Morning Meditation; 3 Easy Approaches to Help Start Your Day
- Griff
- Feb 08 2021
Table of Contents
How do you feel when you wake up first thing in the morning? Are you groggy, tired, nervous to start the day, and aching to reach over to hit that snooze button?
Having a morning routine can help you fall into the pattern of waking up feeling energised, peaceful, and focused for the day.
A daily meditation practice is one of the best things you can do for your mental health, and while it’s great to practise meditation whenever your can, it’s proven to be most effective at the beginning of the day.
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Best Morning Meditation Technique
There’s no one size fits all when it comes to meditation. However, seeing as we know when we want to meditate and that’s its purpose is to help us start the day with a clearer and calmer mind, we can make some informed decisions about how we should meditate for maximum results.
Mindfulness Meditation
Mindfulness meditation is a form of ‘focused awareness meditation. This means we choose a mental anchor, like the breath or the body and purposefully focus all our attention on that point whenever we find our mind have wandered.
This can be a particularly powerful practice to do in the morning because we are starting our day with the intention to overcome distraction. In our practice, these distractions are likely just to be our thoughts and feeling.
However, as our day progresses, this will feed into our ability to overcome the distraction of social media, work colleagues and whatever else might be getting in the way when trying to achieve our goals.
Gratitude Meditation
Gratitude meditation is a great way to combat the ‘wrong side of the bed’ syndrome by encouraging us to focus our minds on our blessings.
Instead of focusing on the day’s challenges, gratitude meditation encourages us to focus on what we’ve already achieved. By focusing on the positive experiences and people in our lives, we can stay more optimistic.
Its mental health benefits have been well documented for “improving both emotional regulation and self-motivation.”
Walking Meditation
It’s crucial to be realistic about the goal we set for ourselves and not be too hard on ourselves when things don’t work out. Some morning even a 5-Minute morning meditation, may be unachievable.
However, this doesn’t mean we need to completely give up on the idea. Mindful moments can be found anywhere and walking meditation, in particular, is an ideal way to find moments calm when you’re out of the house.
Walking meditation is a Buddhist meditation that involves focusing on the soles of your feet as you walk up and down a dedicated route.
Obviously, this wouldn’t be if your rushing to get the bus, but you could consider a quick detour through a peaceful park on your way to work and practice it there.
Is It Ok to Meditate in Bed?
There are plenty of meditation techniques that you can practice lying down. For example, Yoga Nidra is highly effective for relaxing before bed, and many sleep meditations are designed to be practised in bed as you fall asleep.
However, an effective morning meditation should promote alertness and focus, and I recommended practising sitting upright with a straight back. This can be either on a meditation cushion or a chair.
If, for whatever reason, you cannot meditate sitting up, then lying down is fine. Just make sure you get out of bed and meditate at a dedicated meditation spot, either with a yoga mat or a cushion under your head. This will help combat the urge to go back to sleep.
What Is the Best Time to Meditate?
The perfect time to meditate is the time you can meditate. Don’t set your intention to wake up at 4 am if you know you won’t be able to follow through with it.
The ideal time is when your morning meditation routine can become a regular practice, and that is something you’ll have to experiment with.
Begin by waking up 15 minutes earlier than usual with the intention to meditate for 10 minutes and build your meditation habit from there.
Some people like to combine meditation with yoga and practice a few moments of mindfulness while in savasana.
Benefits of Morning Meditation
- Meditation releases endorphins, so even if you have to wake up slightly earlier than usual, then these energy-boosting endorphins will make you feel more pumped to start the day. You may feel that you can skip your first cup of coffee or simply reduce the number of cups you drink.
- You’ll become more focused and be able to prioritise the important things of the day while filtering out the unnecessary.
- You’ll begin to feel empowered as you take control of your day and keep in check any unwanted feelings of negativity, as you’re the ‘boss’ of your day. Realise your ability to keep stress at bay, having woken up ‘correctly.’
Griff Williams
MindEasy founder & meditation teacher
Griff Williams is an accredited meditation teacher and founder of MindEasy. He spent 12 years working as a London firefighter before changing paths to pursue building MindEasy. He received his diploma in meditation teaching from The British School of Meditation.
