A Meditator Asks

This question cropped in two places, one in a meditation forum and another from a friend.

Is this a suitable platform for seeking advice on managing sleepiness during meditation? Despite practising meditation for several years, I consistently struggle with drowsiness regardless of the time of day. I've explored various techniques like looking upwards or breathing forcefully through the central channel and crown, but none have proven effective. This ongoing battle with sleepiness is disheartening and hampers my meditation practice. Do you have any recommendations to overcome this challenge?"

I’ve struggled with sleepiness in meditation for a long time, and here are some of my thoughts on this subject.

Restorative Sleep & Rest

Ask yourself, “Do you get enough restorative sleep every day? Are you sleep-deprived or carrying around a sleep debt?” “Are you getting enough rest during the day?”

When we don’t get enough rest and sleep, this can show up in our meditation practice. When we sit down to meditate and close our eyes, we can nod off because our bodies want to rest.

There is no getting around this for a meditator just beginning to practice, although there might be an exceptional meditator who does not experience this in their practice.

Suppose sleep is not something you can fix very easily. In that case, I recommend that the meditator switch to Progressive Muscle Relaxation or Yoga Nidra practices so that the body can rest, restore and rejuvenate.

A calm mind needs a relaxed body to dwell in. We explored this in our latest deep dive article, “When Formal Meditation Practice Doesn’t Work Because Your Mind Is Too Busy.”

Keep Your Eyes Open

Keep your eyes open, with a soft gaze, looking at a point a foot in front of you. This will help the mind have an additional anchor—a visual object—along with your primary anchor in practice. <Insert link>. This can help with sleepiness or drowsiness in practice.

If keeping your eyes open still doesn’t solve the sleepiness problem, I suggest you look up and keep your attention at a point level to your eyes or slightly above. Experiment with the points where you rest your eyes and see if it makes a difference.

Change Your Practice

Sometimes, changing your regular meditation practice to something else is beneficial. Change your anchors, type of practice posture, duration or place of sitting. Make the change and see if it helps with the sleepiness.

Acceptance of Sleepiness

What is most beneficial in working with sleepiness is not resisting, fighting, or blaming yourself. By accepting sleepiness as part of your state of mind, you can approach it with curiosity.

If you have any questions you’d like me to answer, please don’t hesitate to write to me.

Readers have expressed that they like the short stories that conclude every edition. So, here is one tiny story for you to savour.

What’s Next

We will have a week-long break, and I will be back in your inboxes on  17th May 2024. We will explore one of my favourite books, “How to Meditate” by Pema Chodron.

One Tiny Story

The Thief Who Became a Disciple

One evening, as Shichiri Kojun was reciting sutras, a thief with a sharp sword entered, demanding either money or his life.

Shichiri told him: “Do not disturb me. You can find the money in that drawer.” Then, he resumed his recitation.

A little while afterwards, he stopped and called: “Don’t take it all. I need some money to pay taxes tomorrow.”

The intruder gathered up most of the money and started to leave. Shichiri added, “Thank a person when you receive a gift.” The man thanked him and made off.

A few days later, the fellow was caught and confessed, among other things, the offence against Shichiri. When Shichiri was called as a witness, he said, “This man is no thief, at least as far as I am concerned. I gave him money, and he thanked me for it.”

After he had finished his prison term, the man went to Shichiri and became his disciple.