Meditation: sleepy solutions and to sit or not to sit

If you lay down and listen to a guided meditation, do you quickly fall asleep? If you try to sit, does your body complain so loudly that paying attention to anything other than your back or knees seems highly unlikely? If you are answering (yelling) a resounding, “YES!”, then I have a few suggestions.

Here are some easy things to try if falling asleep is your issue:
1. Switch up the time of day to when you feel more alert.
2. Make sure you haven’t eaten a heavy meal in about two hours.
3. Practise in a cooler room, without a blanket or extra layer. 4. If you are laying down sit; if you are sitting stand and try a moving meditation.

Let me clearly state here that if you are enjoying meditation laying down and you have physical limitations to sitting meditation or simply aren’t interested, keep doing what you’re doing. Really.

Here are some things to try to create more comfort in seated meditation:
1. Cushions, cushions, cushions…soften the ground with a larger cushion on the floor and then raise your seat with a firm cushion under your bum.
2. If all the cushions in the world are not going to help, sit in a chair.

Have a look at this video for ideas to make seated meditation more comfortable.


Check back in another day or two for new audio files: a guided seated meditation and a simple standing meditation.

Much love, Katherine



Published by

Katherine

A writer, meditator and yoga instructor committed to bringing more light into the world through mindfulness practices.

One thought on “Meditation: sleepy solutions and to sit or not to sit”

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *