Best time of day to practice
Light and dark
The photo shows twilight at a park near where I live.
So, the new Year is the natural moment in time to trust your intuition about where you are in your life cycle and where you want to be. It also contains the secret of how to incorporate a mind-body practice into your life, which is essentially about aligning yourself with natural changes of the light. In practical terms, this is the teaching speaks to observing light and practicing mind-body arts during significant moments of change, particularly during an ordinary day.
Best Time to practice mind-body arts during the ordinary day
Within the ordinary day, with its changes in light and dark, you also have ideal times that support you in making changes, and these are the ideal times to practice mind-body arts.
During an ordinary day, there are four ideal times to practice:
Dawn, as the sun rises
Noon, as the sun is high in the sky
Dusk, as the sun begins to set
Midnight, as the day completely shifts to a new day
During these natural times of the day, there are natural shifts in the light, and your own activities may also align with these times very naturally. These are the best times to practice in the sense of energies transforming from one phase to another during an ordinary day. I like to think that these potent times of the day’s cycle are full of energy that can carry you in your transformational journey. In practical terms, your own nervous system processes light and information about the day and can be soothed by the sense of order of that comes from aligning with the light changing throughout the day. There is a story in the Way of Qigong by Ken Cohen of a master who healed himself of his serious physical ailments by practicing during these four times of the day. What commitment! That is “full maximum tilt” effort and a daring act of faith. Sometimes you are ready for such transformative fire and hard work. Other times, your work and practice to return to balance and harmony may look and feel different, perhaps quieter and less obvious to others.
You move on your own time and shift gradually and when you are ready.