Meditation Monday ~ Some Late Breaking Advice
I'm traveling this week and enjoying new landscapes. From great North to deep South we go.
All along the way, I am mindfully meditating—because I get to watch, not drive :-) I am consciously breathing while savoring the tantalizing scenery. Our car is quiet. We do not have a radio or CD player so there is abundant and comfortable silence between us. A chant set to internal music, "Om Mani Padme Hum" keeps playing in my mind and I am enjoying how it expands my heart. Driving meditation is what I am calling this experience ...
I'm so grateful for your comments about how to carry forward the 30-Day Meditation Challenge. I am pondering your suggestions. Thank you for these great thoughts! For now (and because I am traveling), I'm carrying on with Meditation Monday. I'll keep you posted ...
Q. It seems that sometimes when I meditate I get very sleepy. Why is that and what can I do to prevent it?
I tell my students or those I am teaching to meditate that when you meditate you can be assured that one of the three things will happen when you meditate:
1. You fall into the GAP (the location between space and time. The void, and you do not know you were there until you come out of the meditation).
2. You will have thoughts or environmental distractions.
3. You will fall asleep.
Falling asleep is very common. It is a sign you need rest. You can avoid sleeping during your meditation by meditating right when you wake up. If you are still falling asleep, try to adjust your sleep schedule so you are getting a little more shut eye at night. Bottom line, keep trying to meditate even if you end up taking a little cat nap.
Thank you, Suzanne! As for me, I've found that my best time for meditating is early evening. In the morning and late at night I am a little too groggy and I do end up falling asleep. How about the rest of you?
As always, I welcome your thoughts and wish you a marvelous Meditation Monday! And happy trails, wherever you are.
May inner peace be yours.
(Image courtesy of artchive.com)
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17 comments:
Wow. Happy and peaceful traveling:)
I find that meditating mid morning after I've woken and greeted the day and before the rush of the day is perfect for me. As for rest, sometimes my body purposely falls asleep because it's the only way to quiet my mind fully. And I wake up refreshed and ready for insight.
If one of the goals of meditation is relaxation, then I am okay when I meet that goal by falling asleep:) I can always pick up where I left off.
Safe travels, Jan.
I absolutely love to be driven anywhere, simply because it puts me into such a state of peace. One particularly favourite memory I have is of when my boyfriend was driving me to a friends house who lived quite far away. It was late afternoon in the summer, so everything was bathed in golden light, driving down the motorway with fields spread out either side, the wind blowing in through the window and lifting my hair. Sitting there watching the world go by, person I love beside me, the world I love around me, was so fulfilling and I felt so content. I hope that you have many of these moments on your latest adventure =). x
Joy,
I am glad to hear that you have found your rhythm. And I agree, that sometimes when we fall asleep this is a very good thing because our mind is relaxed and we are at peace in our world.
Sharon,
You remind me of two of the most important lessons of the Challenge. To be kind to ourselves about our practice AND we can always begin again. :-)
Haley,
How lovely to hear of this experience of yours. It paints a beautiful picture of living with ease and attunement to what is unfolding before us. And appreciation comes through loud and clear.
Thank you for the well wishes all!
I wonder if sleep (depending on what level you descend into) might be a form of meditation?
Suzanne,
I surely do not know about that one. Though I have experienced periods between waking and sleeping that felt very meditative and insightful. :-) Be well!
You got out of here just in time :) Enjoy the warmth!
Yes, it is all about knowing your body's rhythms. I think it is a common problem because so many of us are sleep-deprived! Talking about meditating in the car is a great reminder that meditative practices can be done anywhere. Sometimes, waiting in line is a great time to practice--make the most of the in-between times.
Beth,
Hi! Yes, I heard the great North got walloped with big snow. In this moment I am grateful for palm trees and sunshine. :-) Stay warm!
SOL,
I concur that we can find many meditative opportunities throughout the day if we are open to them. One of my fave places to meditate is in a waiting room of any kind...Standing in line, too. Though often that is where I do metta....
I'm not sure I agree with the idea of there being three distinct possibilities while meditating. I think we can share our experiences without placing them into categories.
For example, there was no mention of the experience of being absolutely alert and aware, deep in meditation, feeling absolutely whole, with no thoughts present.
Hi Benjamin,
I appreciate your comment. Suzanne's thoughts come in after our 30-Day Meditation Challenge series ended, sort of as a P.S. If you check through the January posts (throughout the Challenge) you'll see that the bulk of what was presented was about clarity, alertness, mindful attention, etc. They were pretty much a given and the basis of what many of our "experts" shared. May your meditation practice bring peace and ease. Blessings...
Thank you for the perspective, and for the blessings.
Thank you for the suggestions on meditation. I sometimes have taken a break from my hectic life and just shut my eyes and breathed deep, listening to my breath and my heart beating. I don't know if this counts as meditation because my mind is clear, but it is very stress relieving. I will have to look into more official meditation!
I also appreciate your comments here at the site to enter a comment: be happy, be well, be safe, peaceful and at ease, all suggestions to ensure a more fulfilling life!
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Benjamin,
You are most welcome. May you be well...
Lindsay,
Your moments of breathing and ease can easily be expanded into sitting meditation-- just do it for a bit longer than a few seconds. Try it for 5 minutes and basically you are meditating. For a more comprehensive overview of meditation, check out the January arhives. We did a 30-Day Challenge and by starting with Day 1 you would have a wonderful overview of this life changing (and simple) process of finding more ease in life.
Blessings on your good work! Thanks for your comment.
I often have the opposite tendency -- to be very restless and "jumpy". To help me in that case, I sometimes choose to silently chant a mantra.
But about my experiences with sleepiness... there was a period of time, shortly after my mom was diagnosed with lung cancer, that whenever I attempted to meditate, I experienced an overwhelming urge to sleep. Not just feeling sleepy while sitting, but having the sense that the best thing to do at the time was to curl up and sleep. Which I eventually did a few times, and I did feel better and more centered afterward. (Interestingly, the other overwhelming urge I had during this time was to sit with my eyes partly open rather than all the way closed... maybe this was to help me stay tethered). I was, as you might have gathered, feeling overwhelmed and flooded with many emotions at that time.
Other times I've felt sleepy are during two-day non-residential retreats... often after lunch or in the afternoon, I will have a deep sense of my energy sinking, and of falling, over and over again, into a light sleep. Some things I do to help me stay alert are to stand and meditate, open my eyes, or sometimes just bring my attention to different parts of my body. Last time, I noticed the sensations as I faded in and out.
I've sometimes wished that I tended more toward sleepiness than restlessness... silly, huh? So I notice that I long for that, and then I notice the next thing that comes up. :)
Stacy,
Thank you for sharing these thoughts with me. It seems as if you are able to be observant of yourself in a wise way during meditation. Wonderful! And I can certainly imagine how during that period of time around your mom's illness, how you would truly need more sleep. And how healing that could be. I am so heartened by how you well you tend to your inner life. :-)
Hi Jan and Suzanne .. interesting to read this about the three certainties one of which will happen .. good to know what to expect .. I fall asleep so easily – but after the last three years of Mum’s illness et al .. not surprising.
This is a really simple easy Q & A .. I like that – answers an obvious first question for people starting out .. I’m interested in the GAP aspect .. having just read Lori’s post ..
http://www.janebenimble.com/2010/03/front-porch-my-sensory-deprivation-tank-experiment/
Interesting how something is read, or happens, and then other things link in ..
Thanks so much .. Hilary
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