Keeping track of time during meditation and yoga?

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone. I am new to this group and recently discovered KY. It

is so wonderful to see that there exists this group of people from

around the world who are willing to share their experiences and help

beginners like me.

 

I want to start doing early morning meditations and yoga exercises. I

have a couple questions:

 

1. How do you keep track of time? All exercises and meditations have

durations listed (such as do this for 1 minute, then that for 11

minutes...). How do I know when the time is up? Especially since my

eyes are usually closed? It would seem odd to use a timer since I

would have to stop between exercises to set it for the next segment

and then, when it goes off, it will emit a loud beep that seems

counter to the relaxed state I am in.

 

2. How many hours of sleep do regular meditators typically find they

need and when do they go to bed and rise? I am presently an

over-sleeper (~9 hours per night and I constantly struggle with

getting up and motivated in the morning). On days that I do get up

early, I feel much happier and would like to develop early morning

mediation as a habit (perhaps rising at 5am). However, I do not know

when I should go to bed so that I am well-rested and energetic

throughout the day and not sleep deprived. If I maintain 9 hours, I

would have to be in bed by 8 pm and that is not practical for my

lifestyle.

 

I would be interested to hear what the daily schedules are (from

waking to sleeping) of those of you who are both new and experienced

in this practice.

 

Thank you in advance for your advice and kindness.

 

Sat naam,

Michelle