patrick o connor:
Most of the references to it that I've encounterd seem to suggest some form of fight with it, try and energise yourself somehow
Yeah more effort is the party line, i pref what Alan Wallace says rather than Sayadaw U Pandita. But Both can be useful, you gotta work when to use what.
get enough sleep; may be your not used to being relaxed and alert and so practice will sort it; possibly unconscious material has surfaced and sleep is a form of suppression; what seems of value to me is to try and investigate it, become familiar with the nuances of it, notice my posture, notice how much attention is left, how much can i be aware of the drowsiness that is claiming me, do I remember the micro sleeps and dreams that occur. It also helps to remember that this is a phase that passes and not something to get too bothered about.
Awareness i.e. more Mindfulness can energise you, true but it seems to work better for more advance practitioners, walking is easier! Get enough sleep is good but don't get lazy, balance again, you have to work it out? If your asleep your not aware! so you can't be aware of micro sleeps,

but i know what you mean. And, well sitting up all night in the Thai Tradition is a great Monthly/Fortnight challenge, it seems to stimulate effort, cause the way to increase effort is to make more effort, or just walk more.
Development of concentration seems so non linear. At times I have an easy access concentration and other time days go by where I struggle with sleep and can't keep my eyes open. Other hindrances can become a focus for attention themselves but this hinderance removes attention itself...There doesn't seem to be a whole lot of useful material about this for some reason.
Indeed, to the first point. Regularity in the face of hinderances,.. all things past etc. When sleepy, walk, increase effort, when agitated, sit and w8 to become calm, watch the rising and falling. A smaller area of attention to increases concentration in the face of excitation, but don't over exert, you must stay relaxed while you increase the concentration. U pandita says concentration is increased from continued & maintained effort, not from pushing really hard, right now, to stop the thoughts; works until it makes you sleep from over effort.
How much awareness can one have while this hindrance is present?
In the practice of wake induced lucid dreams one keeps awareness as sleep and dreams happen. There was a time when I used to be able to do this. this leval of subtle awareness would be interesting if it could apply to this hindrance.
Deep jhana is like going to sleep while staying awake, someone said? I like this idea, there seems to be some truth to it. Not really connected to sleepy problems; directly. Look relaxation, then stability, then vividness is the key, doesn't matter whether it's momentary or fixed (lol; fixed isn't actually fixed until jhana) concentration. Fuck, dream Yoga is cool, but are you doing Vipassana Shamatha or Dream Yoga. I like some ideas a friend shared; with some consciousness dreaming exercises, i.e. asking your self if your dreaming during the day and maintaining consciousness/mindfulness through out the day. Probably works better with a Dzogchen approach which is sort of built out of a fixation with out an object base. Alan Wallaces Companion Book to 'the attention revolution' goes into this some more, 'Stilling the Mind; Dudjom Lingepa'.
this leval of subtle awareness would be interesting if it could apply to this hindrance
cross technique problem here, can't be bothered explaining, read those two book and the study some Vipassana Stuff. Either be aware and mindful and practice complementary fixation practices with dream yoga conscious dreaming exercises or mindful and investigative of phenomena. You awaken intensity doing Vipassana so best to really push it otherwise you get stuck in it. Lol loud, as this is really good advice for me. Now in practice, the dark-night is like a hound at my legs scratching at me with the sensations of existence, when not occupied in a concentrated manner. So called Dzogchen practice is probably merely fixation with out an object. 'Stilling the Mind' Clarifies this point.
There u go Patrick, Rambled on quite bit for you,may it be of help, Neem.