Why do some people meditate for such a long time?

Another frequent question is: 
„Hi Thomas- I often notice that people use this app ...  (ref: Insighttimer.com , the author) ... to meditate for hours at a time... would you perhaps be able to explain to me why they do this?”

Trying an answer: 
:) "Some people may think: „A lot helps a lot!“ 
Others just fall asleep while meditating. 
When they wake up, the timer asks them if they want the overtime to be counted, and they do. 
There are maybe some people who don’t have anything else to do, others may replace one addiction with another. 
In some special life situations I myself keep meditating for longer sequences than normal
(for healing, for solving a problem, supporting others, to relax and recover, ... or just listen to god) 
Some people might try out how long they can bare it to live without food, drinking or metabolism at all (save money , they don’t have or don’t want to spend? While others are spending all their money on luxury retreats in luxury spas or hotels, meditating for hours not even taking breaks for having delicious meals.) Some may just be trying to prove being an advanced yogi? 
Others may want to wait for the experience of enlightenment. I’ve met some who meditate to prepare for their transition to their next incarnation. 
So You might guess, there are as many reasons as there are persons meditating. Most of the time, when persons are meditating with a certain goal this is not working nor is it leading into meditation. 
This is why I keep saying to my students: 
„Don‘t be a person!“ and „Meditate to just meditate and nothing else but meditate.“ 
There is a trick to help You keeping Meditation - and Your self-definitions (this summary of Your roles as a person, Your goals and wishes) apart from each other: 
David Simon once taught me: 

Before You even start Your meditation, ask Yourself the 3 (or 4 soul-questions): 
Who am I ? 
What do I really want? 
What is my Dharma? 
(What am I grateful for?) 
In this order these questions are leading You to a good starting position. 
Alow Yourself about 1 minute with each question. Then breathe in - and out - and let go of all the questions and answers. After this preparation just follow Your Primordial Sound Mantra, always returning to it, once You realize to be loosing track. It’s as easy as that. 
When starting to repeat Your Mantra set Your inner clock to a certain time. Maybe use the Insighttimer to lead You back out of Your meditation. Once the time is done, stay some more minutes just sitting“ 
Being all one, in the end it’s not at all important how long the members of the Insighttimer community are meditating, as long as they are making it a daily habit, what would You think? 

Namasté 
Thomas“

PS: I am recommending the Insighttimer App for Smartphone-Users. Join in for free. 
Visit me there, join in to one of my groups, find answers to all Your questions on meditation and build up a daily habit of contemplation choosing the way You like. 
There You can meet Millions of meditators of all around the world, meditate together with thousands of Your meditating friends at any time, meet and ask over 3000 of the worlds best and approved meditation teachers, let Yourself accompany and support at Your daily practice, choosing from over 8,345 free guided meditations, music tracks, talks and courses. Have fun meditating. 
Meet You in the Gap ;)

Most frequently asked Question

Hello Everyone, having been asked frequently: "What is a primordial sound mantra?" I decided to give this short and simple explanation: 

A Primordial Sound Mantra (PSM) is a Mantra which is based on the sound, that could be heard by Yourself in the moment of Your birth at the place of Your birth. 

The universe and the earth together are producing sounds all the time, these sounds are changing around every 6 hours in a steady movement (just like the tides of the oceans do). 
Within a cycle of 28 days and nights there are about 117 sounds that can be well distinguished (and a few more). 
The change of sounds is pretty much happening parallel to the movement of the oceans with high water and low water following the gravity of the moon. 
In the moment of birth, at this step from non-manifest into manifest for You as a little human child there are still no audio filters set up by Your brain. 
The selection of individually relevant sounds is following the process of learning Your mother language within the first years of live. 
Before that we've all been able to receive the primordial sound frequencies in a certain range the construction of our ears is suitable for. Later on we select the sounds which are helpful to communicate (as well by music) and survive in nature and tend to forget about the others. 
The old Rishis, wise people from ancient India, took notes of the changing sounds in reference to the movement of the moon already some thousand years ago. These data could be found and revealed in the nadi (palm leaves) libraries of some old monasteries in India and this secret knowledge is now available as a reference system. In combination with some astronomical knowledge it is therefore now possible to recalculate which sound happened in the area at the above mentioned moment of transfer based on ones birth data (place, day, time). 
This sound then can be used as a mighty auditive memory anchor to travel back to this individual moment of transition, which is very supportive to find Your way into a state of deep meditation. 
The good news is: Every certified choprateacher in Your vicinity should be able to reveal Your sound birth sound mantra if You hand him (her) over Your birth data. You can find them on www.choprateachers.com. Contact the one in Your neighborhood and apply for the the beautiful live mantra ceremony, which really is a once in a lifetime event. Yes there are online solutions around for moments of urgency or if traveling is limited. Yes I have been giving Mantras on Skype or FaceTime myself before. If it's not too much of a hustle prefer the personal live encounter with Your teacher nearby. 

Namasté  Thomas

Meditation Tips On Taming The Monkey Mind (Having Too Many Thoughts) Mindah-Lee Kumar (The Enthusiastic Buddhist)

Thanks for sharing to Günther Bernhard

Mindah-Lee Kumar explains on her  Youtube Vlog:

"The most common problem for beginner meditators is having a monkey mind, where we have too many distracting thoughts which prevent us from concentrating on our meditation object. In this video I provide you with eight meditation tips for combating our busy mind so we can stay focused on the object of meditation. These techniques explain how to gently and effectively relate to these thoughts so we can achieve a quieter mind and make greater progress in our meditation."

These are very good advices You can use for all sorts of Meditation. Enjoy and share!

Love and Peace to all of us!

Namasté

Easy Start Meditation by Tris Thorp

Today I'll be proudly featuring Trista Thorp:

Tris has just sent me an e-mail describing how Meditation literally saved her life, that she studied at the Chopra Center to become a vedic master and that she's now sharing this timeless knowledge to help others. We got acquainted some years ago, when I met her as a speaker and  teacher at the "Journey into Healing" Conference with David Simon in Oxford. She was giving some of the meditation sessions and lectures. I was impressed, how easily this young lady took over the conference moderation and by the way how she mediated the knowledge. I have then met her again at the Chopra Center when I prepared for my own exams. By now she is probably one of the best meditation teachers You could find. 

She sent me an ingeniously simplified first step meditation instruction for beginners to share:

"To practice the So-Hum meditation, all you need to do is:

1. Find a comfortable place to sit upright in a chair or on the ground.
2. Bring your awareness to your breathing, allowing yourself to settle into a relaxed state.
3. As you follow your breath in, silently think “So”
4. As you follow your breath out, silently think “Hum”
5. Whenever you notice your attention has drifted to thoughts in your mind (and you will), simply return to the silent repetition of the mantra So-Hum
6. At any point when you become distracted by noises in the environment, simply treat it as you would any other thought, without judgment, just return to your breath and the mantra So-Hum"

Tris Thorp states: "Meditation is a practice that saved my life, literally."

I  hope You enjoy this simple to learn practice and that You can share it Yourself, when friends - who may ask You what to do -  want to join in.

In any case of questions or doubt feel free to call either one of us to find answers

Namasté

Thomas

Peace Meditation

It's about time for a Peace Meditation: 



Join in to the meditation every Sunday.

at 07:00 CEST and meditate together until 07:30 CEST , 
We'll repeat this every Sunday and I'm happy for everyone taking part in it, 
no matter where on this planet nor
by which method. Let there be Peace in the world.

The picture is by Christine Wittler. Thank You Christine!

What's happening in Your body during Meditation

Thank You, Troy Dunham, for sharing this special Infographic published on Huffington Post. This makes it all very clear :))

"Because fear, as I have observed, is a dreadful thing."

This morning, the day after Halloween 2012, perhaps the scariest - and for millions of us - the #Sandiest Halloween of mankind so far, I came across an interview that was done already in the 70s of the last century. 
The subject was: Ffff....E... hehehe...A...aa...R...rrrr!

Halloween 2012, scariest so far ...

At first I thought: Wow, that's a long interview, an hour (!), who knows if I can take that, but - hey presto - the time was over. Perhaps one of the shortest hours I've ever experienced. 

The subject however is - in my opinion - as relevant as ever. 
Maybe it has evolved considerably already for the one or the other of us. Got any fear? Looking forward to Your answers, first of all, let's plunge into it ...

20th February 1974 6th Conversation with Dr. Allan W. Anderson 

'Fear'

Dr. Allan W. Anderson: Mr Krishnamurti, if I recall correctly I think, we had begun to talk together last time, just at the point where the question of fear arose, and I think we both, perhaps, could explore that together a little.

Jiddu Krishnamurti: Yes, I think so. I wonder how we can approach this problem, because it is a common problem in the world. Everyone, or I can say, almost everyone is frightened of something. It may be the fear of death, fear of loneliness, fear of not being loved, fear of not becoming famous, successful and also fear of not having physical security, and fear of not having psychological security. There are so many multiple forms of fears. Now to go into this problem really very deeply, can the mind, which includes the brain, really fundamentally be free of fear? Because fear, as I have observed, is a dreadful thing.

So what is Your fear?  And if You got any, would You like to share some of it, just to let go of it? 
(Maybe start just with the ones in Your consciousness ...)
Something that works for me: Fear is very similar to suffering. Once You share it, You got only half of it left. Does that work for You as well? Or would a list of fears multiply? 
This might be a good chance to let some of it go and maybe reflect on it from a distance? 
#Fear is as well tagged on Twitter.  What do You feel and what are Your impressions if You follow the track? Is it relief or a drag?
I am interested in how You see the "dreadful thing" and am looking forward to your comments down below :)