I Keep Falling Asleep When I'm Practicing

[Selski]

This is an inevitable occurrence for the majority of us.  We lead busy lives and when we do start to relax, our bodies/minds take the opportunity to completely shut down and get some rest.

There are no easy solutions to staying awake.  The obvious one is to get more sleep, so that when we practice, we are less tired.  However, on the other side of the coin, there is a theory that lack of sleep produces results.

The other obvious solution is to practice at a different time of day, i.e. in the morning when you have just awoken.  This seems to be a very popular/successful time for most projectors.  This is because, not only have you already had your allotted time of rest, you are also in that dreamy “not quite awake yet” state, which is what you are trying to achieve when fully conscious.  Also, if you wake in the middle of the night and find yourself unable to return to sleep, this is prime time for practicing.  If you get the chance to lie in, or are able to have afternoon naps, use these “just waking up” periods to practice – they should reap rewards.

Whatever method you use to practice, the ideal state is one of bodily relaxation (practically to the point of not being aware of it) AND mental alertness/curiosity.  These two states don’t often occur naturally, and a continuation of practice is necessary to get to know what it feels like.  

From a personal point of view, my successes have been as follows:

Best:    Coming round after an afternoon nap
Next:   First thing when I awake from a good night’s sleep, and I drift
Next:   Middle of the night, when I can’t sleep
Last:   Before sleep at night (very few and far between)