r/yoga
Direct and true talk – Why do so many of you think, that you need 2h of meditation every day to just be? (please dont feel personaly attacked, i really dont understand)
This is Ashtanga Yoga Tech Support. Real questions from the yoga community, answered.
The Question
Over the last weeks i kept lurking in my feed about meditaiton and i saw many new people asking why 5 min of meditation every day felt useless to them. Most of the comments said: "The amound is to low, start to meditate 2 h for the next years to come." And i dont get it. You are happy in your state, why would you think that everyone needs to meditate 2h a day.Your jorney is different and you are clearly in a higher state. You just basicly said: Dont be a beginner – just become advance…
— via r/yoga
Our Response
Yeah. That advice is terrible.
Five minutes is fine. Five minutes is good.
The problem isn't the duration. The problem is expectation.
Meditation isn't supposed to feel useful. It's not productivity. It's not a workout. You're not getting somewhere.
You sit. You watch. That's it.
The people telling you to do two hours? They're cosplaying as monks. Or they've confused sitting longer with sitting better.
Start with five minutes. Do it every day. Same time. Same spot. Don't add time until five minutes feels as natural as brushing your teeth.
When beginners say it feels useless, what they mean is: "I'm still thinking." Yeah. You will be. That's not failure. That's what happens.
Your job isn't to stop thoughts. Your job is to notice you're thinking and come back. Over and over. That's the practice.
If you want structure, check out the meditation study guide on the site. But honestly? Just sit. Five minutes. Every day. For a year.
Then tell me it's useless.
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