How much time should someone dedicate daily to contemplate/meditate/self-inquire/yoga

[LeoBacca]

Title says everything..

With all these practices what do you think is the proper time that someone should dedicate each day?

Leo says that meditation should be don 1 hour a day ideally, but then there are the other practices... Is there someone who does all of them daily?

Meditation

Self-inquiery

Contemplation

Kriya Yoga

[ajasatya]

start by making a better use of the time you spend on bad habits.

[Shin]

What habits have you already and for how long ?

[LeoBacca]

I have been meditating for a year 20 minutes daily not always but i was pretty consistent, I did a meditation retreat for 10 days and now im trying to meditate 1 hour a day, I did it for a month but now I am a little bit backsliding.

[Toby]

It's a matter of interest and not of shoulds. Who cares what others do or think they should do.

[Jonty]

@LeoBacca I had an awakening recently. I have been doing contemplation for at least one hour a day, every day for nearly 18 months.

Coupled with that, all my free time has been spent watching videos from a variety of different sources (Sadhguru/Papaji/Eckhart/Mooji/Actualuzed etc.) and reading books on Leo’s book list.

I have the Actualized podcasts on my phone so even as I’m walking around I can still be listening to things.

I also tried to be ultra aware of everything I was doing if that makes sense? That was tricky at first but became second nature after a while.

I hope this helps. Stick with it my friend, it’s worth it!

 

[Salvijus]

24h

[noselfnofun]

@LeoBacca Yeah I have found working on overcoming bad habits frees up more time to give to your practice, also getting up an hour earlier than you normally wake up means you can use that hour to meditate. It takes time to get to a point where you are very disciplined with your practice. Also are there days when you are not working? I use Sundays as retreat day, you can easily get five hours or more in then.  

Also you can contemplate and self inquirer throughout the day whenever your by yourself or become conscious of what you are doing. 

[cetus]

@LeoBacca Reverse the question: How much time should one spend away from doing meditation, contemplation, self- inquiry?

[LeoBacca]

@Toby  You're totally right but I wanted to know you're approaches too

@Jonty  That's great, you are disciplined as hell! So did you only contemplate without doing extra meditation?(even though contemplation is a sort of meditation too)

@noselfnofun Thanks for the tips. Yes I do wake up earlier but I like to study as a first thing in the morning because is one of my top priorities

@cetus56  Sorry I didn't get it I am not so advanced

 

[cetus]

@LeoBacca Just stay mindful as much as you can. It's not just the formal practices that count.

[LeoBacca]

@cetus56  Right!

[lostmedstudent]

@ajasatya touché

23 hours ago, ajasatya said:

start by making a better use of the time you spend on bad habits.

 

[Jonty]

@LeoBacca I’ve been meditating as well but not as regularly as with contemplation. I meditated probably two or three times a week for around 30 mins.

For me, meditation simply aided my contemplation. It helped keep my mind free of chatter and helped me concentrate.

I wouldn’t have made as much progress as I did by meditating for long periods. My personal opinion (and it is only that) would be to spend more time in contemplation than meditation, but you have to find what works for you... it’s your maze!

Good luck my friend. Just stay positive. It will happen if you put the work in!

[NoSelfSelf]

I spent 8 hours a day for 3 years ???

[Aaron p]

@LeoBacca broskie, time is one of the foundations...one of the most important aspects of our journey. And time is a concept like any other, it can be used very effectively and can be harnessed. If you go through cycles of holding a rat under water for 20 seconds then keeping it out of water for 20 seconds then another 20 seconds in the water..and so on. The rat will not drown, it's only when you hold it for a perlonged period of time, under the water, is when it is killed for good.

Another rule is that the time nearing the end of a meditation/self enquiry session is the most powerful time. 

My practise is simple at the moment...I feel like I needed a simple practise for me starting off. I do 40 minutes of self enquiry, followed immediately by 20 minutes of meditation focusing on the sensation of air passing in and out of the nostrils (I think this is called vepassena or something).

Just remember these different techniques also interact with eachother differently, similar to how different chemicals would react differently when exposed to eachother. Meditating (breathing meditation) is definitely where I find my practise is most significant it feels like I'm being 'kept awake'. However, the ONLY reason my *meditation* practise is so powerful is because my self enquiry practise is so through and we'll practised. I am currently in the process of buying the book on kryia yoga and will also be starting written contemplation. Mixing it all together with silent retreated and psychedelics. And just maintaining that for 50 years...refining and improving my practises as I gain more spiritual "street knowledge". 

But yes, make sure your doing the same amount, or more of self enquiry as you are meditation. Self enquiry is more important. Try getting used to spending an hour a day. I'm going to maybe I crease to 1.5 hours a day then 2. And all of this energy is within you to, you just have to allow it to be realised. By trusting the practises, you do the practises and by doing the practises you see their significance.

Hope some of this is helpful for you my guy. Peace

[kev014]

@LeoBacca Adding new habits takes time to reach a sort of homeostasis, especially meditation/spiritual practices. Trying to add too much at once will risk ego backlash. Consider what your goals are and how you would prioritize these goals. Building up progressively to a disciplined, daily set of habits and rituals takes time, this has been the biggest struggle for me personally along this journey. Better to meditate 20 mins a day everyday for 3 months straight then 2 hours a day for three days...

[moon777light]

19 hours ago, NoSelfSelf said:

I spent 8 hours a day for 3 years ???

isuse 

On 1/3/2019 at 2:52 PM, cetus56 said:

@LeoBacca Reverse the question: How much time should one spend away from doing meditation, contemplation, self- inquiry?

very well said!

@LeoBacca its important to remember not to make a strict routine out of this and end up forgetting why your doing it in the first place. Youll have much more success if you stick to mastering one thing, then when you mastered that, start incorporating the next, etc.

[How to be wise]

@LeoBacca I do my self-inquiry practice three times a day.

I got that idea from Leo’s Islam video, where he said that Muslims pray five times a day in order to keep their faith strong.

In the same way, doing self-inquiry three times a day keeps my mind focusing on this all day.

As for duration, it’s about 30 mins per session.