When is the best time to meditate?
This is a question I am often asked and my general answer is “any time is the best time to meditate.”
Everyone’s schedule and rhythm is different. It is important to fit meditation into your schedule and not the other way around. You want to make it a regular part of your daily routine, so make it work for you.
Some people like to meditate first thing in the morning – get up, go to the bathroom, and meditate. Before you get busy with anything else. Other people take time from their lunch break to practice a bit of meditation. And others prefer to meditate in the evening, when their chores and work are all complete.
I’ve known people who set their alarm to wake up in the middle of the night to meditate, when the world is quiet. Other people value their sleep too much to do such a thing!
Really, there is no one time that works best for everyone. Your best bet is to experiment with various times and see what works for you.
Traditionally, the “in between” times of day and night were for meditation. As the sun rises and night turns to day and as the sun sets and the day turns to night are special – in between – times. These times will fluctuate depending on your latitude and the season, unless, of course, you live in the tropics. You can try meditating at one or both of these times and see if it feels better or easier for you.
One of the most magical times to meditate is at sunset on the full moon. The full moon rises in the eastern sky as the sun sets in the western sky. Not only do you get the benefit of the in-between time, but you also have the light of the full moon and all of her magic greeting you. How lovely it is to come out of meditation to see Luna rising in the sky with all of the colors of the sunset still visible.
I am thrilled to announce my newest Sedona meditation experience: Sedona Full Moon Meditation. It is a rare experience as it only happens for 2 nights each month AND it’s at night.
You can learn more about this and my other experiences here.
Join me in today's video for a few minutes of mindfulness meditation.
Imperfect Transcript of the Video
Hi friends it's Michele Mattix of Sedona Meditation Experiences with another episode of Sedona Meditation Adventures. This is my mostly weekly show where I come out and explore beautiful places in Sedona and the desert southwest while exploring and practicing mindfulness and meditation practices.
I’m glad you can be here this week I want to talk to you this week about the moon. Before we get to the moon, a question that people often ask me is “what's the best time of day to meditate?”
The answer to that question traditionally, historically, would be sunrise and sunset. Those in-between time. In between night and day. In between day and night. Those times are going to change depending on the latitude of your location as well as the time of the year but you can kind of ballpark it and say sunrise and sunset are first thing in the morning as you're waking up and the last thing of your work day as you're transitioning into your evening or your home day.
Now those are a real ballpark. Everybody's got a different schedule and certainly everybody lives somewhere different and the sun comes up at different times depending on the season, but those times are kind of magical. Those in-between times and places have always been kind of magical times so as the night turns into the day there's something kind of magical happening and again when the day turns into night.
One of my favorite times to meditate - because I’m not an early morning person though I have tried for long periods of time to do first thing in the morning and it's just not my favorite time to meditate. For many people it is. I prefer the evening. The happy hour time I don't know why but it just really works it's kind of a quiet mystical time and it's a lovely deep meditation experience for me.
I’ve put together a new meditation experience and I’m really excited to share this with you. I call it Sedona Full Moon Meditation experience. The moon follows a 28-day cycle and when it's full it's full because it's exactly opposite the sun and as the sun is setting the moon is rising. Now if you look in an almanac and you check to see what time is the full moon it doesn't mean the moon is precisely full at sunset time. But the day that it is full when it rises in the sky it's going to be rising in the eastern sky as the sun is setting in the western sky so it's that magical in between time where day is turning in to night.
In addition you've got this beautiful full moon rising and all of the cycles that we can follow with the moon which can be physical cycles as well as emotional cycles. The full moon is a beautiful time to reflect on where you are in your emotional and your cycle for the month of what you're working on - what you want to bring into fruition.
My full moon meditation experience is outdoors, like all of my experiences are, and it starts a little bit earlier than sunset. We don't want to be walking around in the dark. We'll get ourselves positioned just a little bit before sunset and then as the sun is setting and the moon is rising we will be visiting intentions - reflecting on what we're ready to let go of and reflecting on what it is we want to create and shine our light on - and just really preparing for the moon to come into the sky. The idea is as we finish our meditation we'll be able to see Luna rising in the sky.
It's a beautiful way to get some meditation time in and a lovely way to experiment in a group - a small group - with meditating under the full moon and what that feels like. There's always extra energy when you meditate in a group or even one-on-one with another person - especially when somebody like myself - a loving, caring professional - is guiding you through an experience. It's really a little extra oomph. A little extra energy to make your meditation even richer.
So there's a lot going on (in this experience): You've got the outdoors, you've got Luna rising and all her full glory, you've got that in-between time where the day is mysteriously giving way to the night and all the cycles that are in tune with that - the different animals, some going to bed some just waking up for the evening, and all the beauty that comes with the sunset and Sedona and then the beautiful night sky as it starts to emerge.
If you haven't been to the desert southwest - the stars at night are just amazing! It's one of my favorite things about living here. Much of the world and in much of the U.S. the skies are just polluted with lights or it's cloudy. It's really rare to be able to see the sky. Or it's a lot of humidity in the air. Here in the desert it's dry - for better for worse - but it does make for very clear night sky observations. Sedona is a dark sky friendly town so it's a perfect place to observe the night. And what a beautiful way to open your eyes and see the night sky following a peaceful meditation - to welcome in the full moon.
I hope you can join me for that. The full moon meditation this is a rare experience. I’m holding it two nights a month right around and on the full moon. Of course the season will dictate the time that the experience happens. Right now we're coming into the full moon for February - it's going to be this weekend and it's earlier in the day when the when the sun is setting and the moon is rising versus in the heart of the summer in June, July, August where it's going to be a little bit later in the day. So I can't say it's always going to be at the same time because it's not. It fluctuates. But you can go onto my website at the link you see here (SedonaMeditationExperiences.com/experiences) and find the calendar of when this experience is offered.
It's really a special one it's the first evening/night time experience that I’m offering - something different to do in Sedona.
If you haven't already done so, I would encourage you to find a nice place outside and let's just do a little mindfulness together .
So when you're ready you can go ahead and close your eyes and take a couple of conscious breaths to center yourself.
And we will practice some mindfulness by letting your senses explore what's happening in your environment just take a moment to listen to all the different sounds.
Maybe sounds of nature there may be sounds of the town or people or maybe you are hearing sounds in your own body. But let us breathe with these sounds for just a few moments.
And now notice the sensations on your skin of the sun and the air touching your skin.
Here in the desert the sun is very strong very hot sun warming my skin.
And a very subtle breeze so just breathe and soak in those sensations on your skin.
And notice what is supporting your body what are you seated upon and where are your feet resting become aware of these places where your body is contacting the earth.
And just imagine the energy flowing from your body through your clothes or your shoes right into the earth.
You can feel it working both ways the earth energy flowing into you.
And your energy flowing into the earth.
Like you are melding with the earth becoming one
Let us take a few breaths becoming one with the earth.
And now turn your attention inward
How does your body feel on the inside?
And what is your emotional state?
Scan your body see if there are any places where you are clenching or holding on to tension.
And just let the energy of your breath help take you deeper into those places so that you can let them melt away just let them relax we will breathe here for a few moments in
It doesn't take much my friends. Just a few moments of mindful breathing helps you turn your awareness inward and really work the muscle. You can think of these short meditations and mindfulness sessions like flexing your muscle. Practicing a little mindfulness turns your awareness inwards and helps you become aware of where do I need to relax?, where is the energy moving or not moving in me?
If you're coming to Sedona I really hope you can join me for my Sedona Full Moon Meditation experience. You'll see them on my website and they are on the calendar for the whole rest of this year. And if that one doesn't appeal to you, I have lots of other experiences. One of them is bound to tickle your fancy.
I hope we get to meditate together when you come to Sedona. For now this is Michele Mattix saying goodbye.