Sleeping Meditation for a Deep Undisturbed Sleep !
Having had a busy day at my college, I came home in the evening and after all the routines like walking and going to the gym, I had my dinner. After spending some time with family and of course on social media when I just went to bed, my God, who is that, pumping thoughts in my mind like this? Have you seen a kid blowing bubbles with soap water at the beach or a park? My thoughts have gone more than that, feeling very restless. I wanted to sleep early so that I could get a good sleep and be fresh while waking up the next day.
I put in lots of effort, switching off all the lights ensuring complete darkness in the room, closing my eyes tightly, covering myself with a bedsheet fully, and thinking that I should get to sleep soon! Alas, not getting sleep so easily! The continuous pouring in of random thoughts is not letting me sleep! Not getting sleep and wanting to sleep are contradicting, in turn generating more thoughts like, if I am not getting sleep how can I be fresh the next day? Why am I getting these many thoughts that are not allowing me to sleep? ….The more I try to stop the thoughts and get to sleep the more additional thoughts are created. Are you also experiencing this or is it just me?
Andy Pudddicombe, in his book Meditation and Mindfulness, says “Lying down in bed at night, free from all distractions is like the first few moments of meditation. Suddenly you are alone with your thoughts. All day you have been busy with other people or doing other things, and these thoughts have been nothing but background noise in your head. While you may have had a vague awareness of this background noise of thoughts coming and going, it’s quite likely that many of them will have gone unacknowledged, and unprocessed. Lying there undisturbed in silence, it’s only natural that those thoughts would become more obvious.”
It is not that our thoughts go into overdrive while going to bed, they are there unnoticed when we are busy during the day and we can not leave them unnoticed when we are alone doing no other work! While searching for a solution for this I came across the technique of “Sleeping Meditation” which is a three-step technique given by Andy Pudddicombe. Let me just paraphrase his technique with no addition or deletion!
Sleeping Meditation, a three step exercise:
The Headspace guide to Meditation and Mindfulness by Andy Pudddicombe
Preparation for the exercise: Before going to bed make sure that you finish off all the routine things you do before going to sleep(like locking the door, using the bathroom, …). Now, as you are ready to go to sleep, lie flat on your back. Keeping a pillow and covering with a blanket are as per your comfort. Once you are comfortable with the position, take five deep breaths, breathing in through the nose and out through the mouth. Try to get a sense of lungs filling with air as you are breathing in and imagine the thoughts and feelings of the day just disappearing as you breathe out.
Step 1: Begin with checking in, noticing how you are feeling, in both body and mind. Take your own time with this part of the exercise and observe your feelings, body is comfortable, relaxed, or tense and whether your mind is free or disturbed, etc. Next, become aware of the physical points of contact. Bring your attention back to the sensation of the body touching the bed, … the sounds, or other sensations. Do not worry if there are lots of thoughts coming around and just let them come and go without resisting them!
Now try to get a sense of how the body actually feels, a more accurate picture by mentally scanning down through the body, from head to toe, gently observing any tension or tightness.
Remember to notice the areas that feel relaxed and comfortable, as well as any areas of discomfort.
By this time, you will notice the rising and falling sensation of the breath. Do not try to change the rhythm of the breath, instead allow the body to breathe in its own way. All you need to do is to be aware of the breath! Again, as you watch the breath for a minute or two, it’s quite normal for the mind to wander off. When you realize you have been distracted gently bring back your attention to your breath.
Step 2: This step is about thinking back through the day in a focused and structured way. Begin by thinking back to the very first moment you can remember in the day, right after waking up in the morning. Turning off the alarm, brushing my teeth, meditating, breathing, going to college, meeting faculty, …Take a maximum of three minutes to go through the entire day, right up to the present moment. It is not as easy as it sounds. You will get into thinking while replaying the moments, (for example, when my mind was replaying the moment Aruni and I having lunch with my friend’s family at a restaurant, I started thinking about we should bring Niranjana and Devesh once, they might like that Kerala cuisine etc) and this is normal for the mind. So, as before, when you realize you have been distracted, gently return to the playing back of the day from where you left off.
Step 3: Having brought yourself up to the present moment, you can now return your focus to the body. Place your attention on the small toe of the left foot and imagine that you are just switching it off for the night. You can say the word “rest” or “switch off” in your mind as you focus on the toe. Do the same with the next toe, and the next, and continue the same way through each and every part of the leg up to the hip. Before you repeat this exercise with the right leg, take a moment to notice the difference in the feeling between the leg that has been ‘switched off’ and the one that has not. Repeat the same to the right leg and continue to arms, hands, and up through the throat, neck, face, and head. Take a moment to enjoy the sensation of being free of tension, of not needing to do anything with the body! You can now allow your mind to wander as much as it wants!
Practicing sleeping meditation has worked for me and that is the reason why I shared the same with you. But, practicing this exercise is not as simple as it sounds! I have been doing this for the past two months, but still, I am not able to complete step 3 as my thoughts are taking me away from the exercise very frequently, and noticing that my mind is wandering takes a longer time than during the meditation in the morning! Maybe the quiet and undisturbed environment is so convenient for my mind to wander away for a longer time! But, the success story is I am getting a good sleep without much disturbance, particularly the full-length movie-like dreams. I can very well notice the difference in the feeling between the leg that has been ‘switched off’ and the other. Also, I have never come to the throat level, before that I have slipped into deep sleep!
You may please refer to his book for a more detailed description!
Along with this exercise, we can try a few more things:
- Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day, even on weekends.
- Avoid large meals, caffeine, and alcohol close to bedtime.
- Keep your bedroom cool, dark, and quiet.
- Try to avoid screens at least 30 minutes before bed to help your body naturally prepare for sleep.
- Engage in relaxing activities like reading, meditation, or gentle stretching before bedtime.
- Regular physical activity can help you fall asleep faster and enjoy deeper sleep, and
- Apply coconut oil on the feet and give a gentle massage for a few minutes.
Sleep is often taken for granted, but it’s essential for both our physical and mental well-being. The quality of our sleep has a direct impact on the quality of our lives, what do you say?. By implementing simple habits to improve it, we can be healthy and more energized thus live a happy life!
Comments (3)
P.Arunachalam
The block on sleeping meditation is really written on different note from usual approach.
The 3 simple steps reproduced will definitely help in getting a deep sleep without any disturbances through out.
But the 3 simple steps should be followed with ease without taking it too seriously , else it would not be possible .
Just I want to remind an old story to substantiate this statement.
Once an ayurvedic doctor told his patient if this particular medicine is taken regularly you will gain amazing power and you will grow rich over a period of time. But he stated a condition for taking the medicine. The condition his “ before taking this medicine” you should not think of a monkey.
The patient tried for weeks together and failed to acheive the result, because whenever he take the medicine , the thought of the monkey comes along with that.
Hence while trying this 3 simple steps , you should not think that nothing should pop into my mind that disturbs my meditation.
Thanks for explaining the sleeping meditation in the simplest way possible.
Will try and come back with the results.
Thanks
P.Arunachalam
pavaiwebadmin
Yes, restraining thoughts creates more and more new thoughts! Thank you 😊
R. Jeyalakshmi
Interesting ma’am. I just take this for granted. But after reading this I feel that I should have a good control over my thought process (which is very difficult) I am amazed to follow those three steps. As sir said, that three steps may lead to hundred other thoughts🤔💭 ma’am. Will try to be conscious hereafter.
Thank you for your thought provoking ideas ma’am.