When no one is awake, when the whole world goes to sleep, when a complete silence prevails…. wait till that moment and start meditating. Believe me…that’s the best time to meditate.

I used to live in a place where after 12 am of midnight everybody used to go to sleep by then and there was no sound of traffic or any sort of noise that might disturb my meditation practice. As soon as I find out that there is no one awake in the neighborhood, I quietly sit on to meditate after doing a round of Nadi Shodhana or Alternate Nostril Breathing.

I will tell you later why I do Nadi Shodhana before my meditation practice.

But now let me tell you how beautiful your meditation experience can be when there is no outside noise. You only hear the sound of the air that flows through nostrils. As there is complete silence, your mind quickly reaches the state of deep meditation and you will start experiencing the glimpse of bliss.

Believe me…You do not want this to end and as you concentrate more; you become more and more meditative and that experience is hard to explain in words.

Slowly, you begin to wish for the night to never end. Such is the power of meditation when you do in a noiseless environment and for that matter, I can’t find a better time than night.

Why Night Time is best for meditation?

If you can find a place, even in the day if there are no noises, there is no external disturbance that even for a single instance of time can take that moment away from you, then that would be the best time of meditation for you. It does not matter if it’s day or night.

But since it is hard to get such places unless you move to mountains or deep forest; so it is best that you take the night time to meditate at your own home.

Silence is one of the most powerful ingredients in the path of self-realization. A yogi utilizes the power of silence in meditation to slow down the activity of mind and body which in turns helps to get to them closer to their inner self.

The silence of the forest, the echo of the trees,
The whispers as the wind blows, just as you please!
I swirl around and around and look to the sky,
Through the tall branches, I see the clouds float by.

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Many people meditate till they feel the touch of peace and quit their meditation session as they have other activities to do. That’s ok. But it is most important to sit on meditation as long as you can. If you meditate at night before sleeping, you will not fall in that trap of the mind and you can continue your meditation session as long as you want.

many people find night is more productive and conducive them. This is because what is you and what is the other comes down in the night. It is because of the way our visual apparatus work; when there is no light, everything merges into your experience and a yogi always make use of the night.

That’s why I feel that the night time, just before you sleep is the best time to meditate.

Power of silence on the human mind

 

Silence…

As we are becoming more and more tech-dependent, we are starting to miss the most important and powerful ingredient of life that keeps our mental and physical health away from all the anxiety and depression.

How often nowadays you miss silence? Don’t you want to stay in a peaceful environment at least for a few minutes in a day? Of course, you do.

Believe it or not. Silence has healing power and it helps in calming down our brain cells. That’s why in ancient India, great yogis used to meditate in deep forest mountains, away from social life so that their sadhana does not get influenced by any disturbances. They followed the path of silence.

On a study published back in 2002 in Psychological Science examined the effects that the relocation of Munich’s airport had on children’s health. Gary W. Evans, a professor of human ecology at Cornell University notes that children who are exposed to noise develop a stress response that causes them to ignore the noise. What is of interest is that these children not only ignored harmful stimuli they also ignored stimuli that they should be paying attention to such as speech.

Author Alanna Ketler has a beautiful post that explains about the impact of silence on the human brain.

I know you can’t go to the forest every now and then just to experience the silence.

But I promise you that if you meditate at night before going to bed, even if you do it for a 5 minute, the impact it will do to your mind and body is just unimaginable. The only thing to note here is you have to make a consistent effort towards your sadhana.

Meditation at Night

As the silence hits, sit on to meditate with your spine upright, hands on your lap, close your eyes slowly, take 2 to 3 deep breath and exhale slowly as if all your worries and thoughts are going outside you with the breath.

Slowly create a steady rhythm with your breathing and feel the oxygen as it passes through nostrils all the way to your body. When thoughts of past and future come, acknowledge them and let them go and bring your concentration gently back on the breath.

You can read this post about what to think during meditation which basically tells you how to maintain your concentration during meditation without getting affected by the thoughts.

When the mind gets concentrated more, you will observe the slow movement of the lungs and abdomen. Less air will come out and you will become aware of the surrounding and you will start listening to sounds that you can not listen in a normal situation; because your mind has become more aware and concentrated on your self now.

Such is the power of meditation when you do it in complete silence.

Why Nadi Sodhana or Alternate Nostril Breathing is good before meditation

There is a reason why you should practice alternate nostril breathing or Nadi Sodhana before meditation.

Alternate nostril breathing is a simple yet powerful technique that helps in settling your mind and body. If your thoughts and emotions are not letting you concentrate on meditation, then do this practice for 4-5 minutes and your mind will settle down instantly after doing this practice. You can use it to quiet your mind before beginning a meditation practice.

As from my personal experience, I can tell you that this practice brings the focus on my forehead; because as soon as I finish doing it, I feel a vibration on my forehead that lasts for more than 15 minutes and I can bring my focus on it to go into deep meditation.

Besides this, alternate nostril breathing has many benefits and you can read here How to practice Alternate Nostril Breathing. It is easy and simple.

Night Prayer before Meditation

Prayer brings devotion.

Devotion in your practice allows you to stay in the path of self-realization and makes sure that your mind doesn’t deviate from daily practice.

That’s why night prayer is a good practice to begin with before meditation. You can read this beautiful and powerful Night prayer by Paramahansa Yogananda.

BlissedSoul Meditation Tips:

Try to follow these 6 step rule for meditation. This will ensure you get maximum benefit out of your practice.

1. Start with Night prayer
2. Sit with cross-legged posture with spine upright. Hands joined and rest it on your lap.
3. Take 4-5 deep breath and exhale slowly.
4. Do the Night prayer.
5. 2-3 minutes of Alternate Nostril Breathing.
6. Meditate.

FAQs

How many times a day should you meditate?

That totally depends on you. It is not about quantity but quality. 15 minutes of deep concentrated meditation is better than 2 hours of thoughtful sitting.

Is it bad to meditate at night?

Absolutely No.

Should you meditate in the morning or night?

Meditation at night time is best. That’s what I believe. Having said that, if you can find a peaceful environment in the morning then it is better to do it in the morning itself.

Can you meditate before going to bed?

Absolutely. Meditating before going to bed has quality benefits. Often while meditating during the day we remain anxious about daily activities and as a result, we quickly jump out of our practice. As we don’t have any activities to do before going to bed, this will make sure that you don’t get distracted by the thoughts of the future while meditating.

If you have any feedback or question to ask then you can put it in the comment section below. I would love to hear from you.

Till then, stay blissed. Stay Happy.

From Earth we seep and shall sheep back to earth. In between, if restfulness is your mode of action, Blessed you are, Blessed you are – Sadhguru