cant do the noting i disspear all the time

tamar meir, modified 13 Years ago at 7/25/10 11:00 AM
Created 13 Years ago at 7/25/10 11:00 AM

cant do the noting i disspear all the time

Posts: 2 Join Date: 7/25/10 Recent Posts
what should i do other than do the noting to this situation that i disappear to dream-sleep like situation. cant follow the points on the body i forget where i was, i am now in bhayayana
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Bruno Loff, modified 13 Years ago at 7/25/10 11:17 AM
Created 13 Years ago at 7/25/10 11:17 AM

RE: cant do the noting i disspear all the time

Posts: 1094 Join Date: 8/30/09 Recent Posts
This is common at first. I suggest you to think of it as a shocking revelation: "I can't even pay attention without falling asleep."

I also fell asleep very easily, and now I don't --- it goes away as the practice develops.

Two things that helped me specifically with this:

1) Do standing meditation or walking meditation, with noting. When standing, just do what you usually do; when walking, note the sensations associated with walking.

2) Note the hell out of the sensations associated with falling asleep. Note persistently and enthusiastically. Naturally this won't work for long. Once I find that I can not note any more because of too much sleepiness, I stand up, do some walking meditation for 5 minutes, and sit down again, note falling asleep again, and repeat.

Basically the point is to have your conscious attention to understand the boredom/sleepiness triggers, eventually to the point you can prevent them. This takes time.
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Eran G, modified 13 Years ago at 7/25/10 11:39 AM
Created 13 Years ago at 7/25/10 11:39 AM

RE: cant do the noting i disspear all the time

Posts: 182 Join Date: 1/5/10 Recent Posts
Other traditional ways to combat sleepiness are meditating with eyes open (the light helps bring energy to the mind), visualizing a bright light or stepping up your level of investigation of the object (become more interested, this again drives up energy).

Alternatively you could try this technique Mingyur Rinpoche calls sleeping meditation. There's a good write-up here: http://www.mengstupiditis.com/2009/05/misc-sleeping-meditation-with-yongey.html
tamar meir, modified 13 Years ago at 7/25/10 1:09 PM
Created 13 Years ago at 7/25/10 1:09 PM

RE: cant do the noting i disspear all the time

Posts: 2 Join Date: 7/25/10 Recent Posts
hi Bruno

thax, i found out something else that helped me... i changed my sitting position to a less comfortable one and now i dont fall asleep, only in the end i felt al little tired and i was drifting away a bit .

bye
J Adam G, modified 13 Years ago at 7/26/10 9:12 PM
Created 13 Years ago at 7/26/10 9:12 PM

RE: cant do the noting i disspear all the time

Posts: 286 Join Date: 9/15/09 Recent Posts
This is why many meditation traditions recommend that you sit upright on the floor. It's not particularly comfortable to sit like this, even though it may look dignified and peaceful to an onlooker. You just need a bit of discomfort/effort to keep from zoning out and falling asleep.

Another trick you can try is to note out loud.

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