Many of the practices of Ayurveda, yoga and meditation emphasize doing your practices in the morning, even encouraging practitioners to rise well before dawn to perform their meditation and yoga movements.
What is so important about getting up early, that it makes such a difference?
Why should we be concerned about beginning the day?
The way the universe has been created offers the macrocosm: seasons, days, weather, geological forces, events and processes beyond and surrounding us as individuals. Individually we are microcosms of nature, and we each have similar forces and processes which mirror the external, macrocosmic forces. We can use these insights to better know and coordinate our actions to work WITH nature and natural rhythms, instead of against or indifferent to the bigger reality. This principle of knowing and working with Nature is the prime directive within Ayurveda.
The morning is the beginning of the day, and therefore it sets a tone, and a direction for our minds and hearts to follow throughout the rest of the hours of the day. Creating our intentions right at the beginning creates a momentum in our awareness, that shifts all the rest of our experiences. The significance is this: each beginning creates a foundation for all that follows, like a first impression when you visit a new city or meet a new person. The first impressions (of the day, week or month) can be very subtle but they are powerful and influential to your experiences. The Ayurvedic term for this is Dinacharya.
Similarly, the beginning of the week, the beginning of the month, the beginning of an event or a project can powerfully influence the outcomes of the event. The larger rhythms of the passage of time, reflect back into our daily lives as we follow our familiar routines.
It is not necessary to rise at 3:30 am — at least not ordinarily– to begin this process. Get yourself up just a little earlier, particularly on a special day, or at the beginning of the week or month, and meditate, reflect, express your appreciation, direct all your life’s energy toward the results you would like to manifest. You can find out the day of the week you were born and create a consistent practice on that day. Mine is Wednesday.