Morning meditation: Why and how?

The morning is a precious time. Even if our daily rhythm leaves us little time, taking a few minutes when we wake up to welcome the day is never time wasted. Waking up your body and mind, looking forward to what lies ahead, entrusting your day to God... all this can take just a few minutes. A few minutes that can make all the difference in the world in terms of tackling the day with greater serenity and energy. In the Christian tradition, morning prayer has always had great importance, notably through the liturgy of the hours, practiced by monks and nuns but also by lay people. If we're not all called to pray Lauds at dawn, we can all easily develop a little morning spiritual routine to start the day off on the right foot!

Three good reasons to meditate in the morning

Anchoring ourselves in what is

When we come out of the night, our minds and bodies can feel a bit numb. We need to wake up our cognitive faculties to get out of the doldrums and back into an alert state of mind.
Take a few minutes,
- to return to our bodies through receptivity, listening to our breathing, welcoming our sensations (how do I feel this morning?),

- to reactivate our willpower through a few conscious acts: getting up, choosing our clothes, sitting down for a few minutes before the whirlwind of the day...
... so we don't start the day on autopilot and regain control of our actions. In this way, we approach the day with greater concentration, energy and confidence.

"I acknowledge before you the prodigy, the amazing being that I am: * Amazing are your works, my whole soul knows" (Psalm 138:14).

Open to what comes

Morning is the arrival of a new day. How many of us set out at dawn with our minds full of preconceptions, plans and projections for the day ahead, or burdened by our preoccupations from the day before?

To meditate in the morning is also to welcome the day, the new day. It's about opening our eyes to what today brings, seeing opportunities, letting go of what's gone, adapting. It's about awakening our desire, curiosity and enthusiasm. 

"Behold, I make all things new" (Revelation 21:5).

Offer up your day

Morning meditation is also an opportunity to pray to God. We can entrust him with our day, our work, the meetings we're about to have. Offering him our day is already sanctifying it !

If we also mention our doubts, fears and hopes for the day, and ask the Holy Spirit to accompany us, we can live the whole day in confidence, calm and joy.

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? * The Lord is the stronghold of my life; before whom shall I tremble?" (Psalm 26:1)

(Find other Bible verses to meditate on in the morning, as well as spiritual quotes to get your day off to a good start !)

What meditation should I do in the morning?

Morning meditation can take many forms. Here are a few suggestions, which can be practiced separately or one after the other:

• Awakening with awareness: return to your body, anchoring yourself in the here and now through receptive exercises. The Vittoz method is particularly well-suited to  awakening body and mind. These exercises, which are not in themselves a meditation, are a very good preamble to a time of interiority later on.
• A meditation on gratitude: taking the time each morning to welcome this new day as a gift opens us up to grace. (Read Father Lionel Dalle's beautiful morning prayer, taken from his book Le miracle de la gratitude).
• A time of praise: Entirely focused on God, praise is a way of expressing joy - and cultivating it.Lauds - the morning office of the Liturgy of the Hours - is a perfect example (find texts and songs to praise God in the morning).
• Meditating on the Word of God: The morning can also be an opportunity to be nourished by the Word of God, through an excerpt from the Bible, even a short one, or the reading of the day's Gospel.

We can also nourish our meditation with a Bible verse or a more specific prayer, depending on our needs: to fill up on energy before starting the day, to ask for strength and courage in the face of a trial or a particular event of the day... For those who want to recharge their physical and spiritual batteries, a morning meditation walk is ideal!

Short morning meditation

I begin by settling into a relaxed yet toned position, a position of awakening. 

Two or three times, I inhale as deeply as I can, then exhale through my mouth as far as I can, then let my breathing return to its natural rhythm.

I take the time to consciously feel each inhalation and exhalation, for example, by paying attention to the effect of air passing through my nostrils...

As I inhale, I pay attention to the sensation of cold in my nostrils. I imagine this cold spreading more widely, waking me up and energizing me. 

On the exhale, I pay attention to the sensation of warmth and feel it spread as well, relaxing me, making me serene and confident. 

Now I invoke the Holy Spirit, saying "Come Holy Spirit" for example. I can say it several times, until I'm fully present to this time of prayer.

I continue with a Bible verse to get the day off to a good start: 
"I turn to you, O Lord, in the morning you hear my voice; in the morning I prepare for you and stay awake" (Psalm 5:4).
I can read it aloud, several times. Gently, leaving moments of silence to let the verse resonate within me.

I meditate on the first part of the verse : "I turn to you, Lord, in the morning, you listen to my voice"
 I welcome what this word awakens in me. Then I can simply talk to the Lord about what I'm going to do today. I know he's listening.

I'm now meditating on the second part of the verse: "In the morning, I'll prepare for you and stay awake."
 How do I understand, how do I feel about this word? In my own way, as I wish - with words, gestures, or in silence - I prepare myself for God. I prepare myself to live this day for him.

I end this meditation time by thanking the Lord for the day ahead of me, and I ask him for the grace to live it with him. 

(Discover another 10-minute guided meditation session, as well as a 5-minute meditation for busy mornings)

Meditate in the morning

Every day, pray and meditate the daily Gospel through commentaries from great spiritual leaders.