something always has to go wrong!

I've been meditating for a good 7 or so months now, and during those months I had such a hard time quieting my mind and relaxing. Well now there's a problem. I couldn't quiet my mind, now I have no problem doing it. The problem is I can't keep my awareness anymore. I can relax myself to the point where I fall asleep in five minutes.

What are things that I can do to keep my awareness.. I try to pay attention to my breathing, but I also end up falling asleep.

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Ghanja

I've been meditating for a good 7 or so months now, and during those months I had such a hard time quieting my mind and relaxing. Well now there's a problem. I couldn't quiet my mind, now I have no problem doing it. The problem is I can't keep my awareness anymore. I can relax myself to the point where I fall asleep in five minutes.

What are things that I can do to keep my awareness.. I try to pay attention to my breathing, but I also end up falling asleep.

Are you getting enough sleep at night?

[kkfern]

Originally Posted by Ghanja

I've been meditating for a good 7 or so months now, and during those months I had such a hard time quieting my mind and relaxing. Well now there's a problem. I couldn't quiet my mind, now I have no problem doing it. The problem is I can't keep my awareness anymore. I can relax myself to the point where I fall asleep in five minutes.

What are things that I can do to keep my awareness.. I try to pay attention to my breathing, but I also end up falling asleep.

wait. just wait. if you cannot quite your mind, wait. your mind will be doing something and will still create the blank spot that allows meditation to work. know you are waiting. pay attention to waiting and your attention will be there.

kk

Yes and I also meditate different times of the day to see what is best for me. I just end up being very drowsy 10 or so minutes in and end up falling asleep.

[Gem]

Originally Posted by Ghanja

Yes and I also meditate different times of the day to see what is best for me. I just end up being very drowsy 10 or so minutes in and end up falling asleep.

So you're sleeping normally at night, but still become drowsy in meditation. You say the meditation is "pay attention to my breathing" so that's fair enough. What posture do you use?

[anthony c]

I would do it in the morning if i was u.
Stand up earlier and take a shower,stretch for 5 min and then meditate and see what happens.
Also try mindfulness meditation or something else maybe breath meditation is boring you.breath meditation to me is
1st step in meditation, time for u to upgrade
good luck

[Miss Hepburn]

Hi Ghanja and welcome here...


Well, first... end the 'stinkin' thinkin'!

That is not true...something doesn't always have to go wrong.
Doesn't matter if you are being 'funny' ...the mind hears what it hears.
The more you think it, say it and now, write for all to see, that is
exactly what will happen.

Preparation before sitting to meditate is very important.
Do some sort of little ceremony/ritual to set your intention...
could be bowing your
head to a picture of something, lighting incense or a candle with a deliberate intent...
with a phrase like, "I am lighting this with the intention that...." Just whatever, to set the stage.

I compare it to your special someone coming over and cleaning the house, buying flowers and
changing the sheets...
if your special someone comes over and you say, "Oh...ah, hi...sit down,
be with ya in a minute"...you probably won't get lucky.

There is the usual everyday stuff...sit in a straight back chair, never in a bedroom, eat light.
Do you also fall asleep in a movie? Working on a fun project?
Maybe you do...but if not...why don't you?
I would say...interest in the subject at hand.

The mind/ego does not want us to let go of it...meditation is just that.
We must see it as the trickster it is...whether tiredness or constant
body distractions or thoughts of leaving our car lights on...it will use anything to stop
our abandoning it and finding out the truth...
that 'it' is not all there is inside us.

May you experience the wonderful, exciting adventure into
the heart meditation is.

[Mr Interesting]

I went through that years ago, just kept falling asleep and had drowsiness afterwards, and if I remember rightly I just kept with it.

Next thing that happened, which was pretty weird, was I think I got too relaxed and would stop breathing but my body would always kick in and start me breathing again but it was always a kind of a jolt.

My problem, in a sense, is that I've taken it really really slowly as I started meditating about 35 years ago and had absolutely no intention of it being nothing more than a way to relax and de-stress but along the way it kinda created it's own process of discovery and I've always enjoyed that so kept with it.

Few years back I got onto Eckhart Tolle and got right into the not thinking thing and it was quite easy to achieve as my father all those years ago had mentioned quieting the mind and it had always been on the edges and I'd already been doing it anyways in normal life to listen to my internal voice, as about the time my father encouraged me to meditate a friend of mine stressed hearing ones little voice, anyways, did the quieting of the mind, dropping into silence, going into formlessness and eventually touching on bliss... don't do that now, seems I can and my awareness just wants to expand outwards.

And I think whats important is that it's not a race. Take your time and try stuff. Maybe less concentrating on relaxing and move towards being aware but even then it's completely up to you, It's really, I suppose about getting to know ourselves and we actually have our whole lives to do this so why not play around with the process a bit more..

[VinceField]

It sounds like you need to find a balance between relaxation and maintaining the right amount of energy.

You don't want to sacrifice awareness for relaxation. Without awareness the meditation is pointless.

If you find the point when your awareness starts to weaken, you will discover that at that time you can give rise to energy to bring your awareness back to an optimal level while maintaining your relaxation. This can be done in a couple different ways.

One method of generating energy is by thinking thoughts that give rise to energy, motivation, and a sense of the importance of maintaining a high level of awareness. Another method of generating energy is through the breath. You will find that certain ways of breathing give rise to energy and awaken the mind, just as certain ways of breathing relax the mind and cause sleepiness.

Experiment with balancing the faculties of relaxation and energy/awareness. It takes some practice but you will eventually find it.

Take care