How changing from passive to active meditation can change your mornings.
Do you ever wake up already feeling behind – like you got off on the wrong foot?
The alarm goes off, first you’re confused, then the first negative thoughts, worries, tasks, and obligations of the day come creeping in.
If you’re already a seasoned meditation practitioner, you might want to try shifting from only observing your thoughts to a more proactive approach of creating positive emotions and outcomes, especially during your morning meditation. Even more so if you have a hard time getting up to speed in the morning!
From Confusion to Clarity
About 7 years ago, I started meditating regularly in the morning. First, it was just a means to overcome the feeling of being rushed and bring some order to my thoughts. I wasn’t sure about who I was, what I wanted, and where my life was heading, and thought meditation was going to help me gain some clarity.
I would just look at whatever thought came to my mind and observe it with as little emotion as I could and then try to let it go. Breathe in. Breathe out. Feeling the warmth of the air flowing.
Of course, in the beginning, it’s always the same topics popping up. Arguments, misunderstandings, worries about the past or the future, any kind of undefined unease about the situation I’m in.
The Default Mode Network
Neurologists call those default thoughts that come to our minds when we’re not currently busy in the external world our “Default Mode Network” or DMN. In simple terms, it’s the thoughts that come to mind when we do nothing.
As the example above illustrates, for many people, they’re oftentimes connected to strong emotions, especially the negative ones.
I believe that as long as we keep ourselves busy with tasks in the external world, those “default thoughts” don’t necessarily go away — they just keep simmering beneath the surface.
Only because you don’t perceive something consciously doesn’t mean it’s not there.
That’s where meditation comes into play. Having the courage to switch off external distractions and look those unpleasant thoughts right in the face is the most effective way to make them disappear or at least bring your emotional response, like anger, fear, or unease, under control in the long run.
From Observation to Activation
About a year ago, I started shifting my morning meditation routine from a primarily breath- or body-focused practice to a more activating approach.
I started practicing activating breathing techniques, like the breath of fire. I integrated conscious efforts to not only observe my thoughts but actually steer them in a particular direction.
One example is focusing on simple things I can be grateful for, like the ability to breathe, to see, or to hear, or vividly imagining people and situations in my life, in the present, past, or future, that make me feel grateful and happy.
Then I give myself some time, from seconds to minutes, depending on how rushed the morning is, to run those images like a movie.
Visualizing the Day Ahead
Lastly, I try to steer my focus on living through the day in advance by imagining what I’m planning to do during the day. I try to imagine the outcomes as positively as possible, having the ideal result in mind.
It doesn’t always work, but it usually helps to get interactions and conversations off on the right foot and make incremental improvements to how I want to show up each day.
Many mornings this practice helped ignite my mood and energy, which carried me through even difficult days full of meetings, tricky tasks, and an overwhelming amount of unpleasant to-dos.
Kicking Off the Day with Energy
This approach of first activating yourself through energizing breathing and then creating positive thoughts and visions of the future, of who you want to be, has proven extremely powerful in getting me up to speed in the morning.
If practiced regularly, you’ll be able to chase away negative thoughts and kick your day off with more motivation and positivity.
If you need help getting started, you might want to search for “breath of fire meditation” on YouTube or try Vishen Lakhiani’s 6 Phase Guided Meditation.
If you’re struggling to build the habit of meditating in the morning, you might want to try the books The Miracle Morning or Atomic Habits to help you establish the routine.
Happy meditating – in whichever way you prefer 😀