[Please note that this is a shorter, excerpted version of this more thorough post on this subject]
Drowsiness and sleepiness are common challenges for meditators. For many of us, the calm and relaxation of meditation is something that we previously had only experienced while falling asleep. Meditation activates the parasympathetic nervous system, which correlates with a sense of peace and the same brainwaves found at the beginning of sleep. So, it is natural that we would associate calm and serene meditative ease with dozing off.
Mindfulness meditation is the relaxation of sleep also, however, combined with a level of alertness and focus like working on a project while under deadline. This combination is something new, unfamiliar, and perhaps paradoxical to most of us, which is one reason why it usually takes years to understand, explore, cultivate, and develop it. Regardless, it is generally understood that if we are falling asleep in meditation, we miss out on the full value and benefit of meditation, which requires us to be aware, alert, conscious, and awake.
The good news is, sleepiness when meditating is something that we can work with; wakefulness is a goal that we can achieve, and there are actions that we can take to do so. I rank the following in terms of how valuable I personally have found them:
* The most important thing that we can do to wake ourselves up is:
– If we are lying down, sit upright
– If we are sitting upright, stand up
– If we are standing up, start slowly walking back and forth.
* Open our eyes, and perhaps brighten the lights too
* If there are words to our meditation (labels, counting, a repeated phrase/mantra), put more energy into them – vocalize them out loud, speed up the cadence, and put more force into the words. If we are listening to a guided meditation, repeat out loud what the voice says.
* Make sure that we are not slumped over, but that our spine is extended/straight and our chin is lifted
* Don’t meditate right after a meal
* Don’t meditate in bed
* Try meditating during a different time of day, perhaps one when we naturally have more energy
It can also be helpful at times to switch techniques and specifically examine the physical, emotional, and psychological experiences of sleepiness. We can become an expert in what drowsy sensations are all about – making contact with them and noticing what is happening where, when, and how. It is helpful to fully, deeply, and with friendliness feel and relax into the heaviness in eyelids and elsewhere in the body, experience the tension in our cheeks, chest, neck, and shoulders, notice evaluative thoughts, and focus on the mental screen where short-duration dreams are taking place.
Meditation teachers for millennia have also emphasized that it is helpful to examine our sleepiness carefully, and see if it is not just physical tiredness, but perhaps emotional, psychological, and spiritual avoidance of unpleasant realities. The antidote here is paradoxically both re-dedicate ourselves to our practice, and also to ease up and be more friendly with ourselves.
Finally, honestly, sometimes people need sleep more than they need to meditate. In my experience, the sleep that I have done during times that I have intended to meditate has often had a vivid magical quality to it, and when I have awoken I have often felt refreshed.
That said, again, it is normal to find sleepiness during meditation times a difficult, reoccurring, confusing, and sometimes painful challenge. It is however a solvable challenge, when using effective tools.