Morning / Evening

[ClaudioMember]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here and I’m very grateful to be able to participate in this forum.

I have been practicing meditation seriously for almost 3 years. I started with the Goenka technique (2 retreats), then discovered Mahasi method and finally got my hand on Culadasa’s book.

I’m on what I believe be stage 7 and recently was able to enter the bodly jhana.

I try to practice in the morning and at evening and the difference between the two sits is huge.

In the morning I’m able to sit for 40 min to 1 hour within the characteristics of stage 7 but at night I’m only able to sit for 15 to 25 minutes and I have much more difficulty to keep focused on the breath sensations, many thoughts seem to “slip” in and takes me a while to realize it.

Do you guys face this difficulty on the evening meditation?
Any advices of how to make it better?

Roght now I feel that I’m doing it more to keep the discipline strong than to really make progress.

Thank you for your attention.

With Metta

[Doug TatarynMember]

Hello Claudio

I wonder if the difference in your ability to sit between morning and evening have to do with the context. Do you find yourself more agitated and or stressed from the day activities in the evening compared to the morning sits? If so I would suggest you spend some time tuning into and acknowledging the emotions and feelings that may be activated from your days event. Even naming them will give you some freedom from them, while actually feeling and expressing them will give you even more calm and freedom from them, and they won;t be trying to grab your attention when you go to sit.

All the best

[Anonymous]

Hi Claudio,

Congratulations on your strong practice habits. I agree with Doug on how you might make the difficult sessions more meaningful.

I have the same experience as you are having. The only difference is that during evening meditation, following the breath is relatively easy for me. My morning meditations often require much more diligence, and my attention often alternates between the breath and with mental objects that arise. I have attributed this simply to my personal biorhythm. Many of the people I know, who sit more than once a day, have found this sort of variability to be the norm.

I find that I like to, and continue to, sit at both times of day. I think your progress will be more rapid if you do. Anytime your peripheral awareness alerts you (the “aha” moment) that you attention is alternating with other objects, or that you have forgotten the breath, you are influencing the sub-conscious to develop a more robust introspective awareness. It is akin to running with weights. It is more difficult to exercise this way. But when the weights are off, you realize how much stronger you are for having made the effort.

With my best wishers for your continued practice,

Colleen Vaughn, Dharma Treasure Teacher in Training

[Josh GellerMember]

I would suggest that before you do your evening sit you precede it with a shoulder stand lasting for at least a minute. Come out of it slowly or move into plough, fish and then corpse poses. Then, do some alternate nostril breathing. I suggest at least 5 times on each side. While doing these breaths focus on the sensation that the breath flows from the nostril to the brain hemisphere directly above it. After these preparations try to meditate as usual and see if you notice any differences. Josh

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