Consistency vs. Duration

Hi, welcome back to your Daily Mindfulness. In today's session, we're going to talk about the difference between consistency versus duration in a meditation practice. So when it comes to our meditation practice, I do believe consistency is more important than duration. Over time, the commitment to showing up each day-ish, to nourish your mind and heart, even if for a short period of time, will, in my opinion, be a more substantial investment than less frequent, longer bouts of meditation. When it comes to retreats, that's a slightly different story.

So if we were comparing the benefits of daily practice of, let's say 20 minutes a day versus a once per year, four week retreat. I might end up going with the retreat, just due to the depth of concentration you could access and the experiences you might have there and subsequent insights. But it's nuanced territory with no clear answer. I think for those of us who are simply looking to integrate meditation into our lives, it's, it tends to be best to focus on shorter duration that facilitates consistency rather than a longer duration that hinders consistency. So as you know, with our meditations, we have different lengths, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes.

And notice if trying to do a longer meditation actually prevents your consistency. If you're going for the 30 minute meditations, but you ended up falling short because you, you talk yourself out of it on some days, because you think, well, I don't have 30 minutes. Well, then I would encourage to look at what's it like to do 20 minutes or 10 minutes, or even just get really consistent doing five minutes. Over time, I think the consistency of the practice will go a much longer way for your wellbeing and your development of, of mindfulness in your life. So just something to consider on your mindfulness journey.

Thank you for your practice and let's settle in for today's meditation.