If you have never meditated before there are a few points to note:

To start with how long you meditate is not really important What is important is that you practice regularly your meditation.

So instead of meditating for a long period for a few days and then taking a break for a few weeks what you really want to do is practice meditation even for 5 – 10 minutes a time but meditating on a daily basis

Simple is best. There are so many ways of meditationpick one that you like. When you start of simple is always to be preferred.

The less you need to remember the smoother you can ease into your meditation practice.

When you are practicing meditation, starting a practicetry to be consistent with the time of day that you do your meditation practice, so for example if early morning is good for you try to meditate at the same moment in time every day

If you happen to have a life where you work in shifts or you run around different times and different days then meditate in the morning or meditate in the evening whenever you are able to. But often its more simple to turn a practice into a routine if you can maintain consistency in all the areas of the practice.

When you are start your practice try not to do so on a full stomach, if you are going to eat before practice have a small meal probably about half an hour before practice.

If you've had a main meal wait a minimum of two hours. If you don't wait at least two hours after a big meal the blood will be in the digestive system and you will feel tired and fall asleep.

When you are practicing meditation you should be very relaxed but very conscious and you are not going to be able to do that when your wandering away to sleep.

When you are sitting it is important that the spine be straight but the body be comfortable.

In most cases meditation practice is done on the floor but if you have physical disabilities or extreme amounts of stiffness in your hips or lower back maybe you better start by sitting on a chair and that is entirelyok but if you are sitting on a chair try not to be sitting on one of those really big comfortable chairs.

The reason is your back will bow into it, you will want to sit on a chair that is very erect at a straight back so the spine remains up right.