After Completing the One-Week Bedtime Meditation Challenge: Next Up, Morning Meditation

A little while ago, I wrote a post about trying sutras and meditation on a sleepless night. Back then, I just wanted to gently put the brakes on the restlessness in my heart and the endless chatter in my head, so I spontaneously began practicing bedtime meditation. Just five minutes before sleep—I gave it a try for one week.

To get to the point: no, there wasn't a dramatic, instant transformation. But I definitely have the sense that something is gradually shifting.

And now, as the next step, I’m going to challenge myself with “morning meditation.”
Today, I’d like to reflect on that one-week experience and share a bit about what I’ll be trying next.

Trying the One-Week Bedtime Meditation Challenge

The reason I started was simple: I couldn’t sleep and my mind wouldn’t rest.
Even after getting into bed and closing my eyes, thoughts about work, relationships, and everything in between kept spinning in my head. Before I knew it, it was well past midnight. Wanting to do something about that, I decided to try a simple and easy pre-sleep meditation by “using an app to listen to sounds.”

I discovered that the meditation app Gassho had a variety of sounds and videos. I chose one called “Solemn Sutra” (though it's mostly just audio) for a simple reason—it seemed like it would help calm my mind.

The First Few Days Didn’t Go Well at All

To be honest, for the first three days or so, I kept wondering, “Am I even doing this right?” Even when I tried to focus on the sound, my mind would quickly drift to other things. Before I realized it, I was thinking about “tomorrow’s schedule,” “that message I need to reply to,” or “what’s left in the fridge”—my mind was all over the place.

But strangely enough, once I accepted the idea that “It’s okay to come back”, I started to feel a little more at ease.
When I noticed myself getting caught up in thoughts, I just gently brought my attention back to the sound. I also imagined myself being right there in the temple. Just repeating that simple process helped me feel less critical of myself.

From Day 4 Onward, I Started to Feel More Comfortable

Around the fourth day, I began to feel like, “Maybe I’m starting to get the hang of this.”
It wasn’t perfect—my mind still wandered—but I felt like I was able to surrender myself to the sound for longer periods than before.

Some of the benefits I noticed from continuing bedtime meditation include:

・Falling asleep a little faster (sometimes I’d just drift off without realizing it)
・Feeling a sense of calm before sleep

By repeating the same routine every night—getting into bed and listening to sutras for 5 to 10 minutes—it gradually felt like my mind was saying, “That’s it for the day, you can rest now.”

Next Step: Taking On the Challenge of Morning Meditation

Now that bedtime meditation has started to become a bit of a habit, I found myself wanting to try something new: morning meditation.

You might wonder, “Why in the morning?”
The reason is simple. Right after waking up, my mind still feels like a blank slate. I thought that if I could quietly sit and focus on my breath during that time, it might set a better tone for the rest of the day.

Here’s why morning meditation caught my interest:

・I want to “reset” before emotions take over during the day
・I want to spend a quiet moment reconnecting with myself while my mind is still foggy from sleep
・I want to experience how it feels different from nighttime meditation

It’s said that by grounding your breath at the start of the day, you can begin with a greater sense of calm and control. Morning meditation does conflict a bit with the usual morning rush—but that’s precisely why I think it’s meaningful to make time for stillness.

Of course, as someone who usually wants to stay in bed even one minute longer, this will be a real challenge.
But I have a reason for wanting to try, so for now, I’m choosing to trust that feeling and see where it takes me.

So How Do You Actually Do It? Keep It Simple

When it comes to morning meditation, I’m not planning to do anything complicated. For now, this is what I have in mind:

1. Set my alarm 5 minutes earlier
2. Sit up in bed with a gently straightened spine
3. Play the “Morning Chant” video on the Gassho meditation app and focus on the sound
4. If distracting thoughts come up, gently return my attention to the sound

When I play the 5-minute “Morning Chant” video I found on the Gassho app, it helps me mentally shift gears.
Before checking work emails or my schedule on my phone, I simply open the app.

What’s important is this: “It doesn’t have to be perfect—just try it.”
If I try to do everything right first thing in the morning, that effort alone could become a new source of stress. So I’ve intentionally set the bar very low.

As someone who tends to overthink things, I’ve found that focusing on sound is a simple and effective way to clear away mental clutter. It feels like a good fit for me.

My “Flexible Rules” for Keeping It Going

When it comes to building habits—meditation or otherwise—one thing I always try to keep in mind is: don’t try to do it perfectly.
This time as well, I’ve come up with a few personal “rules” to help keep things light and sustainable:

・If I don’t have time, even 1 minute is okay
・If I forget, I can do a little whenever I remember
・If I manage to do it at all that day—that’s a gold star!

Having these kinds of “make-it-easy-to-continue” strategies in place really helps reduce pressure. And I find it makes me more likely to think, “Maybe I’ll try it again today.”

In Closing

I’m still very much a beginner when it comes to meditation, and there are definitely days when it’s hard to quiet my mind.
But little by little, I’ve started to notice more moments where I feel a sense of calm and balance.

Bedtime meditation helps me settle my mind at the end of the day.
And morning meditation helps me center myself at the very start.

I hope to gently weave more of these “quiet moments” into my daily life, both in the morning and at night.
Next, I’d love to write a post called “Continuing Morning and Bedtime Meditation”.
If I notice more changes by then, I’ll be sure to share them here.Thank you so much for reading.
I hope this post can be helpful for anyone else out there who’s also looking to bring a bit of stillness into their day.