A couple of days ago we gave a response to the question “What are one of the first things to do when one wants to begin a meditation practice?” and we ended the blog post with the question “How long should I sit for?”

Here’s our response to that question.

Well if you’ve never meditated before then I suggest just one minute. It’s a good place to start and it is an achievable goal for most people.

What should I do in this one minute?

When you are seated, firstly, tell yourself that you have no where to go and nothing to do for the next one minute. And that all you have to do is be aware of yourself sitting there having met your appointment. Congratulate yourself for doing this. You have now begun the process of training your body to be still by forcing it to be in one place for a period time. You are exercising your will over your senses, over your body and mind. In order to go within in meditation it is essential that our body and mind be still.

For the first week of doing this just be mindful of your breathing. Observe your every in and out breath during that one minute.

In our next pot we’ll look a little deeper into the breathing. For now, you know what to do.

Here’s a link to previous FAQs on meditation.