiovascular system.

 

You'll haveto find it.

 

edit: here it is http://www.forshang.org/020PowerSleep/e.htm

 

There might be another article though that I missed.

[Jetsun]

[doc benway]