I’m making a better effort to meditate, but I don’t know if I’m doing it right. Focusing on my breathing and releasing thoughts is hard and if I relax too much, I fall asleep.
If you have related issues when meditating, have you found better ways to meditate or alternatives that give you similar results?
You mentioned that when you relax to meditate, you fall asleep.
Do you think it may be that you are just low on sleep? It might be good to just let that happen or to try meditating around when it would be okay to fall asleep for the night.
I am very low on sleep. I’m bad at it, and I’m starting to improve my sleep hygiene. If meditation as I initially interpreted it gets me to sleep, then maybe that’s a useful practice to explore. Thanks!
It’s funny, in making this post, I’m hearing people saying it’s okay for my body and mind to act the way it does. There’s this layer of acceptance that makes me glad I brought this question to hexbear.
Sleep is important! If meditation gets you sleep I think that is a good thing.
Hexbear is overall pretty good at empathizing and trying to understand and help - and often has folks that have relevant personal experience so they don’t try to offer bad advice or make it all about themselves. I think it has a pretty good culture around this kind of thing!
Here’s the 2 minute video that got me into meditation and that I personally find really motivating. Helps rationalize/demystify it a bit so you don’t get down on yourself when you experience some turbulence.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
repeating small phrases or mantras in my mind has helped me to calm the linguistic part of my mind. it doesnt really matter which phrase but it might help if you find it personally meaningful and can find a ‘rhythm’ to think or say the words to. for bodily restlessness consider repetitive or structured full body motions, others have suggested yoga which is likely ideal in a physical health sense, also consider dancing, drumming, or other similar movements as long as you are careful to stretch and avoid repetitive strain injuries etc., plenty of cultures and subcultures have sought altered states of mind through ecstatic practices as well as inhibitory.
I’d never considered a dichotomy of ecstatic and inhibitory practices like that. This is wild because I stim sometimes and dance when nobody is around and I just sort of feel my body at peace while in motion.
I think I’ll look into mantras, though I saw the clear explanation of ‘Aum’ in the YouTube video posted here so I think I may try that first.
Thank you!
I highly suggest this whole series and the following one. But exercise six helps with restlessness/worry as well as sloth/torpor.
https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/resources/satipatthana-audio/
Suggestion is to do exercise six so you know where it’s going. Then do the whole series, practicing with one every day for a week.
The series after is this one.
https://www.buddhistinquiry.org/resources/breathing-audio/
Both are based on the Buddha’s own practice and teachings. And the meditation instructor is a well respected scholar of early Buddhism.
The short answer is, when sleepy or dull recall that you’re going to die on the in breath. Let go on the out. If restlessness is present, pay more attention to the out breath.
