Meditating twice a day for 30 min vs Once for 1 h

[Thomas]

I really wonder what's better if I have one hour each day reserved for meditation.

I've been meditating every single day (Do Nothing method) since 29.12.2015 for one hour before sleep. 
Some sessions feel just amazing in these last 30 minutes and sometimes it's hard as hell, I become deconcentrated and frustrated. So pretty much normal balance.

I'm just curious if meditating for the same overall amount of time, but split up between two session, one in the morning, second in the evening would have more beneficial effect?

I'm really just wondering.. What if meditation is like caffeine and has a half-life of 4-6 hours? 
What I mean is we know (do we?) that meditating is about long term benefits, slowly building momentum, but I can't deny that I do get short term boost in.. Being present & conscious for about few hours after meditating session.

[Markus]

In terms of carryover to daily life, having multiple sessions can certainly be better. Especially as a beginner. When I used to meditate in the mornings, which I no longer do, there was this sense of peace and increased concentration for some time. As I've progressed though I'm more concentrated by default, or at least can produce a higher concentration state just by wanting to. Therefore, I prefer to do a longer continuous sit as sitting for a longer and longer period of time without movement gets you higher and higher concentration, plus I can practice strong determination sitting.

[Lord God]

Personally I would say it really depends on where you are at maintaining awareness. The big problem I see in meditating once per day is most people do this right before sleep, when you meditate right before bed it's like increasing awareness just to completely turn it off and you don't get to use the insights you obtain during that session in practice immediately and may forget some by morning.

Breaking up your meditation even into three 20 minute sessions can be very valuable. If you wake up and the first thing you do is focus on becoming aware then you are likely to enjoy the insights of that awareness throughout the morning, then another 20 minute session at lunch or as soon as you feel the awareness is fading will launch you once again into flowing aware of your actions or lack thereof. I still find a session before sleep is important, it allows you to reflect on when you were asleep that day, and when you were actually conscious, thus what to modify in your routine the next day to allow more of the latter.

Therefore I would propose that it is not just the number of sessions per day that is relevant, but when those sessions take place. I myself do 1.5 hours in the morning, multiple 20 minute sessions during the day when I am idle, and another 1.5 hours before bed. Though that level of commitment is obviously hard to find time for.

Truly

Z

Edit: I should also mention that prolonged duration obviously has it's own set of benefits. It's difficult to quiet the monkey mind at first in just 20 minutes, whereas if you force yourself to make it to that hour mark and beyond you may notice insights you will never come to in smaller sessions. With that in mind I would perhaps in your case propose doing different sets on different days and seeing which benefits you most. Ie 2x30, 3x20, and then 1x60, and see how it goes.

Edited February 7, 2016 by Zotikos
Original post did not include all variables.

[Azrael]

1 hour ago, Zotikos said:

if you force yourself to make it to that hour mark and beyond you may notice insights you will never come to in smaller sessions.

Can't agree more. If you can sit for 20-30 minutes you probably can have a good experience of calming your mind a little bit and getting more aware or relaxed. Sitting for 40-60 minutes pushes it a little more and you tend to experience other worries and pains and also sitting 40 minutes in pure pain or pure silence is very different from 20 minutes, believe me.

Now, I'm doing 60 minutes every morning and I'm working on the 90-120 minutes strong determination sits on good evenings. If you get in that kind of territory, this is a whole other game. Just think about sitting for two hours without moving. Most people would go insane. I did 120 minutes and you go out of it as a changed man. Your brain will shut the fuck up after 120 minutes, trust me.

And I'm thrilled to go even further. Go push it! 

[Thomas]

@Arik

Respect, man! 

@Zotikos

Thank You for your insight & advice.

The main reason I ended up between splitting sessions or maintaining one, longer, is that they affect me quite diffferently.

The longest session of meditation, was btw. the hardcore version of not moving at all also and it was 96 minutes.
My position was very uncomfortable from the beggining, but somehow I did go through it. After quite some time the unbearable pain in my legs was still present but from a distance, like I was aware of it, acknowledged it and that's it. Done nothing about it. There was no I, just pure nothingness.
The bliss, peace, awareness and WOAH that was coming through me were unexplainable and undefinable. That was the hardest, but also the best meditating session I've experienced so far.
The moment of pushing certain barrier during meditation is so rewarding.

 

I will experiment with different frequency, but I think at the end, I might stay with one hour, but I'm going to place it in the morning instead of doing it right before sleep.

Thank You, guys!

[AngeArthur]

i will suggest twice a day