Getting out

[Tirisilex]

I try to spend every night as I fall asleep to meditate that I am leaving my body. I tend to forget to do it once sleep starts to take hold of me. Is this the right way to practice?

[iamthat]

There are many ways to practise and what works for one person may not work for someone else. The problem for most people is that if a technique continually fails then we become discouraged and our practice becomes half-hearted.

Falling asleep during practice is quite common if we try to leave the body when we go to bed at night. We associate bed with sleeping, we are probably tired when we go to bed, and falling asleep is natural. So some people recommend using an armchair or a recliner rather than doing it in bed, as we are less likely to fall asleep.

But trying to remain conscious while falling asleep is a good practice. Robert Monroe suggests relaxing the body, quietening the mind, and just gazing at an inner mental screen. We may initially see nothing, or we may see swirling patterns or dots of light, but if we continue to focus on the mental screen without the distraction of mental chatter then images begin to appear. This is the hypnagogic state, the borderline between being awake and sleep. Simply be aware as a detached observer of whatever images appear. This is a good place to start.

Peace.