Bedtime Meditation: Yay or Nay?

Meditation helps calm the nervous system — but should you do it before bed?

Certain techniques may help you fall asleep, but Vedic Meditation is best done during the day, as early as you can. Why? It’s so restful, you’ll want to take advantage of the energy it provides.

Where does this energy come from?

In Vedic Meditation, you use a gentle sound (or mantra) to settle your mind to quieter layers of thought. As your mind settles, the body follows and experiences deep rest. After twenty minutes of rest, you emerge from meditation feeling clear, calm, and ready to tackle life’s demands.

In this way, meditation is more like “winding up” than winding down. In fact, you can think of meditation as a way of to charge yourself up the same way you would charge your phone. And when do you want your system (and your phone) to be fully charged? During the day.

Your mind and body settle down in meditation, but they’re resting in preparation to be active again. After meditating, you’re ready to offer your best self to others — and this is the ultimate reason for daytime meditation. The stillness of meditation is beautiful in its own right, but it becomes relevant after you finish. By meditating early in the day, we make the most of it.

A note about sleep: If it’s not optimal to meditate before bed, how can you promote sleep? Simply meditate during the day to sleep better at night. When you regularly release stress in meditation, you set your body up to access peaceful sleep when the time comes.

If you haven’t yet learned to meditate and are curious to learn more, drop me a line or join us for a free intro talk at The Spring Meditation.