Best time(s) to meditate?

[Against The Tide]

Hey guys and gals. Pollage here - when do you like to meditate?

I am an evening man myself.

[aluokaloo]

I personally prefer the afternoon, but for me with a kid around I had to pick anytime because I have to grab a hold of anytime it's nice and quiet.

[Solya]

Evening here as well. I am more awake around that time and generally more tranquil. :smile:

[RavensEye]

I enjoy it whenever I get the chance to do it. But if it is a planned thing then I do it at night or right when the sun rises. When I am doing it with my kids we try in the morning.

[Chaos Hawk]

For me there is no best time. It's when I get the chance or I feel the need.

[Enlightenment1]

Mine is the evening. I meditate every night in bed before I go to sleep. Same with practicing AP.

In the mornings I'm too lively and awake to meditate, and afternoons I just can't get into it. Evenings are best for me as I'm relaxed then and can concentrate well.

[HeartofMoon]

I like afternoons best because it helps me get centered and focused before an evening full of rehearsals. However, it's pretty rare I actually have time to do it in the afternoons, so I usually meditate at night because that's when I have the time.

[thought_on_a_wind]

Most anytime...

[novimarra]

Evening! That's when I have nothing else to do that will distract me. Most other times of day, I'm in a hurry to get somewhere or finish something (or at work!), so it's not convenient or conducive to focusing.

All in all it's really hard for me to meditate when family members could interrupt, or the phone could ring... etc. Wish I had my own little meditation tent or something. :weirdsmil

[Lunar Raven]

Evenings and night here. It's when it's actually quiet around here.

[Shanti]

Whenever my spirit moves me. :)

[Nature's Kiss]

Evening. Unfortunately, the evening starts at about 10pm after my child is to sleep & school work & what not is done, so I'm so tired that I can't "concentrate" enough on meditating. Sounds ridiculous when saying it....:T

[Astara Seague]

Anytime you need it is a great answer but I find evenings are best for me

[RainInanna]

Best time? After yoga workout.

Whether that's in the evening or the morning when the baby naps doesn't matter. Just helps to do the yoga first, then I'm in the perfect mood for meditating.

[CzechWoods]

i meditate all the time. if i am awake that is, at the given time. my personal mornings may start at 3pm, my evening end at 7 am, but meditation works all the time

[Beemer_Man_Wong]

The best time to meditate is not so much a time of day but a state of mind. When strong emotions or other mental formations are causing you difficulty, that is the best time to meditate. If you meditate only when you are calm and well-being, then you are not addressing fully your suffering. When these strong formations assault you, return immediatly to your breathing. Calm the body by being mindful of your breathing, and this may take time if the formation is particularly strong, like anger. Allow the body to relax, care for your mental formation, look deeply, recognise the source of the formation, the cause, and when you understand it, when you have that insight, it will be much easier to care for that formation and let it go. When you are "in the whirlwind", this is the most beneficial time to meditate.

Otherwise, you should also have a regular daily meditation practice. The best time for /that/ will be different from person to person.

[Xander67]

Whatever time you pick it should be a time when you are least likely to be disturbed.. and you should try to make that time your regular meditation time.. this will help you get the most out of it..

I say least likely to be disturbed because sometimes it is not always easy to shut the world out at 3 in the afternoon... lol even if you shut your ringer off on your phone there is still a part of you that wonders if you had any calls..

[watersprite]

If I am out during the day, I have to come in and take a little rest after I take my blood sugar and insulin or eat. Usually eat. Then, because of the neuropathies, I have to relax, wash my feet and put them up on pillows for an hour. It's a FABULOUS time to meditate. I put on my relaxing CD that lasts an hour, meditate my day and take a short nap. It has really helped the blood sugars stay right.

[Beemer_Man_Wong]

Whatever time you pick it should be a time when you are least likely to be disturbed.. and you should try to make that time your regular meditation time.. this will help you get the most out of it..

I say least likely to be disturbed because sometimes it is not always easy to shut the world out at 3 in the afternoon... lol even if you shut your ringer off on your phone there is still a part of you that wonders if you had any calls..



I wonder, is meditation really shutting the world out? Because in my experience it is just the opposite, becoming aware of the world, your body, your thoughts and feelings, being mindful of everything. When the Buddha spoke of cessation, he meant the cessation of suffering, but not the sessation of the five aggregates of form feeling perceptions, mental formations and conciousness. What arrives with cessation (Nirvana) is the the end of suffering, but the world continues, and this end is reached through mindfullness rather than clinging or rejection of these formations.


In other words, if the phone would ring during meditation, I would recognize the ringing, understand its source, and let it go. A meditation practice that attempts to remove you from reality is only a temporary release.

[watersprite]

The afternoons are good for me because of the slight cessation of the pain in my feet, coupled with a nice toes-up lets me open up to ideas and thoughts that I may have had, but forgotten during the day. Now I save all my dryer lint and old dryer sheets(when I am not using them for quilt piecing) to stuff poppets and cat toys. The dryer lint soaks up the catnip spray and provide my cat with silliness that is WAY more fun than TV, and less for the landfill.

[SolitaryScholar]

I picked afternoon because I like to be under the sun and listening to the world around me, and the best time for that is mid-afternoon. Night is also very good for me. I haven't tried morning, but if I did I would go for the morning where dawn is just breaking and all is quiet.

I feel that would probably be the best moment for morning.

[nebetmiw]

I now meditate when the animals are sleeping otherwise they are in my face. Mostly during the day now because hubby home at night and he snaores. LOL

[daphenrose]

I usually meditate right when I wake up in the morning. That way if I also have had a dream I can stil recall and need to think on, I still can remember alot of it. I also meditate nights before bed when I can.
daphnerose