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Mindfulness dependent on the time of day
Bunks
Australia Veteran
Do you find that the steadiness / consistency of your mindfulness is dependent on the time of day?
I am a morning person and I normally find from waking up at the crack of dawn until lunch time I feel strong in mind and spirit.
However, post lunch and into the evening my mind becomes dull and I struggle to keep it up.
Any tips? Anyone else have the same issue?
I am a morning person and I normally find from waking up at the crack of dawn until lunch time I feel strong in mind and spirit.
However, post lunch and into the evening my mind becomes dull and I struggle to keep it up.
Any tips? Anyone else have the same issue?
0
Comments
Mos Def a TMI thing there dude .... Viagra?
Geez .....
First we have Singing Bowels and now a Freudian slip
Maybe mindfullness of typing ......
Geez .....
First we have Singing Bowels and now a Freudian slip
Maybe mindfullness of typing ......
Ha! I wanted to give you an awesome AND a lol for that @Chaz!!
I'm surprised you didn't also pick me up on the "crack of dawn"
Now, back to serious buddhist stuff.....
The morning for me is a total disaster zone, jumbled, busy mind that won't stay on the breath... but I meditate in the morning anyway, just for the good practise of accepting that my mind is out of control, letting go.
I've no idea why different times of day are better or worse. I've tried radically varying my diet, eating times, exercise, wake-up time, caffeine, etc etc... And nothing seemed to change it much. A mystery!
So I just work with it, and use it to my advantage.
I prefer to meditate at night/early morning as it is quiet and I am awake. Many physical factors can effect a formal sitting. Time of the month, stress, temperature, food, time of day, type of food, stimulants such as tea or coffee, intoxicants such as chocolate, experiences we have buzzing around, physical or mental distractions, illness . . . and on it goes . . . eventually we may be sensitive to the emanations of other meditators and prefer solitude but initially their proximity is inspiring . . .
I definitely find it to be true that my sense of everything changes. Morning is my best time, because I'm home alone for several hours (first time in my adult life, really). As the day wears on and more and more people come home it becomes harder to maintain. I notice the same thing when I go to my Sangha meetings or after a retreat. The longer I can spend in that "Dharmic state" the longer it lasts afterwards, but I find myself a bit let down as I feel it leave. I know it's possible to hang onto it and I work on that, but it's hard when you have to be around so many draining, non-Dharmic people, LOL. I don't mean that as an insult to them, but a difficulty/challenge for me in knowing how to bring mindfulness to areas where people are as mindless as can be.
Isn't one's experience of the time of a day, mindfulness?
But I'm an early waker... so I sit up in bed, while my H sleeps, and do a bit of inner reflection, prep for the day....
Now, time of day or place is never a problem. Remembering to practice....now that's another thing.
I have often recommended that meditators commit to a set schedule of formal meditation so that they develop mindfulness beyond the limitations of likes, dislikes or whenever they feel amenable to doing it.
Later, it's good to include additional formal meditation outside of a set schedule to experience mindfulness of life beyond a schedule.
It is not about good or poor meditation but about the mindfulnes within what ever moment that you find yourself.