Hi Mark, so I tried your practice last night. My ideal sleep time should be from 10PM-6AM
I woke up at 4:30 AM, after a quick drink of water. returned to bed and tried your practice.
I hope I did it correctly, I was somewhat surprized that my mind moved around quite a bit. not fast, but in slow motion the awareness would shift, from left cheek to right side of torso etc. The end result was a light sleep state, but I was glued to the bed and then woke up exactly at 6AM, feeling refreshed like I had a complete 8 hours of sleep.
If I am able to gain control over my sleep that would be very significant step for me indeed. Could you please provide some feedback if I did it correctly?
All the best, humbleone
Hi, humbleone,
Great to hear that you had some success with what I’m describing as “waking up and falling asleep”. Yes, that sounds like the practice; I’m grateful that you tried it at that hour of the morning, as in my experience that’s a very good time to see the mind moving. In my experience, it’s even possible to sleep when I’m in a lot of pain, by hanging with the mind that way- at least it was when they did my ablation, which is a heart procedure for arrhythmia done with catheters these days. My whole body felt pretty shot for a couple of days afterward, and at one point I felt sure I needed to sleep but everywhere was a difficulty as far as relaxing, yet by “following the mind” and being where I was I was able to get a few minutes- which was all I needed to turn the corner at that time.
If you do any seated or even standing meditation in the morning, you may see why I’m referring to the practice as “waking up and falling asleep”. In waking up, I am looking to relinquish my activity, and allow the place of mind to generate activity out of the stretch I find myself in. I have a description of the translations of motion in the lotus which I have updated recently, yet in the end I am convinced that everything I need to know I learn by being where I am, as I am. I just have to be open to it.