Falling asleep

[Essaykaye]

Hello to everyone. I've just registered here and would like to share my experience of learning the practice. I did an 8 week mindfulness course about a year ago and found it very helpful, although I had great difficulty finding a suitable time to fit all the daily practices in. I found mornings before work impossible to fit in, there's no opportunity during the working day so that left the evenings. For a number of reasons, mostly physical, the only position in which I can settle for any length of time is lying down, but in the evening after work I find that when I lie down I'm asleep within a few minutes.

I don't know that there is a solution to this (other than giving up work so I am less tired - ha ha!). I just thought I would share it and see what others had to say.

Thanks.

[rara]

Hi Essaykaye, good to meet you
Falling asleep is difficult for me to try and relate to as I'm naturally the opposite...insomnia was alwaysn my thing so falling asleep was never an issue with me. However, I may be able to help with a few suggestions.

First of all, it seems as if the meditation course in some way may have indicated that you need to do a set amount etc. Never get bogged down with all this as it will leave you more exhausted trying to fit it in...it will become a chore. Find short times to meditate in your day, and even spot meditations when at work (there's a brilliant book by Eric Harrison called "Teach yourself to Meditate that explains this, and
About your falling asleep/lying down issue...the physical problem that you have, is it a disability or dismfortable to sit? I am wondering whether you have explored with things such as sitting on a chair to meditate, for example... Dave

[rara]

Sorry for the poor english...I'm shaking around on the bus and editing is playing up on my phone!

[FeeHutch]

Hello and welcome to our community
I have physical disabilities and experiment with positions for meditation. Sometimes its 5 minutes on my meditation stool, other times 10 minutes laid down. I can generally meditate for longer sat on my sofa but equally it might just be a minute or 2 concentrating on my breathing.
There are no hard a fast rules and besides what you need changes too. Is meditating on your way to work a possibility? (assuming you don't drive )
Finally you are more than welcome to join us on the 'how to train an elephant' thread. Steve and I are working with a task or challenge a week. They are small challenges (so far) but they really help being mindful to the forefront of every day living.

[Steve]

Hi Essaykaye

I too have struggled with finding time to practice regularly but have recently managed to make progress on this - partly due to the week by week exercises in the book Fiona mentions. This sets a different topic each week which doesn't really demand any time but helps you focus on a particular mindful task each week (and I've found it quite fun and rewarding to do) - and by sharing our thoughts on this forum we learn from each other and support to each other too.

A side benefit of this has been to tidy up my bedroom and keep it tidy so it provides a calm place to meditate in. I too find that evening meditations lying down do have a high tendency of inducing sleep so its good to try to find some other regular slot. For me, I have found that if I get up a little earlier and/or going to work a little later, I can find a few minutes to myself between having a shower (which ensures you're well awake), tidying my bedroom and then meditating (in my case on a meditation stool) before getting dressed and getting on with the rest of the day. This is often only for 5 mins (but sometimes stretches to more) but it sets you up with a calm unhurried frame of mind for the rest of the day and the regular practice (even if short) provides a good backbone for other irregular opportunities to be mindful during the day.

As Fiona says, it might be worth experimenting with some other meditations positions to see if you can find another one that works for you.

Let us know how you get on.

Steve

[JonW]

Like Steve I've found that my bedroom is a lot tidier since I started meditating in it. There's something about clutter that doesn't chime with a dignified sitting. In fact my life has become increasingly minimalistic since I took up meditation. I wonder if anyone else has had a similar experience.
I read somewhere that, when Jon Kabat-Zinn was coping with the early days of fatherhood, he would get up at 4am to meditate, knowing that was the only time he was likely to get any peace and quiet at home. I'd like to think of myself as dedicated to meditation practice, but not 4am dedicated.

[Essaykaye]

Hello and thank you to everyone who's taken the time to reply.

From the posts here it seems that maybe one of my problems is that I am expecting too much of myself! Not unusual for me. Many of you are mentioning meditating for short periods like 5 or 10 minutes. That sounds much easier to fit in either before work or during the working day. I have been trying to do at least a full half hour every day, seldom achieved.

I'll try shorter times during the day. Thanks.