Extending Your Sitting Meditation Time

[RiverSnake]

When i first started meditating i found i had difficulty sitting for 10 minutes without feeling sore and uncomfortable. However, over time i increased my sitting periods and have continually been increasing my time for awhile now.

 

However, recently i have hit a plateau and cannot sit for longer than 1 hr 45 min without a lot of discomfort and pain. I tried to sit through the pain recently and my knees have been hurting for the last 4-5 days rather than just the usual soreness....i have no desire to injure my knees as i know many meditators do....however i would also like to eventually learn to sit for long periods of time like 8 hrs without moving.

 

Can any experienced meditators give me tips on how to extend my sessions safely?

[Thunder_Gooch]

I cheat I use headphones and a meditation track, as well as a comfortable massage chair which isn't comfortable enough to let me fall asleep.

 

I also have a grounding wire connected to a stake outside which I sit on to make sure my perineum point is grounded during meditation.

 

I am able to enter extremely deep levels of trance without my legs or back becoming sore as a result.

 

It seems to work well for me.

 

I can meditate overnight on my days off from work if I wish to, it also seems to replace the need for some sleep.

 

 

 

 

When i first started meditating i found i had difficulty sitting for 10 minutes without feeling sore and uncomfortable. However, over time i increased my sitting periods and have continually been increasing my time for awhile now.

 

However, recently i have hit a plateau and cannot sit for longer than 1 hr 45 min without a lot of discomfort and pain. I tried to sit through the pain recently and my knees have been hurting for the last 4-5 days rather than just the usual soreness....i have no desire to injure my knees as i know many meditators do....however i would also like to eventually learn to sit for long periods of time like 8 hrs without moving.

 

Can any experienced meditators give me tips on how to extend my sessions safely?

Edited August 3, 2012 by More_Pie_Guy

[Diamond Spectrum]

Grounding Wire. Good idea. Reminded of sitting on a hotplate full of stones in the am frost.

[Cheshire Cat]

The Dao of increasing sitting time is natural.

If your body cannot holds that position for any longer, then all you can do is to refine your mind in that amount of time.

If your mind clears himself, he will clear the body channels too... and you will be able to sit for longer time. Naturally.

 

I can sit full lotus for 5 hours without pain or discomfort.

But I can meditate in full lotus for a few minutes.

 

P.S. Meditation is Zuowang.

 

When i first started meditating i found i had difficulty sitting for 10 minutes without feeling sore and uncomfortable. However, over time i increased my sitting periods and have continually been increasing my time for awhile now.

 

However, recently i have hit a plateau and cannot sit for longer than 1 hr 45 min without a lot of discomfort and pain. I tried to sit through the pain recently and my knees have been hurting for the last 4-5 days rather than just the usual soreness....i have no desire to injure my knees as i know many meditators do....however i would also like to eventually learn to sit for long periods of time like 8 hrs without moving.

 

Can any experienced meditators give me tips on how to extend my sessions safely?

[joeblast]

When i first started meditating i found i had difficulty sitting for 10 minutes without feeling sore and uncomfortable. However, over time i increased my sitting periods and have continually been increasing my time for awhile now.

 

However, recently i have hit a plateau and cannot sit for longer than 1 hr 45 min without a lot of discomfort and pain. I tried to sit through the pain recently and my knees have been hurting for the last 4-5 days rather than just the usual soreness....i have no desire to injure my knees as i know many meditators do....however i would also like to eventually learn to sit for long periods of time like 8 hrs without moving.

 

Can any experienced meditators give me tips on how to extend my sessions safely?

There's an exercise at the beginning of chapter 3 in taoist yoga that mentions just this, mentions the free flow of generative force and gives a circulation exercise for the morning

[Ish]

I think its about the depth of your meditation, i can't do massive stretches of sitting either (around 2h is the most i've done a few times) but the deeper you go the less time matters.

 

Also worth examining, why do i want to finish, is the mind agitated thinking i've already been sitting for 2 hours, thats enough - still too attached to the past, not really meditating.

 

If it's the body then it's a somewhat gradual progress of posture, relaxation, conditioning of physical and energy channels. Of course the mind/body can make the body/mind change even when it shouldn't .

[RiverSnake]

 

 

I also have a grounding wire connected to a stake outside which I sit on to make sure my perineum point is grounded during meditation.

 

 

Grounding Wire? What is that? I do all my meditations inside, can you use that inside?

[RiverSnake]

There's an exercise at the beginning of chapter 3 in taoist yoga that mentions just this, mentions the free flow of generative force and gives a circulation exercise for the morning

 

Care to share?

[joeblast]

dangit, VPN is down at the moment. I've got it typed up and saved at work but somehow not here. It is an excellent exercise though, you can literally feel it absorb morning wood and run it through the channels

[thelerner]

Actually an hour and 45 is pretty impressive to me. I wonder if you've found your ideal sitting set up. Maybe experimenting with a pillow/zafu of a different height and firmness? A softer covering underneath your knees? On a physical level finding the right support could be the ticket.

[宁]

maybe assisting the knees with some standing meditation. or some knee workout like tree qigong,

[Thunder_Gooch]

Grounding Wire? What is that? I do all my meditations inside, can you use that inside?

 

 

I've got a small hole punched out, the wire goes outside to a stake deep in the earth.

 

Yin chi flows through metal as does yang chi, and your body can only hold as much yang chi as you have yin chi and vice versa.

 

So if you are trying to accumulate chi, it will be impossible to progress if you are not grounded in meditation.

[Gerard]

Can any experienced meditators give me tips on how to extend my sessions safely?

 

Walk, sit, walk, sit and keep doing this in equal parts until you no longer feel the need of walking. Go easy with the mind because forcing it will worsen your practice.

[Neophyte]

Walk, sit, walk, sit and keep doing this in equal parts until you no longer feel the need of walking. Go easy with the mind because forcing it will worsen your practice.

 

Hey Gerard, what do you mean when you said to go easy with the mind, forcing it will worsen your practice? This sentence and the way it was underscored (and has many thumbs up), piqued by curiousity. If you or someone could give advice on this

[joeblast]

[Gerard]

Hey Gerard, what do you mean when you said to go easy with the mind, forcing it will worsen your practice?

 

Meditation is not a race or a destination we need to go to, we are already there. Just the way we peel off the onion layers needs to be done with ease, without forcing the process or it will result in a counteracting resisting force, hence a blockage will develop.

 

No timing, no expectations, just go with the flow slowly. But, blockages will shop up, of course, all created by the mind, so extra tools need to be implemented (internal martial arts, standing/walking meditation, herbal tonics/elixirs - good luck with this one as to access this sort of stuff is only available to a lucky few - read Opening the Dragon Gate for more info, meditation/energetic practice in power spots, fasting, acupuncture/acupressure, massage...) in order to remove them.

[RiverSnake]

Joeblast, Gerard and others, thanks for the tips, i will definitely start to apply some of them.

 

-My 2 cents, Peac

[Neophyte]

Meditation is not a race or a destination we need to go to, we are already there. Just the way we peel off the onion layers needs to be done with ease, without forcing the process or it will result in a counteracting resisting force, hence a blockage will develop.

 

No timing, no expectations, just go with the flow slowly. But, blockages will shop up, of course, all created by the mind, so extra tools need to be implemented (internal martial arts, standing/walking meditation, herbal tonics/elixirs - good luck with this one as to access this sort of stuff is only available to a lucky few - read Opening the Dragon Gate for more info, meditation/energetic practice in power spots, fasting, acupuncture/acupressure, massage...) in order to remove them.

 

But how can we progress without really pushing ourselves during meditation? When I sit for my meditation session, I force myself to abandon ALL of my worries, my anger, fears, etc. This is impossible to do at first, but I force myself to concontrate on my breathing (Daoist and Buddhist breathing), whilst counting my breaths and often focusing on upper dan tian. Slowly, but steadily, I'm making progress. I'm able to force myself to forget the mental angers, fears, worries, etc, that plague me before I sit down for my session.

 

I actually came to conclude that when one is most filled with emotion, that that is the best time to meditate; when one is already in a relaxed and peaceful state of mind, this is the weakest times for making progress in meditation.

 

When one finds it most difficult to meditate (for mental resistence against it, such as stress and fears, worries, guilt, anger, etc.), those are by far the most productive meditation sessions. But one must really "force" himself to focus exclusively on breaths and counting those breaths, and separating himself from everything going on in his life. That's what I concluded over the past year of my meditation practices, but now people are telling me differently.

 

What do you guys think? I never heard that this causes blockages. I thought that this was the best way to "rewire" my brain so that I will eventually be able to clear it fully of all thoughts. Is what I'm doing correct, or am I setting myself up for developing blockages?

 

I'm sending this question out generally, anyone with advice please inform.

[baleada1]

I think tha after a certain period of time doing meditation, one comes across a major obstacle, some hindrance which may very well be the mind's last attempt to return back to an old pattern. During meditation, one tends to cultivate the neutral mind, and in doing so, one must fight the urges from the negative mind. As you progress in your meditation, you dissolve these blockages, leading you to a different or higher state of neutrality (if the description makes sense).

For example, a cigarette addict decides to quit. As he or she quits, he finds urges to return, I feel that the blockages are the equivalent of urges. Also, the blockages are a bottled up emotion that gets released after a certain period of meditation. At least, I believe this is my interpretation of the facts. I also never heard of a blockage developing as a result of forcing meditation onto emotion.

 

If you may recall, people that are nervous are told to take a deep breath in order to calm down. If this analogy makes sense, I would be surprised to think that people would suddenly develop an emotional blockage out of the habitual relaxation technique to calm themselves down.

 

I never thought that a forced concentration would lead to a meditative state, but it would make sense if it was possible, as you are blocking all stimuli in order to favor that one thought. I believe that what you are doing is setting a pattern to deal with an event. I will also comment that this is a great idea, as the brain gets used to dealing with adverse circumstances on a more habitual basis.

Edited August 17, 2012 by baleada1

[chi 2012]

I can only sit about 40 minutes cross legged....and am currently emphasizing standing movements. But, I think in a few weeks I'm going to start working on my cross legged and half lotus while watching movies. I think the distraction will help me build up my time. I can sit in a chair and do MCO for an hour and I get antsy....But, I can sit in a movie theatre for 2 1/2 hours and do MCO and I don't get antsy.

 

I'd really like to sit cross legged and half lotus at movie theatres....But the crazy guy from Colorado probably ruined that option for me....Weird behavior at movie theatres is probably frowned upon now because of him.

Edited August 17, 2012 by chi 2012

[Mokona]

I've found that I can sit longer than usual as long as I am sitting comfortably, and continously relax my muscles throughout the meditation. Physical discomfort is the largest factor, everything else eventually shifts into place.

 

Also, It may help to start with a physical relaxtion practice, such as tightning and relaxing muscles, then move into letting your body relax itself for you. That is how I experience my best results.

 

- Sometimes during breathing i'll notice a shifting of awareness that moves with the breath. If you come to a similar point, as you breath, affirm the word "Relax" and "Smile"

[joeblast]

lol

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[Tibetan_Ice]

When i first started meditating i found i had difficulty sitting for 10 minutes without feeling sore and uncomfortable. However, over time i increased my sitting periods and have continually been increasing my time for awhile now.

 

However, recently i have hit a plateau and cannot sit for longer than 1 hr 45 min without a lot of discomfort and pain. I tried to sit through the pain recently and my knees have been hurting for the last 4-5 days rather than just the usual soreness....i have no desire to injure my knees as i know many meditators do....however i would also like to eventually learn to sit for long periods of time like 8 hrs without moving.

 

Can any experienced meditators give me tips on how to extend my sessions safely?

 

Hi OldGreen

If you don't mind me asking, what type of meditation are you doing?

The reason I ask is because, according to several sources (Ajhan Brahm, Shaila Catherine and Alan Wallace), entering the jhanas is so blissfull and enticing that one can effortlessly remain in those states for hours and hours.

 

From my experience, when I enter a jhana, the body can be in pain, but the whole body and the pain are so far away, almost like they don't exist, that you don't feel the pain at all. You have to focus directly on it. Then the pain is like a teeny little thought that comes up and then dissolves away. The mind says, "Wow, I think that was my painful left calf." And then you submerge once again in the bliss..

 

This is from the book called Focused and Fearless - A Meditator's Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm and Clarity by Shaila Catherine (Buddhist breath/jhana meditation manual)

More contemporary teachers suggest resolving to remain in absorption for increasing durations. Start with twenty minutes of absorption uninterrupted by thought. Once that is easy to establish and repeat, make a determination for thirty minutes, then one hour, two hours, and three hours. For a beginner to jhana practice, the nimitta may remain stable for only five or ten minutes before a thought or perception interrupts the absorption; often it is a thought about the meditation itself. But as practice deepens, consciousness will remain absorbed for a long time without difficulty. One Burmese master I studied with requested sustained absorption, without the intrusion of a single thought, for more than one hour of each sitting, during all the meditation sessions in the day, for at least three consecutive days before he would give the instruction for the next jhana. Although I have not found any particular amount of time to be critical, jhanas are stable states of deep absorption, not brief encounters with bliss. In jhana there is no restlessness; nothing is present that would disturb the tranquility. A meditator should be able to sit without internal distubance for very, very long periods of time.

 

 

And here is a bit from the Visddhimagga:

link: http://www.urbandhar...urification.pdf

 

33. The difference between the two kinds of concentration is this. The factors

are not strong in access. It is because they are not strong that when access has

arisen, the mind now makes the sign its object and now re-enters the lifecontinuum,

just as when a young child is lifted up and stood on its feet, it

repeatedly falls down on the ground. But the factors are strong in absorption. It

is because they are strong that when absorption concentration has arisen, the

mind, having once interrupted the flow of the life-continuum, carries on with a

stream of profitable impulsion for a whole night and for a whole day, just as a

healthy man, after rising from his seat, could stand for a whole day.

 

 

TI

Edited August 18, 2012 by Tibetan_Ice

[Gerard]

But how can we progress without really pushing ourselves during meditation?

 

Not sitting, please. Leg work, leg work, leg work...it should become your 24/7 mantra.

[RiverSnake]

Hi OldGreen

If you don't mind me asking, what type of meditation are you doing?

The reason I ask is because, according to several sources (Ajhan Brahm, Shaila Catherine and Alan Wallace), entering the jhanas is so blissfull and enticing that one can effortlessly remain in those states for hours and hours.

 

 

 

I practice Stillness Movement Neigong. Its a spontaneous movement practice so stilling the mind and sitting for long periods of time can be a bit difficult....but i am gradually getting better at both.

 

Also it was not my problem that i couldn't sit through the pain, but that i did not want to do permanent damage to my knees. I am now simply focusing very intensively on posture and being aware of my body during meditation.

 

That book looks interesting i may check it out.

 

-My 2 cents, Peace

Edited August 18, 2012 by OldGreen