There are so many benefits of morning meditation! And the simple fact is: if you’re not getting sit done, then you’re probably missing out on most of them.
In the same way I don’t weigh up whether or not to brush my teeth every morning, I don’t debate whether or not I’m going to meditate. I just do the damn thing. I know brushing my teeth is good for my health (and, let’s be honest, my social life. Morning breath is nobody’s friend!).
The same goes for meditating as soon as I wake up. Meditation has become a non-negotiable part of my early morning routine. And if I could give you just one piece of advice, it’d be to meditate. Every. Single. Morning.
Once you get started with your morning meditation practice, you’ll understand why. But if you want some concrete evidence, here are ten of the incredible benefits of morning meditation – that you can expect to experience in your own life!
10 Amazing Benefits of Morning Meditation
1. Set the tone for your entire day.
Meditating first thing allows you to set the psychological and emotional tone for your day, and helps to prevent reactivity, stress, anxiety, and overwhelm from hijacking your vibe. When you meditate in the morn, you establish yourself in the calm and stable center of sovereignty and set out into your day with solid footing, a map of self-awareness, and a compass with the needle pointing towards your intentions.
When the time comes step out into the world, you’ll find that you aren’t easily triggered or pushed and pulled by whatever comes your way.
Because when you meditate, you choose your vibe.
2. Feel less stress and anxiety.
The breath is arguably the most powerful tool we have to change our state in any given moment because it’s directly linked to our autonomic nervous system (ANS) – which is responsible for automatic functions like breathing, circulation, and digestion.
When we practice mindful meditation and calm breathing first thing in the morning, we set ourselves up to feel less stress and anxiety throughout the day. Here’s why.
Depending on how we perceive our experiences and environment, the ANS responds by activating one of its two branches: the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) – also known as “fight-flight-freeze” – or the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) – nicknamed “rest-digest-repair-and-reproduce.”
The breath can shift us out of the fight-flight response (SNS) and into rest-digest (PNS). As your breath becomes calmer, your body and mind follow suit. Your heart rate lowers, your blood pressure drops, and your digestion and circulation improve. Feel-good hormones flow freely. And you can think more clearly.
3. Boost your mood.
If you’re not a morning person, then daily wake-up meditation may just become your new secret weapon for slaying the morning!
Morning meditation can pump up the jam on the feel-good hormones in your brain. In fact, the brain’s production of serotonin – which is a key hormone in maintaining a positive outlook on life – has been shown to get a major boost from meditation.
And let’s not forget the all-time, feel-good favorite, endorphins! Meditation bathes your brain cells with a cocktail of cheerful chemicals, which makes starting the morning in a seat all the better (1).
Do you want to go through your day in a good mood? Or a bad one? The answer is obvious. And the way to get there is through a regular meditation practice, right when you wake up!
4. Clear your mind.
If you never tidied your house and took out the trash, it would eventually become a dumping ground, littered with clutter and unwanted debris. If you never showered, you’d get a serious funk going. If you never cleaned your windscreen, it’d be hard to see where you’re going. Everything benefits from a good tidying up. Your mind included!
Morning meditation is mental hygiene. (Consider meditation your mental spam filter.) When you take time to yourself before the day begins, you declutter your mental space and get yourself ready for whatever’s to come.
You crack open a fresh perspective, rather than becoming overwhelmed by the niggling worries, anxieties, frustrations, and stress of everyday life.
You create space for new ideas to emerge. Everything becomes a bit more vibrant. Hope, joy, and a sense of freedom glisten on the horizon again.
Talk about a great way to start the day!
5. Improve your digestive health.
This may be shocking, but… You don’t need coffee for your morning poop. You just need to get sit done.
Did I mention that the sympathetic nervous system (SNS, the “fight-flight-freeze” response) essentially turns off your digestive system? This is no bueno for your belly. The good news is that when you activate your parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) through meditation and mindfulness, you support efficient digestion, improved assimilation of nutrients, and effective elimination (yes, poop).
It goes without saying that poor digestion can cause bloating, gas, and discomfort, but it can also affect your overall health and immunity. Many ancient medical systems believe that all disease begins in the gut. And science is supporting those ancient truth bombs, with estimates that 80% of your immune system is located in your tummy. By reducing stress through meditation, you boost immune function and keep your gut flora happy… Which makes you healthier and happier.
Plus, according to nutritional biochemist Dr. Libby Weaver, “When we are calm we burn our body fat very readily” (2). That makes meditation a winning strategy when it comes to cultivating a lasting lightness of body. Hallelujah, and high fives to that!
6. Increase your energy.
Need more energy for the day ahead? Morning meditation’s got you.
Numerous studies have found that practicing mindfulness meditation every morning can be very effective in improving energy levels. Why? Most likely, due to improved blood flow to the brain, the release of endorphins, and less focus on repetitive thoughts (3)!
Scientific evidence suggests that a consistent morning meditation routine can also improve the quality of your sleep – and help you fall asleep easier. And a good night’s sleep means more energy for the next day – and the next. It’s a beautiful cycle, my friends.
7. Improve your focus and productivity.
Thinking we’ve got mad multi-tasking skills is a myth most of us fall prey to. There are obvious downsides to this approach, including typos, a to-do list without a single ticked box, missed moments of connection, rice cooked to a carcinogenic crisp, or even staring down at an empty carton of ice cream wondering, “How did I get here?” Not to mention, a massive amount of mental energy is wasted every time you switch between tasks.
Meditation, on the other hand, is the ultimate act of single-tasking. It gives you the opportunity to retrain your mind to become more singularly focused and more discerning about what you focus on. In essence, meditation helps you single-task like a boss.
So if productivity is what you’re after, single-tasking focus is the way to get there.
Spending a little time meditating every morning will help you execute your tasks for the day with laser-focus, so that you can get sh*t done in less time. And potentially, have more time for what matters most.
8. Find more creativity and inspiration.
Whether you’re an artist, hairstylist, teacher, doctor, sales rep, or full-time mama, creative problem-solving is a highly coveted cognitive function.
Morning meditation helps us become receptive to the creative resources that are always at our disposal by opening the channel, so to speak. Meditation reminds us of our vastness, and when we connect to that sense of spaciousness, we are able to tap into limitless inspiration.
It’s no wonder that meditation has become the magic well from which the creative community drinks. Countless world-renowned filmmakers, musicians, writers, artists, and entrepreneurs start their days by putting their tush on a meditation cush’.
9. Be more present.
Many of us spend our lives in a virtual reality. Instead of focusing on what’s actually happening in the moment, we live in a cycle of rehashing the past or worrying about the future. Neither of which are helpful.
On the other hand, meditating first thing is a practice in presence. It’s an occasion to notice how often we leave presence, and it gives us the strategies, willingness, tools, and, in time, the fortitude to return our attention to the present moment as often as necessary. Which, let’s be honest, can be very often. Meditation trains us to flex our presence muscles, so we can be here, now.
Those who practice meditation in the morning know, it leads to more presence for your loved ones, friends, and co-workers, leading to deeper intimacy, trust, and belonging with those that matter most.
10. Boost your confidence and intuition.
Do you have trouble trusting yourself? Do you get stuck in cycles of regret and self-doubt? Are you always asking for advice? Are you in a codependent relationship with Google? Chances are, you’re not tuned in to your intuition.
As poet and Jungian psychoanalyst Dr. Clarissa Pinkola Estés puts it, “over-intellectualisation can obscure the patterns of the instinctual nature” (4). When we make all of our decisions from intellect, we can get stuck in a whirlpool of information, opinions, and quite often, fear.
The internet doesn’t have an answer for everything, but your intuition does! Meditation helps you awaken to the wisdom and inner guidance that already reside within you. By meditating regularly, you consistently receive the offerings of your wild, knowing nature.
When you meditate first thing in the morning, you consciously choose to put a stop to self-doubt and negative self talk. And instead, you cultivate more self-trust and confidence, which renders decision-making almost effortless.
So wake up, find a quiet space, find stillness, and tune in. The answers are yours.
Morning Meditation Benefits: FAQs
Meditating first thing in the morning is a great idea! Morning meditations can lead to better days, better immune and brain function, an increased sense of well being, more positive experiences, and generally speaking, a more meaningful and fulfilling life.
There is no set amount of time that you should meditate for in the morning. If you only have a few moments for a few deep breaths, that’s better than nothing! But a good rule of thumb is to start with five minutes. Once you get comfortable with a regular morning meditation practice, you can gradually increase the amount of time you spend meditating each day.
Morning meditation has a number of benefits, including less stress and anxiety, improved digestion, better mood, and more energy, as well as increased productivity, creativity, and inspiration for your day. Meditating in the morning helps you start your day off on the right foot, aligned with your intentions, with positive energy and a clear mind. It also allows you to consciously set the tone for the rest of your day. The early morning meditation benefits are virtually endless!
10 Incredible Morning Meditation Benefits
One of the most important parts of your practice is the first step. Making the conscious effort to get sit done every day. To keep coming back to your seat. Every. Single. Morning.
Sure, you’ll feel some of the benefits of meditation after one session. But the real magic is in creating a daily morning meditation routine. That’s when you’ll really start to reap the benefits, in every aspect of your life! (The Heavily Meditated App can help you turn meditation into a habit that sticks!)
Am I calmer? Am I more patient? Am I more intentional and focused? Do I feel more connected? To myself? To others? Am I more creative? Am I more compassionate? Am I less stressed? More joyful? Is my behavior less compulsive or addictive and more in line with my highest good?
If you commit to daily meditation practice, I bet that your answer to most, if not all, of these questions will be hell yes. You will start to see all the positive ways a meditation morning routine will impact your life – and there will be no turning back!
References
- Harte, JL, Eifert, GH, and Smith, R. ‘The effects of running and meditation on beta-endorphin, corticotropin-releasing hormone and cortisol in plasma, and on mood.’ 1995. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/030105119505118T
- Weaver, L. ‘The pace of modern life versus our cavewoman biochemistry: Dr Libby Weaver at TedxQueenstown.’ TEDxQueenstown, February 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJ0SME6Z9rw
- University of Waterloo. “Yoga, meditation improve brain function and energy levels, study shows.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 6 September 2017. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170906103416.htm
- Estés, CP. Women Who Run with the Wolves: Myths and Stories of the Wild Woman Archetype. New York, Ballantine, 1995.
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