Why Meditation Should Be The First Thing You Do Every Day

A short talk outlining the importance of avoiding distractions (phone/tech) prior to meditation. It should be the first thing you do daily, as it will prime you for calm, focused, success, both on and off the mat.

Transcript

Make meditation the first thing you do every day.

A morning routine is vital to establish a healthy meditation practice and thus a healthy mind.

For a while there I was quite disciplined in my approach.

I'd wake up,

Get a coffee,

Sit down and draw my attention to the breath or the environment and practice mindfulness meditation.

Mind would wander,

I'd bring it back.

But then social media creeped in,

Emails creeped in,

YouTube creeped in,

Distraction creeped in and I found that before I sat down to meditate I was doom scrolling,

I was doing everything but a good lead in to the practice.

And then my meditation time halved from 20 minutes to 10 and then halved again to 5.

Then I was struggling to get through that 5 because what I'd seen on social media or the videos or the email was weighing on my mind and it made the meditation extremely hard.

Now yes,

Those things can be dealt with through the meditation.

You know your mind wanders to an email,

You bring it back to the anchor,

The focus point,

The breath.

But that's why I practice,

To get good at that so it helps me throughout the day.

The actual practice should be seamless,

It should be built for success as much as possible.

So what I've learnt from this is to be disciplined in my approach,

To make sure that when I wake the first thing I do is go and meditate,

That's it.

Then I exercise and only then will I allow myself to consume those sorts of media.

But even before that I'll plan my day,

So I'm meditating,

I'm exercising,

I'm working up my day and then if it's appropriate then I'll start looking at social media,

Then I'll start doing the emails,

Then I'll start doing all of those things.

Because what's the chances that those things are going to add value to my life,

Either personally or spiritually or financially or relationship wise,

Probably very low.

There is a place for those things in life,

100%,

But I don't think they should take first priority.

And for me it's had a massive impact realizing that and retweaking the order of my morning routine.

I suggest you consider that for yourself.

Wake,

Meditate,

Exercise,

Plan the day,

Then start the day.

And only then,

If it's appropriate,

Jump on the other things.

Reviews

It was great to have a gentle reminder of the importance of prioritization of meditation and other self-care before getting caught up in distractions

Preach! I used to be glued to my screen, but I've broken free from the doom scrolling cycle. Now, meditation's a non-negotiable part of my day, and Insight Timer's my favorite app. YouTube's where I fuel my mind with documentaries. Thanks for this reminder to stay focused and acknowledge my growth. 🙏🏽🩶🩶💙🩷

Practical and helpful meditation. Loved it 100%. Thank you teacher🙏🏾

I agree. My most focused meditations happen if I can manage to sit quietly before I do anything else in the morning. Thank you

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This talk nailed it with a double bang to me! I know got to tweak my routine but first going to bed earlier 🙈
Noted and saved, thanks 🌟🙌

Great message! I make meditation a priority first thing. I also love cycling and my friends leave at 5:30am it's hard to fit meditation in those days that I ride. My challenge is doom scrolling at the end of the day. I am treating that problem by a media fast. Peaceful music before bedtime is a helpful tool to wind down.
Thanks for being there for us all!

Great reminder for the importance of a practice and honoring that. Thank you.

Lovely! Was going to send to my teenage son, but then realized I need to do it (the suggestions you mentioned) myself, first!

Yes, thank you! This is me too, getting distracted away from meditation by other things in the morning. Will be trying to do this from now on 😊