5 Ways Evening Meditations Change How Your Mind Works

The evening is when our body, mind, and soul start to crave calm, comfort, relaxation, and a recharging rest. Many people meditate in the evening to end their day on a mindful, spiritual note. However, evening meditations can do a lot more than that.

It has been shown to have many benefits for the mind. But, meditating in the evening can especially enhance mind power and unlock your brain’s full potential. 

Is meditating in the evening good?

Yes, without any doubt. But, it’s important to approach evening meditations differently compared to morning. Many confuse deep relaxation and sleeping with meditation. You want to avoid falling asleep while meditating if you want to get the real benefits by meditating.

That’s why it’s best to meditate early in the evening instead of meditating close to bedtime at night.

Related: 9 Best Tips To Avoid Falling Asleep During Meditation

What happens in the brain when you practice evening meditations?

 Evening meditation can greatly improve sleep quality by calming the mind before bed. When you fall asleep after evening meditations, it allows your brain to recover faster. Research suggests that restful sleep after meditating increases the removal of waste products from brain cells.  

This leads to increased mental clarity and alertness during the day. It can also help with emotional regulation, improving mood, and reducing stress and anxiety. This will allow you to approach tasks with a more positive and clear-headed mindset. 

Also, meditation has been shown to improve memory and learning and enhance creativity. Research suggests that an increase in grey matter in certain brain regions is associated with self-control and compassion. By incorporating evening meditation into your daily routine, you can tap into the true power of your mind and unlock your full potential.

Now let’s get into the real benefits of evening meditations.

5 Ways Evening Meditations Affect Your Mind And Daily Functions

You may already be very well aware of the wonderful benefits meditation has to offer. But meditating in the evening as your main meditation session can give you an even more unique set of benefits.

You get more deep sleep than non-meditators:

Non-meditators usually end their day by spending time in front of digital devices. It can be watching tv, binge-watching Netflix, or even scrolling through short videos on phone. It all makes us experience guilt for wasting too much of our time, sacrificing rest and productivity. But the guilty is not the only thing that’s happening. It also changes brain chemistry and continues to decrease your attention span.

Meditating in the evening allows you to focus on yourself and prioritize your needs over wants. It’s also the first step in practicing sleep hygiene by allowing yourself to spend a little more time away from phones or tv. 

So, you are getting a lot more than just restful sleep, true rest! You are also preventing the negative changes that can happen in your brain with a lack of sleep and binge-watching.

Increased mindfulness & motivates you to spend less screen time:

When you meditate with a positive guided evening meditation, it sends your brain a signal that you are ready to end your day. The suggestions in the guided meditation take you through a relaxed state and end your day with positivity.

After meditation, your mind is full of positive thoughts, and it sets the intent of deep relaxation and recovery. So, you become more mindful about spending less time in front of phone screens. You naturally spend your time mindfully relaxing with less distraction.

Apart from that, it continues to increase your power to delay gratification and increase your attention span.

Related: Top 4 Differences Between Mindfulness And Meditation

Enhanced emotional regulation and prevents overthinking:

You are lying down in your bed thinking about your day, and it starts with one thought. Thinking about your past or your future, making scenarios and how you could have done better. You get sucked into the emotions and cycle of peace-invading thoughts. Before you even have the time to catch yourself overthinking.

A simple 10-minute meditation can save you from this vicious cycle of overthinking and losing sleep over the things you can’t really control. The stillness and positive vibrations of the meditation can significantly reduce overthinking. It becomes a lot easier to deal with emotions with the help of evening meditation practice. This makes it easy to fall asleep at night.

The creative part of your brain flourishes:

Adding meditation practice to your evening routine allows you to open up to the world of creativity. With evening meditation you can clear your mind of the distractions and stress of the day. You are creating an open and receptive place for new ideas and solutions to emerge. This can be especially helpful if you work in a field that requires creativity and out-of-the-box thinking.

Related: Visualization Meditation: Harnessing the Power of Your Visual Mind

Acts as a barrier between your professional and personal life:

Evening meditation can help you separate your work life from your personal life. After work, it’s easy to bring stress and other negative feelings home with you. All the work stress and frustration can harm your relationships and overall well-being.

By doing evening meditations, you can create a boundary between your work and home life. This helps you let go of any negativity from work before you spend time with family. This way you can enjoy your personal and family life and play with kids. It will also help you feel rested and ready for the next workday.

Also, if you are a student or stay-at-home mom or dad, it can still help you with creating boundaries for your personal life.

How do you add meditation to the evening routine?

There are a few ways you can begin meditation practice in the evening. It’s easier to listen to a guided meditation and allow yourself to wind down.

Steps for evening meditation practice:

• Choose a calmer and more comfortable place to sit or lie down and settle in. You might want to dim the lights to create a soothing atmosphere. If you decide to dim the lights, avoid lying down for meditation.
• Set a timer for the length of time you want to meditate. 10-20 minutes is a perfect time to start with. It’s possible you will get sleepy if you meditate for longer.
• Close your eyes & focus on your breath. Try taking long deep relaxing breaths to relax your body.
• If you get distracted, gently draw your focus back to your breath to center yourself. You can also use this time for reflection but avoid dwelling on the thoughts.
• When the timer goes off, gently open your eyes and take a few deep breaths before getting up. There’s definitely a downside to using a timer. It abruptly interrupts your meditative state.

You can have a better experience by using a guided meditation that is specifically made for the evening. This guided meditation right here also has positive affirmations for success, peace, happiness, and gratitude. You can discover more meditations just like this one on our YouTube channel. 

Make an effort to keep yourself calm and focused throughout the evening, even after your meditation session is over.

Evening Meditation Tips For Beginners

If you just getting started with meditation practice, be gentle with yourself. It’s okay if you don’t feel calm and centered in the first few attempts. You can try different techniques if you it feels like regular meditation is not working for you.

These tips will surely help you to sustain the habit of meditating every evening:

• Remember to set a reminder to meditate every day at the same time in the evening.
• The purpose of evening meditations is to relax you and give you some reflection time. So, don’t force yourself to meditate like it’s a responsibility. Sooner or later, you will get bored or stop meditating altogether.
• Don’t try to stop the thoughts. Instead, try to change what you focus on during meditation. You can always return to positive thoughts or the things you decided to focus on.
• Don’t draw conclusions based on the experience of a few meditation sessions. It can take days before you can notice how wonderful the impact can be. Practicing regularly can make a world of difference for you.

Conclusion

Meditating in the evening can definitely benefit us a lot when meditation is practiced properly. It can truly enhance your life by improving sleep quality, increasing attention span, creativity and alertness during the day. If you already meditate at night, try it in the evening, followed by mindfulness practices throughout the evening. The best way to meditate is by avoiding meditating extremely close to bedtime.

If you struggle to meditate in the evening then morning might be the best time for you. Here’s an article that can help you find the best time for meditation for yourself. It’s also possible that you might need to try different types of meditations. If so, you can discover various types of guided meditations on the Enhanced meditation app. It’s completely free to sign up!