Nodding Off While Meditating

[James S]

I know what you're going through here, same thing happens to me. [:I]

It is a matter of focus, and of attention. The trick is to not only keep your mind quiet of unwanted surface thoughts, but to keep your mind busy by focussing your attention on the task at hand.

One thing that I found helped me was to have some meditation style music running very quetly in the background. It was just enough to keep my mind stimulated and stop from drifting off.

Good luck, and........

WAKE UP!

[]

[Adept_of_Light]

Hello Selski,

I suppose it depends on the type of meditation you are doing.
Meditation to "clear the mind" as you mentioned is actually a fairly advanced type of meditation. Most people can't truly clear their minds of all thoughts for more than 15 seconds before some thought, vision, mental sound, etc enters their mind. Further, such an advanced type of meditation is not required to raise energy because the raising of energy can take place at "lesser" states of mind; in fact, the act of initiating the raising of energy requires thought. You need to think in order to raise energy. "Energy follows thought" -That is a very well known and true esoteric aphorism.

I think it is important that we get a better grasp of what meditation is. Meditation is the application of right-concentration toward a desired mental state or realization. A fundamental requirement of having successful meditations, is having the necessary level of concentration for the necessary period of time. If you are counting your breaths and you lose track 1/2 way through, this is because your concentration is still lacking and your mind has wondered off.

Sometimes the mind isn't even aware it has wandered off and won't realize this till many seconds or minutes later when it remembers what it is supposed to be doing. If your mind is wondering, you can rest assured that what you are doing is *not* called meditation. Meditation is controlled thought or controlled lack of thought.If at any point you lose mental control, then you will also have stopped meditating.

If you are having problems staying awake during meditation then I suggest the following:

a) Change the schedule of when you are doing meditation so that you are doing it during a time of day when you have more energy.

b) Meditation does not require you to close your eyes, in fact, various advanced teachers of meditation recommend you keep your eyes almost closed but enough that a little light can enter with one of the intents being so that you stay awake.

c) Work on your asana posture, leaning against a wall is ok to start with, but slowly work towards trying to be in a posture where you do not need to do this. The lotus posture is of course the best posture for this, but keep in mind not everybody's physiology is capable of this and a straight back can still be kept in a semi-lotus posture or even cross legged position by either using pillows under your rear such that your knees touch the ground and are supported and you no longer need a wall, or place pillows accordingly under your knees to provide the necessary balance. Further, the Japanese asana posture is also a good alternative.

d) Right posture is required for right breathing. Without proper breathing your body will not get enough oxygen and will feel sluggish. Doing some basic pranayama breathing exercises can also help boost your energy prior to meditation. The same is true for doing some basic physical exercises for even just 5 minutes before you start meditating.

e) Avoid eating at least 1 hour before doing meditation. The processing of food by your organs sucks up a lot of energy during digestion; this is why most people also feel sluggish after a big meal.

f) Wash your face repeatedly for 1 minute with cold water prior to meditation, this will help awaken you.

g) Engage in various short meditations of 5 to 10 minutes each, rather than aiming for hour+ long meditations. You need little successes and take little steps before you get into more advanced stages.

h) If you are male, you will find that if you have ejaculated in the past ~48 hours (depending on your age, health etc), you will likely feel far more sluggish and tired than if you had not done so. If you are female, you will find that you will have less energy around the time of your menstruation and thus have higher success rate in meditation during other times.

i) Real meditation should be done without music in complete silence, but to start out, it is better to create a serene and relaxing ambience than to try to start "hard core" & fall asleep with so much silence

j) Using certain types of insence & candles also help create the necessary ambience for better meditations.

There's lots more to meditation, and you can always go out and find some good books that expand what I've stated into far more detail, but again, very advanced meditations are not required to be raising energy. Simply being able to get into a relaxed state while keeping your consciousness awake is the basic key to then being able to start feeling the energy flow in your body and controlling it.

All the best,
Adept of Light

[Naiad780]

quote:
d) Right posture is required for right breathing. Without proper breathing your body will not get enough oxygen and will feel sluggish. Doing some basic pranayama breathing exercises can also help boost your energy prior to meditation. The same is true for doing some basic physical exercises for even just 5 minutes before you start meditating.

By basic exercises, do you mean stretching?

quote: Using certain types of insence & candles also help create the necessary ambience for better meditations.

Which kinds?

Thanks, Adept, these suggestions are helpful.

[Adept_of_Light]

Hello Naiad780,

quote:By basic exercises, do you mean stretching?

Selski's goal was to be more alert so whichever exercises provide this for you would be good. Examples are some situps, push-ups, jumping jacks etc, but don't over-do it so that you feel tired afterwards because that defeats the entire purpose. Just get enough adrenaline pumping and your heart beat going fast enough that you can remain awake for the short meditation that we're making reference to here.

Stretching exercises are always very good. If you want to combine stretching exercises with something that will keep you awake and also greatly benefit your energy body, then I would highly recommend some Hatha Yoga postures. Whatever you choose in the 5 or 10 minutes, try to balance the stretches by exercising various parts of your body from head to feet. Striving for balance is always a good concept.

quote: Adept of Light said: "Using certain types of insence & candles also help create the necessary ambience for better meditations.".
Naiad780 then asked: "Which kinds?"

None in particular because it depends on the mood you are trying to increase to make that day's meditation more successful.

The influence of candle types or colours upon your quality of meditation is mostly directly related to your perception of its influence. If you feel an affinity such as peace and calmness with white candles, then use those if that is the mood you are lacking that would grant you a more successful meditation. If you feel your meditation would be more successful if your heart was more open and loving then perhaps pink would do the job. This works by your mind associating different colours with different emotions and when you look at the white candle for example, you might associate that colour with the concept of "peace" and thus more likely have an easier time feeling that emotional state. Human memory works by trigger affect. Colours, sounds, scents etc, can often trigger memories and emotions.

Once this simple relationship and influence is understood, you will be able to choose the right colour of candle for that particular day's meditation. In short, go with what *you* think feels better and experiment if you feel the need. If you wish to delve further, you can always look into candle magic (here's some short but good reading: http://www.sacred-texts.com/bos/bos104.htm) , but this is not necessary at all for what we are doing here - a simple and short meditation to calm the mind and relax the body so that we can proceed with energy exercises. I have only expounded a little upon the subject matter to satisfy curiosity and perhaps plant some seeds of interest.

With incenses the idea is similar and so go with what you feel is best for you and sets that specific positive mood you may most need that day. The science of aromatherapy details how this phenomenon works upon the physical, emotional and mental aspects of the human body. But again, this is a bit overkill of the exercise at hand and such a study is not at all required. Also keep in mind that different people react differently to different scents, so while there are guidelines, there really are no hard & fast rules.

Colours & scents are like foods; different people will prefer different ones at different times. This is because they associate the varience of each with specific emotions which then trigger specific and different reactions in the individual. The ones that trigger positive reactions in you are the ones you'll want to keep track of and use depending upon your need that particular day.

Still at the end, neither candles, nor incenses nor background music is necessary for proper meditation. In fact, for me often peace, quite and minimal distractions is what allows me to have the most successful meditations.

You're most welcome.

Take good care,
Adept of Light

[BlackTalon]

I have a question, not really about falling asleep, which I do sometimes. Whats the best way to strengthen your back so you can sit without anything against your back? If I keep my back straight for more than 15 miniutes it becomes pretty painfull. Should i just live through the pain till I develop the right muscles or is there exercises to do for this?

[Selski]

Hi BlackTalon

I haven't got an answer for you, but just to say, it's not absolutely vital to not rest your back.  I physically can't sit upright due to a disability, so I have to lean against something, and it hasn't affected my meditation.

However, someone else may have some exercises to help you, possibly Adept of Light, who seems very knowledgeable in the field of meditation!

Sarah

[BlackTalon]

Well i'm not sure if it effects my meditation or not, but if it will help me to breath correctly it can't be all bad. Soon as I start slouching then the sleephead sets in.

[mactombs]

It's also helpful to remember there are different mediations. For instance, I asked my phsyciatrist about it once and he said his meditation was jogging. Some people find it pleasurable to meditate listening to trance music. I enjoy this, as it effectively kills any line of song that keeps repeating in my head, and I find it easier to narrow my focus until the only thing that exists is the music.

What Adept said is good advice, but to get to a point where you can effectively enter a mindless or focused state in a quiet room while sitting in the lotus position, it can take quite a long time to manage even for 5 minutes. Along the way to acheiving this, I think it's a good idea to find what other types of meditations come more naturally to you. Whatever the case is, try to avoid becoming frustrated with yourself, be patient with your development.

[Selski]

I've only been meditating for about a week or so.  I am wanting to follow the Treatise, so I am initially practicing clearing my mind.

I seem to be doing quite well and am surprised at how well in such a short space of time.  I thought it might be a couple of months before I felt ready to move onto energy raising.

However, the last two times I've meditated, I've practically nodded off!!  I am sat upright (with my back resting - a necessary thing for me), but even so, I get to that 'no surface thoughts', then before I know it, I realise I've got those 'nonsensical-just-falling-asleep' thoughts.  As soon as I realise this, my conscious rises to a more awake state.  My head is still upright, but occasionally starts to nod.  I do the counting of my breaths too, but find that I can quite easily completely forget what number I'm on!!

I don't think I'm particularly tired, I meditate during the day, normally after a shower, so I'm quite refreshed.

Could it be that I need some focus?  I know it's different for everyone, but maybe I'm ready to start energy raising.  It just feels so quick.  I don't want to rush into it, then find I have to start again from the beginning.

Your thoughts would be most welcome.