Meditation

WiseOldOwl

Anyone else find it almost impossible to do guided meditations? I invariably fall asleep during them and wake feeling crap.

Loveinapril

I only do them in bed FOR sleep, so they are specific for relaxation and sleep.
If you don't want to fall asleep, do one in the morning/ afternoon and stay sitting up. Try choosing specific ones that keep you focused.

Hannibal_Smith

Mod Note

Moving to Yoga, Pilates and meditation which seems the most appropriate place for your thread OP.

If reopened please bear in mind the Charter here.

Thanks.

HS

Cherry Blossom

Hi OP,

Remember it’s ok to fall asleep. If that’s what the body needs at that particular point in time. If you give yourself permission to fall asleep you won’t feel so bad when you wake up. If it’s something you absolutely don’t want to happen though there are a few things you can try. Stick to shorter meditations to start with, 10 or 15 minutes. Try sitting instead of lying down as already suggested. If you feel your mind wandering or feel your self dozing off, ignore the instructions for a minute and try alternate nostril breathing for a while. It’s impossible to think of anything else or to doze off while your doing this.

Rigsby

WiseOldOwl wrote: »

Anyone else find it almost impossible to do guided meditations? I invariably fall asleep during them and wake feeling crap.

Perhaps it is not the fault of the meditation itself that you fall asleep, but the simple fact that you are not getting enough sleep to start with. Meditation often highlights things about us that we might not otherwise be aware of. Try having a short snooze before you meditate.

As has been mentioned already, meditate while sitting up straight. Lying down can often induce sleep because the body recognises this as the position for sleep.

david992

Meditations are hard for me too, I don't know how people cope. There are many meditations, with different directions, but so far I've only tried those that last 10 minutes. I can't do more than that.

CBRLizzie

I always fall asleep too. I've tried sitting up, I either do nodding dog forwards or fall backwards, I've tried many different times of the day. I've qualified as a yoga teacher, but meditation escapes me. On my teacher training course they decided I just enter an alternate state, because they were trying everything with me, nothing worked, I always drifted off.

I also fall asleep in work while typing, and will carry on typing while asleep, sometimes only waking up when my head hits the screen!

And I do get enough sleep at night, my watch tells me the quality of sleep is always over 90%. I generally don't move and wake up in the same position.

So I've just accepted meditation is not for me - I am a biker though, and I think that's a form of meditation when you're on the bike - you have to be in the here and now, you can't be thinking of anything else.

Cherry Blossom

If you think meditation is not for you there are some hobbies that are massively therapeutic and just as good as meditating. Colouring in, knitting/crocheting/embroidery/sewing, woodworking, singing or learning to play an instrument can all be really relaxing and focus the mind on the task at hand while being active at the same time so less likely to become distracted or bored by it. Try something new!

Kenz

CBRLizzie wrote: »

...I am a biker though, and I think that's a form of meditation when you're on the bike - you have to be in the here and now, you can't be thinking of anything else.

It is indeed - the best form of meditation for sure :cool:

Irish_wolf

Hi OP. There are many different types of meditation. You should evaluate what you want out of a meditation session and seek out the methods that line up with your goals. It's possible you are listening to relaxing or sleep inducing meditation guides. If you were trying meditation to get better sleep you would have succeeded in something many people struggle with so well done there! But I imagine you were looking for some other benefit.

Personally I avoid sleep guided meditations because for me meditation is a mental workout in the same vein as a physical workout. If you imagine that every time you lose focus and refocus that's one rep. Every time you do it you get better at it, it's natural for the mind to wander and getting it to ignore stimuli and focus on one singular thing is something you need to train towards. You wouldnt just go out tomorrow and run a marathon you need to build up to it with consistant training. Same thing with meditation.

Dont feel bad for falling asleep, but maybe next time try and last a bit longer before you do or attempt to stay focused on breathing for 1, then 2 minutes and then relax for 1 or 2. Slowly increase focus time.

ketchupmessi63

Never had enough patience to try mediation, but I found that simply playing acoustic guitar for like 30 mins -1 hour always rejuvenates my spirits...

prosaic

Robert Sheehan has a book out "Playing Dead". I heard an interview he did on Radio 1 about a week ago (Brendan O'Connor, Sunday?) and it really sounded like he had gone a long way with it. Must read that book.

Edit: found clip:

https://www.rte.ie/radio/radio1/clips/22430361/