When Is The Right Time To Meditate?

Welcome,

Superstar.

And in this video,

We talk about when is the right time for you to meditate.

For that,

We're going to venture a little bit back into the actual tradition of meditation.

Where does it come from?

It originates from the yogic system.

And if you're not already aware with Patanjali's Eight Limbs of Yoga,

I highly recommend you to go check that out.

In this video,

I'm just going to give you a brief overview on what these eight limbs are and how we can use them as guidelines to prep our meditation practice to the best of our ability.

There is,

Of course,

A different understanding that we have about meditation in the West and in the East.

When we look at the eight limbs of yoga,

It gives us a little hint of where the differences are.

The eight limbs of yoga are yama.

These are ethical principles like nonviolence.

If you're familiar with Gandhi,

This is one of the principles that he practiced.

Nonviolence,

Ahimsa.

The second limb is Niyama,

So the personal attitude that you have towards yourself.

For instance,

That you are being grateful for the beautiful life that you have.

The third one is called asanas.

And asanas are something that you are very well familiar with,

Which are the yoga postures you do in a yoga studio,

Or you watch the videos of your favorite yoga teacher doing the downward facing dog,

The warrior,

Child's pose.

This is the third limb of yoga.

So you can really see them as,

You know,

Kind of like steps or hierarchies to follow.

Fourth.

So that was already one,

One debunk here for you as a little bonus,

Because often in the West,

When we hear yoga,

We are referring to yoga asanas,

To the postures that we do with our physical body.

And this point is going to become increasingly important in answering the question.

The fourth limb is called Pranayama or breath control.

These are breathing exercises that you do.

Maybe you have done already some on here,

Alternate nostril breathing,

The box breath.

You are also free to check out some of my breathing exercises on my profile.

And this as well is setting up your body and mind for number five,

For limb number five,

Which is,

Which is called Pratyahara or sense withdrawal.

That is when you are removing your senses from external stimuli,

Stimuli and you're really focused within internally.

So instead of like,

Let's say you are constantly listening to other people or what they're saying or whatnot,

You actually take your focus and what does my inner voice say?

That's one example of Pratyahara.

Another example could be very physical as you are,

For instance,

Doing Pranayama instead of hearing all the noises around you,

You're becoming very aware of the sound of your heartbeat,

How your breath moves.

You're literally drawing your focus within.

Which brings us to limb number six,

Dharana or concentration.

And this is the practice of focusing your mind on one single object.

Now that could be your breath,

That could be a mantra,

That could be a candle,

That could be the ocean,

That could be a painting.

This is where in the West,

Have a different understanding than yogic tradition.

Because dharana in the west would we practice with guided meditations?

This is what we tend to call meditation,

But what we're actually practicing.

Is focus concentration.

And this is needed so that we can reach state number seven,

Which is Dhyana,

Meditation.

You can see step number seven as a natural progression of you practicing focus concentration.

And this is exactly what we do with our guided meditations here on Insight Timer.

And again,

Feel free to check out some of my beloved guided meditations here as well that help you get into that focus and concentrated state.

Now the last and eighth limb of yoga is of course called Samadhi,

That's enlightenment.

That's when this glimpse of flow that you have experienced while being in Dhyana and meditation remains in a constant state where you're not seeing yourself as something different as anything or anyone else different in the world.

That is the state that the enlightened masters have.

And that is the ultimate goal of yoga because then you're in union.

Yoga means union,

The union of body,

Mind and spirit.

Seeing it as one single thing.

Now,

I have not reached that.

Chances are,

If you're watching this video,

You haven't reached that either.

But that's also not the goal for deciding when is the right time for you to meditate.

Instead,

What we want to do here is to make your meditation as easy as possible for you so that you really have an easier time integrating that as a beloved habit into your everyday.

Now,

When is the right time for you to meditate?

I have already given some hints.

When you're super aroused and activated and you're angry or frustrated and you could just feel like,

Oh,

You know,

That emotional state when you're so highly triggered,

Chances are when you're being asked to sit down and meditate and go like,

Oh,

I'm super calm,

Super calm,

You just get more aggressive.

So this is exactly where the eight limbs of yoga can guide us.

Because what did it say?

First comes asanas,

Postures.

Then comes pranayama,

The breath.

Then comes putting your focus in work.

Concentrating within.

Dharana,

And that's where you want to meditate.

So first,

Move your body in any way that you want.

If you want to do yoga asanas,

Yoga postures,

Downward facing dog,

Whatever sequence that it is,

Hatha,

Yin,

Whatever,

Do that.

If you want to dance,

Do that.

If you want to go to the gym,

Do that as well.

If you want to go for a run,

Awesome.

Move your body first and then Center your breath.

Center your breath first.

That is literally prepping you and your body-mind.

For the practice of meditation,

Concentrating on one single object.

The second thing I want to say here is Especially when you have just done a high intensity workout and I mean like two hours straight and you're like If you try to sit down to meditate then you maybe want to wait a few minutes until your body Has calmed down as you know,

Our body and mind are connected So if we have a high physical activity going on in our body Chances are that our mental activity is also going to be increased and when you then sit down try to meditate you go like oh my god my thoughts are so much more than I expected them to be.

There will still be thoughts.

That is normal.

That is a normal part of meditation.

But chances are that when your body is a little calmer,

Your mind will be a little calmer too.

And this is exactly also why,

For instance,

When you feel angry,

You first want to release that energy before you sit down and go into a more grounded vibe.

Then,

Important,

This goes in line with what I just said.

Ideally,

You meditate without having had a heavy meal,

Because also digestion increases the physical activity in your body.

Now it's perfectly fine if you just had a light meal,

But We want to make this as smooth as possible for you.

The third thing,

Ideally,

And this is personal recommendation and what I've seen working with many clients over the years.

Many of which I've also helped establish a regular meditation habit is do it in the morning.

Why?

Because when you do it in the morning,

You're literally setting up your day.

You literally set up your day and it's the intention of,

I want to go into my day feeling calm and grounded,

Centered in myself and no matter what comes my way.

I am.

Staying in my zone.

So that if you're getting a lot of emails,

Business inquiries or your children are a little bit more difficult to deal with and these triggers pop up and you notice the stress in your body.

Chances are,

Because you have meditated,

You are more likely to recognize this and course correct.

At this point,

I also want to make a note about meditating at night.

This is also something that a lot of people like to do because it helps them drift into a more tranquil peace.

Into better sleep.

There's nothing wrong with that.

There are two different intentions.

One sets you up to master your day.

The other one sets you up to sleep peacefully at night.

And of course,

You can also use meditation as a reset midday to go like,

You know what,

The first half Went the way it went.

Let me come back to myself.

Let me recenter.

And then of course,

Also try it out.

See what works with your everyday life,

Because that will be the right time for you.

And for the very busy people here amongst us.

One minute is better than no minute.

If we have one minute to overthink,

To scroll on the internet,

To watch television,

We have one minute to meditate.

Having said that,

Do check out my guided meditations on my profile and I wish you happy meditation.