How to Start a Meditation Nighttime Routine

Do you find yourself stressed and overwhelmed at the end of the day, struggling to sleep?  

Maybe it’s time to consider meditation as part of your nighttime routine.  Meditation and mindfulness often go hand in hand and are a great way to end your day.  Sometimes we are too frantic or exhausted to even think about a new routine, but it could help!

Starting the Daily Nighttime Routine

We often get so focused on scheduling meditation that we don’t think about the routine around it.  Try to create a routine around your meditation practice. Include doing the same things before and after meditating, such as doing a brain dump, sipping some peppermint tea, writing in your gratitude journal, or maybe even taking a bath!! 

Create a routine that works for you and will encourage you to keep doing it on a regular basis.

Set Up the Perfect Meditation Space

Set the mood and your mind will follow.  Consider where your meditation space will be and what it will look like.  It might move around your home depending on what other family members are doing at the time since you need time to yourself for this practice.  Try to schedule your nighttime routine during a time where you always meditate in the same place. This allows you to set up a dedicated medication space, whether it is in your bedroom, office, or a guest room with a corner specifically for this purpose. Think about what you might use while meditating, music, a candle, essential oil diffuser, or healing crystals.

Try Meditation Triggers

A trigger is a word, phrase, time of day, or situation that reminds you that it is time to meditate. If you are meditating for stress relief, naturally experiencing stress at home is your trigger. For other people, it is a phrase they tell themselves once a day.  Choose something that you do or say every day to activate that trigger.

Add Stretching to Your Nighttime Rituals

Stretching and meditation work so well together that you might want to do add in some gentle yoga before meditation to quiet your body AND mind.  Stretching in the evening helps in so many ways, from relieving stress and relaxing your body to help you get better sleep, to simply getting into a positive mindset for more peaceful dreams. It is also fun to do with the family before everyone gets ready for bed as a nice family-friendly activity.

Enforcing the Meditation Habit

You are probably familiar with all the benefits of meditation and may even know the basics of starting, but if you want to do it regularly, you need to turn it into a habit. Here are some ways to do that.

Make a Commitment

If you aren’t committed, it will just come and go when you feel like it. You will have to commit to doing it every day in a way that makes it part of your schedule. Post a tracker schedule on your wall, add it to your phone to get reminders each day, or journal about meditation. All of these will really help you commit to your new routine.

Remember the Benefits

Still having a hard time? Remind yourself of the benefits! From reducing stress and anxiety to helping you sleep better, as well as providing some natural anti-aging benefits. There is so much that it can do for you and I am confident it will change your life for the better.

Are you finding it difficult to get yourself into a positive nighttime routine?  I totally get it. I’ve been there and I have learned tips and tricks to get you into that routine with ease.  Let’s talk about it: https://www.healthyhappyandhip.com/contact-us