I’m looking for a bit of advice.
I’ve heard a lot about the importance of establishing a daily meditation practice - which I have been trying to do (20-30 mins per day). However, on the occasions when I have had the time to go for longer (eg 1 hour), I feel like my mind settles much more and I go deeper. I also feel that after a day off meditation, when I come back to it my mind feels more ready to go (a bit like going back to the gym after resting your body).
Because of this and other reasons to do with my daily schedule, I’m thinking about switching from 20 mins daily to doing 1 hour 3x per week (so roughly 1 hour every 2 days).
Do you think this is a good idea, as it will allow me to go deeper, and probably spend more overall weekly time meditating?
Or is it a bad idea to lose the daily habit ?
Good question, and it’s great you’re paying close attention to how different practice schedules actually affect you.
There’s definitely value in a daily habit, even if some days are shorter, because it helps keep meditation woven into everyday life. At the same time, meditation does seem to be dose-dependent, so the amount of time you spend practicing matters, and longer sits can give the mind more opportunity to settle and go deeper. So it makes sense that you’re noticing a difference with an hour.
You could always experiment with a middle ground: keep a very short daily practice on the “off” days, even just 5–10 minutes, and then do your longer one-hour sits three times a week. That way you preserve the daily rhythm while still increasing your overall practice time and giving yourself those deeper sessions.
Ultimately, though, I think the schedule you can genuinely sustain, and that keeps you interested in practicing, is more important than following a perfect formula. It may be worth trying your 3x/week approach for a few weeks and seeing what you notice. I’d be curious, too, so if you notice anything significant, please come back to this thread with an update!