It’s no secret that meditation is hailed as a miracle solution to many of life’s problems—it can seem that nowadays, people are singing the praises of meditation on every platform out there. Many choose to start their day with meditation in the morning, claiming that it can help improve your daily and long-term life for many reasons. But can we really trust all the hype?
Morning meditation can provide you with an immense number of mental and physical health benefits, such as improved concentration, lessened anxiety, the ability to better handle daily tasks, reduced blood pressure, and more. These benefits will help you better prepare for your day.
However, if you’re interested in adding morning meditation to your daily routine, there are a few things you should know so that you can maximize the positive effects it has and work to become the best version of yourself. Let’s take a look at what else you need to know about morning meditation below.
Article Contents
Should You Meditate as Soon as You Wake Up?
Many people do agree that morning is the optimal time to meditate. As many of us live with hectic schedules, practicing meditation in the morning can be a great way to ground yourself to prepare for everything you’ve got ahead in the day. You’ll have trained your awareness and focus, which can translate into productivity both at work and at home.
Many experts recommend that you meditate first thing in the morning, right after you wake up. However, it is important to meditate at the time that works best for you. You want to make sure that whatever time you choose, you’re capable of sustaining that pattern for a long time.
Now that we know when the best time of the day to meditate is, we need to know how to meditate.
How Do You Meditate First Thing in the Morning?
You may think you need a fancy app, book, or video to learn the best way to meditate correctly, but that’s not the case at all! While these tools and resources may be helpful to some, all you need to meditate is—well—yourself!
Meditation is all about being present with the moment, which means not focusing on external or environmental distractions. So once you wake up, go ahead and brush your teeth, start your coffee—do whatever you need to do beforehand so that you can focus your energy on your practice. Then:
- Find a comfortable seated position. You’ll be needing to spend a prolonged period of time like this, so find one your body agrees with.
- Clear your mind of any thoughts that are distracting you or bothering you. You can even visualize them floating, melting, or flying away if this helps you get rid of them better.
- Focus on your breathing. Make sure that your breath is the only thing you’re focusing on. Notice how it feels physically in your body, moving in and out of your lungs.
- Keep a watchful eye on your focus, and be compassionate to yourself if your mind wanders. Especially in the beginning of starting a regular meditation habit, it can be very difficult to keep your mind from wandering to pretty much anything other than your breath. Be understanding of yourself and bring it back to your breath.
- When your practice concludes, close it out with affirmations, a mantra, or an intention. You can choose whatever you feel you need most at the time. Whatever you choose can help you manage emotions, connect with your spiritual self, or provide a focused goal for the day. You decide.
(Source: Mindful)
As you can see, you don’t need anything fancy or expensive to meditate—just you and your mind. You can play around with different lengths of time, conclusions, and seated positions (you can even lie down if you want) to find which method is most effective and sustainable for you.
And if you feel like you want some guided assistance, you can download meditation apps like the Calm App to listen to guided meditations that are catered to what you feel like you need the most help with that day.
Most of all, be kind to yourself. It takes time and practice to learn how to meditate in the best way that works for you, so don’t give up. You might have a period at the beginning in which you really struggle with focusing—that’s normal. Just like anything else, practice will help you improve.
How Long Should You Meditate in the Morning?
Many people believe that meditation needs to last for half an hour to even hours to feel the effects—kind of like a yoga session. However, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
With meditation, unlike many other forms of self-care, you only have to meditate for as long as you can dedicate to it. However, researchers at the University of Canada at Waterloo discovered that just 10 minutes of focused meditation is enough to provide benefits in focus and concentration to last you throughout the day.
If you’re comfortable with doing more than this and notice it’s helpful for you, you should do it for the amount of time that feels right.
Tips for Meditating in the Morning
If you’re looking to add even more to your daily meditation practice, here are some tips you can play around with to get the best experience and reap the most benefits:
- Get everything you need to do in the morning out of the way so that you can focus entirely on your practice. Meditating the second that you sit up in bed after a long night’s rest isn’t for everyone.
- Create a space for yourself to meditate in. It’s important to keep that space clean and organized so that your mind can be at ease. Not only that, but decorating it with items that bring you joy and peace can help you get into a good mindset for meditating.
- Try not to use your phone or do work for a few minutes before you start to meditate. It can be harder to calm your mind after these kinds of stimulating activities.
- Stay as physically still as possible. Fidgeting and twitching can cause your mind to wander, so do your best to stick to the position you’ve chosen throughout the practice. If the position causes you to move, switch positions—you can even lie down.
(Source: Insider)
You should also remember to stay diligent and focused with your practice. Staying diligent will allow you to be consistent with meditation sessions over an extended period, while remaining focused will keep you dedicated to the practice. In other words, if you choose to meditate, do your best to make it a part of your routine and ensure that you’re minimally distracted to reap all the benefits.
Speaking of the benefits meditation is used for, let’s get into the exact benefits that you can look forward to experiencing when you decide to add morning meditation to your daily schedule.
3 Great Overall Health Benefits of Meditating in the Morning
Morning meditation is one of the easiest ways to start your day and improve your short and long-term mental and physical health. But what exactly are the most notable health benefits of morning meditation?
A More Positive and Collected Perspective to Start the Day
More than anything, most morning meditators choose to stay dedicated to the practice because of the noticeable effect on their attitude and perspective for the remainder of the day.
Morning meditation increases the endorphins in your brain and stimulates the parts of your brain that are in charge of managing positive experiences. You know that feeling of satisfaction and positivity that you get after a vigorous workout? Morning meditation’s endorphins operate in the same way.
This causes many meditators to report that they feel a strong sense of motivation and confidence after their morning meditation sessions that carries on throughout the remainder of the day.
Not only that, but many people report feeling a “kinder” approach to others and life. As mindfulness meditation encourages compassion and self-awareness, this translates into treating both yourself and others with more respect.
Improved Mental Health
The focus on controlled breathing and mindfulness that accompany meditation has been proven to reduce stress, and this benefit can present itself in a variety of different ways that affect different areas of your life.
If you’re someone who suffers from a mental illness, or even non-clinical concerns like poor self-image, excess stress, or a negative outlook on the world and others, morning meditation can provide you with powerful relief.
Not only that, but morning meditation has been proven by science to help alleviate symptoms of the following mental health conditions:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- OCD
- Schizophrenia
- PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder)
(Source: Mental Health America)
So, if you’re a person who struggles with excessive rumination or any of the aforementioned mental illnesses, morning meditation is more than worth trying to help heal your emotional self and better process your feelings without the added barrier of stress.
Decreased Blood Pressure and a Healthier Heart
Be honest. You thought the benefits of meditation were limited to the purely emotional, didn’t you? Well, think again!
Meditating in the morning is a fantastic way to control your blood pressure and reduce physical strain on your heart. This means that by starting your day with meditation, you’re helping to literally reduce your risk of heart attack and stroke.
According to a study, this is because meditation seems to “relax the nerve signals that coordinate heart function, blood vessel tension, and the ‘fight-or-flight’ responses that increase alertness in stressful situations.” This effect was even more profound in people who already struggled with higher blood pressure.
Therefore, if you’re concerned about managing your blood pressure or just wish to adopt a brand new preventative health measure, morning meditation may be a solution for you.
If all of these benefits sound like they are something you might want to help with, you should definitely look into becoming a certified meditation instructor online.
Conclusion
Morning meditation has an immense number of benefits to offer those who choose to adopt it, and you don’t have to dedicate any more than 10 minutes daily to start to feel the effects of this powerful practice.
Morning meditation can help you start your day with a positive perspective, improve symptoms of excess stress and mental illness, and even contribute to a healthy heart by lowering blood pressure and reducing heart strain. But remember: to continue reaping these benefits over time, you’ll want to stay focused, diligent, and maintain self-compassion. Good luck!
