Meditation is fun and difficult because you have to make time for it. So the temptation is to meditate at the end of the day to recover from the day. You can do that there are several times in the day you can use to meditate, such as morning, noon and evening. But what is the best time to meditate?
In this article, I discuss the benefits of meditating during different times of the day.
Morning Meditation
Meditating in the morning is actually the best time. In fact, your morning routine sets the tone for the rest of the day. If you start out rushed, chances are you'll be behind schedule all day. Therefore, start your day with meditation for peace and focus, preferably before breakfast.
In addition, there are also benefits to your body's hormone balance when you meditate in the morning. This is because meditation affects melatonin levels in your blood.
Research conducted in 2004(1) with people who meditated regularly and those who had no experience with it showed that an hour of meditating in the morning significantly lowered your melatonin and serotonin levels compared to an hour of relaxation.
This is very important because melatonin is a hormone you use for sleep. People who are advanced in meditation often have higher levels of melatonin in the blood and it is precisely by lowering it in the morning that you ensure you wake up well.
On the other hand, lower serotonin levels are also calming, so you experience less stress in the morning.
Thereby, most studies on the effect of meditation, for example on anger, include a meditation exercise in the morning(2).
Of course, you don't have to meditate for an hour right away, but start with five minutes first and build it up to a length of time you are comfortable with.
Meditation in the afternoon
Meditation in the afternoon can be used to lower blood pressure. During the morning, stress can build up which increases blood pressure. If you then meditate during your lunch break or at another time in the afternoon, it can help lower your blood pressure again.
A study on the effects of meditation for the elderly found that afternoon meditation could help lower blood pressure and reduce anxiety. Unfortunately, afternoon meditation had no effect on any depressive symptoms(3).
Other stress-related substances, such as norepinephrine and the like, were also less present in the blood after meditation in the afternoon.
This study was conducted with 80 elderly people who suffered from high blood pressure, but not extremely high blood pressure.
Also, other research shows that moving meditation, such as yoga meditation, in the afternoon can help reduce stress and help you experience a better quality of life. Research conducted on schoolgirls aged between 15 and 17 found that doing this for half an hour in the afternoon five days a week for a month can already make you feel less stressed(4).
In addition, meditation helps relax tense muscles. After working a few hours in the morning, you may notice that your posture does not promote muscle suppleness. Even if you have physical work, meditation can help you relax for a while and give your strained muscles a rest.
You can actually use meditation throughout the day when you're stressed. So notice that it's all getting too much for you? Then get the rest you need by meditating for a few minutes. Then you can think clearly again and notice that tasks are much easier than in the stressed state. A clear mind makes everything easier.
Meditation in the evening
Meditation in the evening obviously helps reduce stress that has built up during the day. Because of this, meditation can promote falling asleep, but do so after your workday and not right before bedtime. By meditating immediately after your workday, you speed up the winding down process. This is the unwinding and transition to the sleep ritual, or evening ritual.
Applying meditation after the workday also prevents work from occupying your thoughts in your private time. The people in your personal circle will thank you for this.
Transcendental meditation can be used for this purpose, where you meditate sitting down for 10 to 20 minutes before bedtime, trying to clear your head as much as possible(5). You can do this by using a mantra and slowly making it softer or by focusing on your breathing.
Thereby, meditation in the evening has a different effect on melatonin than meditation in the morning. If you meditate in the evening, melatonin levels actually increase, while melatonin levels decrease when you meditate in the morning.
Meditation thereby helps to strengthen the cycle of melatonin, so you sleep deeply and are refreshed during the day.
Meditate several times a day
On the other hand, it can also help to meditate several times a day. Research conducted on students in Taiwan shows that this can help improve your cognitive skills. So meditating helps you think better and solve tasks faster.
In this study, students were required to perform 20 minutes of transcendental meditation twice a day for a year. That's a seated meditation where you start with a mantra, but allow yourself to become still to quiet your thoughts at the same time.
After six months and one year, differences were measured between the meditation group and the group that did not meditate but instead took a nap.
Transcendental meditation also helps against stress, this may explain why meditating several times a day helps keep your thinking capacity strong. With prolonged stress you can actually suffer from making wrong decisions because the prolonged stress causes your cognitive ability to deteriorate, your working memory, for example, becomes smaller. Regular relaxation through meditation can therefore be the solution.
Unfortunately, taking a nap had no effect; you really need to meditate.
Also, meditating twice a day has been shown to help children with ADHD reduce stress and anxiety. Meditation also helps them suffer less from the symptoms of ADHD, and it improves task performance in children with ADHD.
This study(6) was conducted with children between the ages of 11 and 14 who suffered from ADHD. At school, they were required to perform transcendental meditation twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon for three months. The students' parents were encouraged to have their children meditate at home on weekends and vacations as well.
The results of this study are very important because the medication used against ADHD can have many negative side effects. Previous studies have also shown that children benefit more from medication with psychological treatment, such as meditation, than when children with ADHD receive medication alone.
Meditating for 30 minutes in the morning and evening also helps lower blood pressure. Meditation is even recommended as a treatment if you suffer from prehypertension. In this case, your blood pressure is higher than 120/80 but lower than 140/100.
The best time to meditate
As you can see, meditating at different times sometimes has a different effect, but often the same effect. You can basically do meditation at any time of day for the same effects.
However, meditation can help you get refreshed after getting up and start the day not with stress, but with peace.
In any case, meditating at any time seems to be good against stress and high blood pressure. Especially if you do it several times a day.
If you find that nothing actually bothers you in the morning, afternoon meditation can help lower stress and improve quality of life, especially if done with moving meditation, such as yoga meditation.
Doing yoga meditation on your lunch break will recharge you to make the afternoon a success as well.
If you have trouble sleeping, meditation in the evening again can be a good solution to improve sleep.
Ultimately, you decide the best time to meditate, and you can use this article as a guide to find what problem you most want to address and what time of day suits it best.
Want to learn more about lifestyle and mindset changes to make your life more enjoyable? Then check out Hypnosis Institute Netherlands' training courses or attend a seminar.
Sources:
http://www.medscimonit.com/abstract/index/idArt/11604
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160289601000708
http://cie.asu.edu/ojs/index.php/cieatasu/article/view/1569
http://en.cnki.com.cn/Article_en/CJFDTotal-QKYX201318049.htm
