Mindfulness can end up being counterproductive.
In this issue of When Should You Do Mindfulness? will discuss this topic with a few caveats up front!
Contents
Premise: Mindfulness should be done “anytime”.
It is bad to stay in the pamada.
This is a bit rootless and toothless, but Buddhism teaches that mindfulness should be done at any time.
If one does not practice mindfulness, one’s thoughts and delusions will overflow endlessly.
In other words, they are always making decisions and living according to their emotions.
Then greed, anger, and laziness work in the direction of expansion and are destructive to the environment, society, oneself, and other living beings.
This state is called “pamada” in Buddhism. This is simply put,
A state of unawareness.
A state of not being mindful.
means.
The human way of life is basically dissipative, and when information touches the senses, it distorts our perception of reality.
As a result, the illusion of “I” occurs, and this perception of “I am” creates all kinds of suffering.
Living with Appāpāmāda
On the other hand, the state of practicing awareness is called “non-indulgence (appāpāmāda). In Buddhism, we are taught to always maintain this state.
In the state of non-indulgence, reason is always at work and one does not act according to one’s emotions.
In addition, the data that touches the senses is received as it is,
- prejudice
- Bias
- Illusion
does not occur. In this state, there is no suffering and it is said to be the happiest state.
Since there is no illusion of “I,” one can act in a way that is naturally good for oneself and one’s surroundings.
This is not a religious story; it has been scientifically reported that the state of “no-self” has a higher level of happiness [1].
Nevertheless, maintaining constant awareness is a very difficult hurdle for modern people.
Even I, who speak so highly of it, am still in the middle of the road. There are times when I am almost completely free….
At first, of course, you can do as much as you can, but if you make it your long-term goal to “always remain aware,” you will find peace of mind that will never waver.
Meditating for personal gain is counterproductive.
As mentioned above, the original purpose of mindfulness is to break the illusion of ego.
Therefore, if you do it for personal gain or other purposes, it may conversely strengthen your ego, and you may encounter various troubles.
For example, if you want to improve your performance at work! If you do mindfulness with the motive of “I want to get better results at work,” you may indeed get better results.
On the other hand, “envy toward rivals” and “looking down on those who can’t do the job” may appear.
If the purpose is to let go of the ego, there are no side effects.
However, during meditation, it is important not to be aware of the purpose, but to let go of everything and focus on the here and now, assuming that the effect is only a byproduct.
Effects of Mindfulness by Time of Day
In the foregoing, let us look at the effects of mindfulness by time of day, taking the above points into consideration.
Even though you should always meditate, you will have to practice it gradually at first. In that case, it is still recommended to choose a time of day that is easy to continue.
Morning
A study by Berardi V et al. (2023) [2] investigated to what extent meditating in the morning is useful for habit formation? They investigated the following questions.
The study analyzed data from users of 14,879 commercially available meditation apps (899,071 total uses) to measure the rate of decrease in meditation sessions.
The results showed that meditating in the morning was more likely to become a habit.
During the first 180 days of account creation, the probability of a decrease in meditation was found to be lower for morning meditation sessions (63.4% decrease) than for other times of the day (67.8%-74.5% decrease).
The key point is to continue at the same time every day.
Meditating at a regular time each day makes meditation less of a chore.
I also personally recommend meditating in the morning because the world is quiet and you can focus on the here and now in the silence.
Daytime
Meditating at noon allows the brain to rest after the exhaustion of the morning’s work.
Also, the sympathetic nervous system, which makes the body tense, is dominant at noon, a time when performance and concentration are easily enhanced, but when it is easy to become tense, impatient, and irritable.
By practicing mindfulness, the parasympathetic nervous system, which relaxes the body, is activated and a good balance can be maintained.
As a result, the following benefits can be achieved
Improved attention span
Improved judgment
Improved self-control
Less likely to become drowsy
Thus, by giving your brain a rest, you should be able to work in the afternoon without losing performance.
Night
If you meditate at night, you can expect the following benefits
Improve the quality of your sleep.
Ruminating thoughts are softened.
Vague feelings of anxiety are eased.
Nighttime is the time of day when we tend to reflect on the events of the day, and our thoughts tend to revolve around this and that.
By experiencing even a small amount of mindfulness meditation, you can clear your thoughts and eliminate depressing thoughts and feelings of anxiety.
As a result, the quality of your sleep will improve.
