I meditate mostly at bedtime and I listen to harp music. It’s so very beautiful! But if I really need to I take a ten minute to fifteen minute meditation. It’s different for everyone.

Hi Lisa! We were to encouraged to meditate for 20 minutes first thing in the morning and 20 min. before dinner. Certainly it is not easy to put intrusive thoughts from your mind, but the teachers say that is not the immediate goal. Rather, you allow thoughts to come, then gently return to your mantra. This approach is to help cleanse the years of anxieties bit by bit. Patience is necessary. But when you sit, breathe calmly, and quiet your mind, the brain is eventually retrained and conditioned to behave that way.
At Mayo in Rochester there are beautiful meditation rooms. Their physicians encourage their use. If Mayo thinks there’s benefit to meditation, that’s good enough for me.:)
Thank you for everyone who responded to my post. Mayo Clinic Connect is truly a gift.

@annedodrill44, It is difficult to imagine my life today without daily mindful meditation practice. It always amazes me that we want medication to work for hours. What about meditation? How long are the good effects supposed to last? A day? A week? A few hours?

Remembering that meditation gives our entire brain a rest, we can understand why it is better to meditate daily. While it is best to meditate at the same time and in the same place, finding a peaceful corner somewhere can work. And it is best when you have trained your brain to rest "on-demand" and you can meditate for a few minutes....anytime and anywhere.

Then we can call on our meditation practice to counteract our anxiety. Anxiety leads to pain which leads to more anxiety, etc. etc. etc. Mindful meditation will help us control the anxiety......and in doing so, help with the pain.

I hope you will make time to meditate. Please be free of suffering today. Chris