How To Meditate In The Morning: Complete Guide For Beginners
A common suggestion from those who regularly practice meditation or instruct others in it is to do it first thing in the morning. This doesn’t require much time; typically 20 minutes is sufficient to center yourself and get your day going. But many people wonder how to meditate in the morning when they aren’t morning people or their mornings are already so busy. As long as you incorporate it into your routine, making a habit of it is actually quite simple. All you need to do is want to do it.
Why then should you practice morning meditation? We already know that meditation is healthy and beneficial for both the body and the mind. But there are also particular advantages to meditation that depend on the time of day. A morning meditation routine has numerous benefits.
Table of Contents
How to Meditate in the Morning
Make Sure You’re Relaxed and Comfortable
You can meditate without changing into clothes! You might even feel more comfortable in your pajamas. Wearing loose clothing will enable your body to relax without being in any way restricted.
For meditation, I advise getting out of bed. Even in the colder months, it may be alluring to stay in the comfort of your bed, but doing so will make it easier for you to doze off again. A morning meditation should awaken you feeling renewed and energized.
If you start to get cold, either turn up the heat or use a meditation shawl or blanket to stay warm while staying away from your bed.
Create a Calm Space to Meditate
The ability to personalize your meditation space with candles, incense, flowers, or anything else that makes you feel at ease is beneficial. If you don’t have enough room to set up a dedicated area, try to find a location where you won’t be bothered by partners, pets, or children. Make sure it’s stress-free and free of clutter (don’t meditate next to a mountain of unwashed laundry that needs folding!).
A meditation chair or cushion can be used if you need back support while sitting as close to the ground as you can, preferably on the floor. It sometimes helps to sit on the floor and lean against a wall. If you are unable to sit on the floor, a regular chair will do. Just make sure you’re relaxed and sitting upright with a tall spine.
Set an alarm on your phone or a timer if you need to stop meditating at a specific time (such as to get ready for work). The suggested amount of time is twenty minutes, though 10 or 5 minutes are acceptable if you’re really pressed for time. It’s crucial to set aside time each day for meditation.
Focus on Your Breath
The main component of your meditation routine is meditation. Just observe your breath as it enters and exits your body as you inhale and exhale naturally.
Let your mind wander as you think. Don’t condemn them; just acknowledge them. Then let them drift off. Refocus your attention on your breath and the present moment at all times.
Repeat the Next Day
The most crucial component is this. You should develop the daily habit of pausing and checking in every morning to truly experience the benefits of meditation. You must continue working every day once you’ve started. The decision to get out of bed must be made regardless of how sleepy or grouchy you are. When you enter your meditation space and begin to breathe, you will feel better right away. When your daily meditation session is over, you’ll wonder why it was so difficult to get out of bed in the first place.
Benefits of Guided Morning Meditations
Reduce Feelings of Anxiety and Depression
According to research, mindfulness can be improved through meditation, and mindfulness helps lessen depressive and anxious thoughts and feelings.
You can get to know your higher self, or soul, by practicing meditation every day. It enables you to step back and calmly sit above your thoughts. You’ll discover it’s simpler to consider and justify any limiting beliefs through conscious awareness.
Lowers Your Heart Rate and Blood Pressure
The sympathetic nervous system, also known as the fight-or-flight response, which goes into overdrive when we are stressed, have been shown to have negative effects that meditation has been shown to lessen. Your blood vessels will expand when you’re relaxed, which will lower your heart rate and blood pressure.
Help Create and Influence Your Desired Future
You will frequently need to visualize in a positive way during guided meditation. You will influence and draw more favorable future events into your life as you improve your capacity for visualization and the positive emotions that come with it.
Improve Sleep Quality
To induce a profound state of relaxation, meditation aims to tap into your deeper brain waves. You’ll find it simpler to get to sleep and stay asleep the more relaxed and uncluttered your mind is.
How is this relevant to morning meditation? You’ll need less sleep to wake up feeling rejuvenated as your practice becomes more regular. Living comfortably will enable your body to use less energy and function more effectively.
More Happiness
Daily mindfulness meditation enables us to live in the present and focus on the positive rather than overthinking all the potential negative outcomes.
Foster Spiritual Growth
Whether you identify as religious or not, connecting to the life-creating source is the main goal of spirituality. Regular guided meditation sessions help you establish a stronger bond with your spiritual self and ground yourself in the people and surroundings.
Tips for Starting a Morning Meditation Practice
Find Your Method
For me, keeping my breathing as my only point of concentration is very effective. It wasn’t always simple, of course. It felt like I was trying to empty LaGuardia Airport when I first tried to empty my mind. The challenge is to avoid becoming bogged down by our thoughts, which are present in all of us. But I’m only human, and you will experience getting caught as well. So, when I became aware that my thoughts were straying, I simply turned my attention back to my breathing.
Find Your Spot
You can choose where to sit. It might appear like mine, like a corner of the sofa, or like a folded blanket next to the wall. You could also simply sleep it off! It all comes down to what feels right for you. You and your derriere are all that is required for the environment to be big enough.
Enhance Your Spot
There are many different sizes and shapes available to order online if you have the desire for a proper meditation cushion. Other things that can be pleasing are candles, pictures, things, or a plant.
Sit Up Straight
Even though you can meditate while lying down, it’s more comfortable if your spine is straight. Furthermore, if you do it frequently, sitting in your designated spot will encourage you to do it.
Meditate First Thing
Try to make meditation the very first thing you do, no matter your technique or location. I enjoy doing it while my mind is still open and flexible before I have checked Facebook or listened to the news. Well done if you can do it every morning at the same time! After sitting, start by closing your eyes.
Final Thought
As you begin your daily meditation journey, try out the guided morning meditation ideas and pay attention to the advice. Just keep moving forward whenever you’re discouraged. The benefits of daily meditation only develop with practice, just like with physical exercise. Take advantage of your time alone, and you’ll soon be glad you did.