sleepiness – esp weeks 1 and 2

I have had this problem…

A number of possibilities.

1. You may need sleep! If you meditate when you are very tired you will fall asleep, so initially try and practice when you are alert.

2. Posture. There’s some very good stuff on posture in the Meditation Monthly series and in The Tao of Letting go. Basically if your body goes out of alignment when sitting it distorts your energy channels and you can fall asleep.

3. Breath. Again mentioned in Meditation Monthly. If you are not breathing well, then as your body calms down, carbon dioxide builds up and you fall asleep. This is remedied by cultivating a strong exhale. I would look at the DVD on Longevity Breathing.

4. Going too deep too fast. Particularly with dissolving. In the context of this exercise if you put your attention inside too quick it can keep going in to sleep. I would try sitting and then gradually paying more and more attention to whatever exercise you are working on (remember 70% rule)

5. Encountering something you can’t process (yet) again this is more for the dissolving practices, but you can definitely hit stuff your mind is not ready to deal with yet and…… Sleep. Go slowly and gently.

I would look at posture, alignment and breathing first.

Try a nice cup of tea before you meditate…

It worked for Bhodi-Dharma !

Good idea. If you are really tired you will normally not doing a standing training. It may bring more quickly fresh energies if you lack a good breathing training included automatically in a good standing by activating the lower belly

But it also is possible that inner strength and stored chi is lacking.The higher energy level of such a training will make you sleepy in a depleted status caused by medication.

So you lack normally also sufficient concentration for counting the breath.
The main focus could be in this case collecting energy also in lying by the know two hands over the lower dantien. And if you fall asleep sleep a have a further try afterwards with fresh forces.

Axel