I struggle to get past 10-15 mins!

[Seren]

Hi

I practice reiki buy have been recently incorporating meditation while I reiki which has been very effective. Problem is I struggle to stay in my zone for more than 10 mins. If I make 20 it's because I managed two lots of 10 and just forced myself not to open my eyes so went back in.

Is this a normal struggle for a beginner?

Practically I wouldn't have the time to meditate for hours because I have kids and work to sort, but I feel like I should be doing at least half hour to progress in my spiritual work as that seems to be the norm. I do quite a lot in 10 mins so wonder if that's enough for me right now?

[Aknaton]

You can work with chanting if you do not have much time.

[Seren]

Originally Posted by Aknaton

You can work with chanting if you do not have much time.

Good idea. I've been trying a bit of that but not gone too much into it yet. Thank you

[Uma]

If you write a list of times when you are not working or childminding you will find plenty of time to meditate. It may mean sacrificing time spent doing other things that just kill time - like browsing internet or watching films.

Meditating while doing reiki is a great idea.

The more you try to observe your thoughts during all the routine things you do during the day, the easier and longer your meditation times will be.

A tip from my Teacher, Sri Vasudeva

When you become involved in the world every day using the thinking mind, always thinking, the mind becomes habituated to thinking so that when you sit down and you need some peace, the mind continues to think.

A very powerful example is if you were to pull the electrical plug from a fan while it is spinning, the fan will continue to spin. It will not stop immediately because of the momentum. It carries a force and when you pull out the plug and the electricity is no longer there, the fan continues to spin and spin for a little while especially if it is a heavy fan. That is what happens to your mind. If you are thinking all day and you sit down for a few minutes of peace, the mind is not just going to stop. The mind is going to continue to think.

The secret is if you think during the day from a space of peace, not ever losing the awareness of that peace, that peace stays with you. And when you come to a quiet moment, that is the peace that fills your being.

I know it is tough to do in the busyness of every day life but this is the practice that's going to bring results - also doing check ins whenever you have a "coffee break" or at red light stops in traffic.

[Seren]

Originally Posted by Uma

If you write a list of times when you are not working or childminding you will find plenty of time to meditate. It may mean sacrificing time spent doing other things that just kill time - like browsing internet or watching films.

Meditating while doing reiki is a great idea.

The more you try to observe your thoughts during all the routine things you do during the day, the easier and longer your meditation times will be.

A tip from my Teacher, Sri Vasudeva


I know it is tough to do in the busyness of every day life but this is the practice that's going to bring results - also doing check ins whenever you have a "coffee break" or at red light stops in traffic.

Ah good advice there. I rarely have time to 'kill' but I do have times I sit down at work and sometimes it's a quiet day at work (I work more at home and in ' life' usually!) So I like the idea of keeping peace topped up so when I do get my moment I can get to my zone quicker.

I seem to keep naturally coming out every 10-15 mins which can get annoying when I sit down and plan to attempt longer. So it's not always because I don't have longer than 10 mins it's more that I have an internal timer to override. 30 mins seems an achievable goal if I can stay focused for this long in terms of my other life demands

[IndigoGeminiWolf]

Try listening to binaural beats which put you into a meditative state. There are videos on YouTube with this audio. For deep meditation you'll want Theta frequency. For light, you'll want Alpha. There should be some 30 minute binaural beats tracks on YouTube.

You will need stereo headphones while listening.

[Altair]

Originally Posted by Seren

Is this a normal struggle for a beginner?

I think so, yes..
When I started I would also 'wake' after 15-20 minutes, now I can stay in one position for over an hour. Doesn't seem to matter much though, because sometimes I'm only in meditation for 20 minutes yet it can feel much longer, similarly an hour can feel short or tedious if you have a lot of thoughts. If you can go beyond thoughts it doesn't really matter if it's short. It will still be great.

I agree with IndigoWolf that binaural beats can help or really just any sound that repeats the same tune over and over again. This can help you in losing your sense of time. If there's changes on the other hand you stay aware of time.

[Questions]

What im getting from your post is that you're "trying" to stay in the zone. Usually that means your at a certain state then your mind wanders of or other distractions happen and you try and go back to the state and stay there. That in itself is a way of fighting/resisting which will lead to frustration and make you give up faster. You can try making mental notes of whatever is happening and even in that there are subtle ways of doing it which will work against or for you.The main point is sitting with a certain type of attitude (no expectations/surrendered, idk how else to describe lol) and ones you do you will naturally return to "the state" and meditation will feel like fun and minutes become hours.

Uma has a good point aswell if you are new try and use a mantra throughout the day.

[Seren]

Thank you everyone for the suggestions so far

When the mind yells "I can't stand this", just sit some more. A timer helps.

JL