Serendip--glad to hear it works for you.
And, interesting about increasing meditation time. I have noticed that a bit, though my sessions aren't particularly long at this point. To put in economic terms, it seems like there are diminishing marginal returns to increased time meditating and, at some point, the returns turn negative. Or maybe, I just don't understand meditating yet. :)
I think for me, it's more that longer time unmasks my inner chatterer!
If I stick with short periods, I notice my distraction but it doesn't seem too bothersome..if I am trying to do 20-30 minutes, all of a sudden I realize I am TOTALLY lost in thought, planning, re-playing, ruminating, etc :)
and if I try longer..then I get frustrated.
Another lesson.
Little by little. Learning a lot.
Learning that I am not always so gentle with myself. This is a goal.
I previously had signed up for a Vipassana retreat (10 days of silent meditation)..so I am reminding myself that this is much less hard-core than that would have been.