What is the best time to meditate? And when NOT to meditate?

Meditation is the best practice that you can do, to increase your concentration, the power of your brain and body! And people want that. But it is not simple, and certainly not achievable in a short period of time.

So, what if you want quicker results?

Is there a way to boost the process?

Meditation is a really difficult habit to cultivate, and if you think that by reading this article, you will know the secret to do meditation and will only meditate for 1 month instead of cultivating it as a habit, than my friend, it does not work like that!

But if you can take some time out of your busy schedules, then you will see results faster! It is a really simple trick. It is not actually a trick; it is the CORRECT way to meditate!

“Time”

The time at which you meditate directly influences your meditation and the benefits you get from meditation!

I am not only speaking about which time of the day! I am speaking about the mood that you are in, and also the situation and surrounding!

So, let’s get the secret out! “What is the best time to meditate?”

It is believed that, Brahmamuhuratha is the best time to meditate! But what is Brahmamuhuratha?

Brahmamuhuratha is the time between 3:30 to 5:30 am. Yes! Early morning for some people, bedtime for others! Though, this is the best time to meditate!

Why is meditating in the morning, the best?

Keeping aside all the mythology and beliefs, even the science says that meditating early in the morning is best. The reason is that after a good night’s sleep, your mind is calmer, and lacks the daunting thoughts of the work you need to complete for the day or the different depressing thoughts which cover you by the end of the day.

Your mind is really fresh and can perform to its fullest potential, and you need to utilize the full potential of your brain while meditation.

Consider an analogy of the body, you can exercise at any time of the day, but your body needs to be perfectly fit to get maximum results. If your muscles are sore and you try to lift more, you will not receive maximum goals and over that, you will probably injure yourself.

Same is with the mind, your mind needs to be working at its maximum potential to get maximum benefits of your meditation.

If your mind is full of unpleasant thoughts, you will never be able to concentrate!

“I can’t wake up!!!”

There are a few things that you can do to get rid of the sleepiness in the early morning! One of them is taking an ice bowl, or a bowl full of cold water, at dipping your head into it for as much as you can! This will boost your blood circulation by releasing adrenaline and will result into you being awake and alert!

You can also take a cold shower if you wish!

Are there any other time slots to Meditate?

So, there is nothing that you would do to wake up early? Well don’t worry, it’s not the end of the world!

If you are like me, and have a big issue of waking up early, then what time should you meditate?

The answer is simple, the time when you are completely relaxed, and your mind is in the state where it can provide you with complete attention and focus that you need to meditate.

The routine that I have been following is meditating in the afternoon. I usually take bath and then meditation at around 7 in the evening. This has worked for me because at this time, I have no further work due for the day, (by work I mean the study). I take a bath so that I feel fresh and the body doesn’t distract me from focusing!

Sometimes, when I have more workload, I do meditate at nights (though it is not advisable to do that.)

It also depends on the type of meditation you want to do! If you are into some kind of sleep meditation, that you should probably meditate before sleep or immediately after dinner.

The other important thing is the state of your mind!

This can be a debatable topic, as some say that you should meditate when you are sad or depressed to remove the sadness or depression from your body. But if you are into concentration meditation, that it is advisable not to meditate while stressed or excited about something enough that you can’t think of anything other than that!

The simple reason for that is you brain will not allow you to concentrate on your breathing, or other point of focus while you are meditating. You will have hundreds of different kinds of thoughts running through your mind.

This is similar to when your body is occupied with a task at hand. If you are typing on a keyboard, it is impossible to do bicep curls at the same time! Your mind, when it is so into something, can not focus on the meditation.

But as you will meditate more and more, your mind will achieve its emotional balance, which will help you to meditate even in these times. (This itself is the motive of meditation, right!)

So in a nutshell,

Meditating in the morning is the best for you, do it very early in the morning if you can! (Only few people have their night shifts, most people are simple sound asleep, or probably partying on a yacht!)

And if you can not wake up early and meditate early, you need to meditate when your mind is fresh and free of distracting thoughts.

Exceptions!

There are meditations, like the sleep meditation, which you do while sleeping. There are even meditations that you perform to get rid of the stress or anxiety, and there are also meditations targeted to small breaks between your work.

These types of meditations have a specific goal, and they need to be done at a specific time, and not necessarily in the early morning.

The breathing meditations, vipassana meditations, awareness meditations, and other meditation techniques that are not specific to solving a certain problem should be done early in the morning!

So put the alarm of 4, get up, take a cold shower, meditate for 20 minutes, and get yourself ready for an amazing day!

I would suggest you do vipassana meditation if you are planning to meditate early in the morning!

So, here is the answer to your question, “What is the best time to meditate? And what is not!”

I would suggest that you follow all the steps that I have told you already in this article while starting your meditation session. Keep consistent and make meditation a habit. Share this article amongst people who you think can benefit from it. Explore types of meditations, (start with there 5 types) and you will learn overtime, what meditation has to teach you, and what nobody but only meditation can teach you!

-A Mere Meditator