Falling asleep

Meditation can sometimes make you fall asleep... And while this is normal from a physiological point of view, as your body and mind relax, it is not what is intended. The practice of mindfulness meditation requires you to be fully aware and this is obviously not possible if you are sleeping.

The aim is to remain fully anchored in the present moment and therefore not to fall asleep.

Dozing off during a meditation session is not necessarily a problem or an excuse to skip your daily meditation session. However, it can indeed be distracting for you or for the people meditating around you. It makes the session a little too relaxing and causes you to miss some of the essential aspects of meditation.

Here are some tips on how to stay awake if you doze off too often during sessions: 

• Try to meditate at a time when you will be less likely to fall asleep (in other words, not after a meal, in the evening or too soon after waking up). Take the time to wake up completely in the morning before meditating, because it sometimes takes a while to get your mind in gear. You can read our article When should I meditate? to find the best time for you.
• Adopt the correct posture. Neither rigid nor slouching.
• You can also imagine that during the meditation a huge ball of light is floating immediately before your head, slightly above your face, and that it's pouring light over you.
• You can also move during a session if you feel yourself nodding off. Don't struggle against it. Instead stretch, get up, massage your face, refresh yourself...
• If someone beside you falls asleep while meditating, gently but firmly touch their arm to bring them back to the here and now.