Good and bad times of the day for meditation

By now, almost everyone is aware that meditation is highly beneficial for health and wellbeing, but there are also certain times of the day which are more suitable for taking time out than others.

The daily cycle is based on the sun’s movement and related energy changes which have been observed by Chinese masters from the earliest days of the practice of meditation. Thousands of years of studying the movements of the solar system, the changes of the seasons and their interaction with the individual energy blueprint of each human being have made it possible to determine the maximum benefit of any one activity on health, longevity, family and success in life.

Generally, the golden time for meditation is between 3 and 6 am. The exact time can vary according to one’s geographical location but as rule of the thumb, the best time is during the hours before sunrise. At this point, the energy is the purest and those who meditate during these times will benefit most.

The difficult part is of course that you have to wake up early, so it takes some time to adjust to that and not to fall asleep during practice. We suggest before your session to do all your mornings routine; pee, drink a few glasses of water, po0 and shower to refresh you and wake you up. Try not to eat anything yet.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, the most unsuitable time to meditate is between 23 pm and 3 am, when our liver and gallbladder release toxic energy. During this time negative energy is most active, as the sun is furthest, so staying awake, or even worse being outdoors is very damaging to our energetic system. It’s hard to pinpoint the exact time negative energy switches into positive during those early hours, it’s a gradual process. Most experienced practitioners have developed an inner feeling for the right time. To be on the safe side, better start with your practice at 4 am than 3 am.

During the daylight hours, we also have better and worse times. Between 7 and 11 am is the time when we can be most creative, therefore meditation between those hours may not be desirable. This is also a time when the energy outside is getting busier, people are going to work, the “busy-ness” is very much in the air making relaxing during those hours more challenging and not very beneficial.

If you meditate between 3 pm and 6 pm it’s very likely that you will not gain more energy, in fact, you might even feel more tired, because this is also a period where the body is supposed to move, following its inner clock which we shouldn’t ignore. Sleeping around this time is also rather useless, it’s better to wait a few more hours and have an early night if you are really tired.

When you need to refill your batteries during the day, the best time is around noon. The sun is at its height and people tend to slow down a bit, take a break to enjoy the warmth, or to hide from it, so the energy is more calming everywhere.

We have put together a list of references so you can plan your meditations accordingly:

• 23:00 to 03:00 NEGATIVE (sleep only)
• 03:00 to 06:00 GOLDEN TIME
• 06:00 to 07:00 GOOD
• 07:00 to 11:00 NOT GOOD (good time for work)
• 11:00 to 15:00 GOOD
• 15:00 to 18:00 NOT GOOD (good time for movement, exercises)
• 18:00 to 21:00 GOOD
• 21:00 to 23:00 GOOD (for winding down)

Originally published at Mind Hero.