What many people call falling asleep during meditation, experts call it transcending.
What many people call falling asleep during meditation, experts call it transcending. This is known as the fourth state of consciousness where the right and the left parts of the brain are functioning in sync. The body gets this deep rest but the brain is highly aware and alert. This is only for those short periods of time where you feel as if you fell asleep.
When we are sleeping our brains are relaxing while our bodies tend to be on guard. On the other hand when we are meditating our bodies are resting, while our brains are on guard. But how does sleeping during meditation affect us? Let’s take a look at this together.
When we are sleeping our brains are relaxing while our bodies tend to be on guard. On the other hand when we are meditating our bodies are resting, while our brains are on guard. But how does sleeping during meditation affect us? Let’s take a look at this together.
For people who are new to meditation, they cannot tell whether they are falling asleep or getting deeper into the session. Can you fall asleep while meditating? Of course, you can and it happens to people all the time.
In fact, a lot of people get into meditation to be able to overcome anxiety-related insomnia. If you are particularly stressed and you don’t get enough rest, once you start meditating your body will try to use this opportunity to sleep and catch up.
Falling asleep during meditation is totally normal and nothing bad comes with that. Chances are that you will wake up after a quick five-minute nap or if you are meditating while laying down on your bed, then you might take a full sleep. Don’t worry, this is normal as well. You will probably wake up feeling refreshed and clearer than you would if you would sleep normally.
Just to mention, people that don’t meditate are used to be both fully aware and awake, or in an anxious state, or totally off, asleep. Meditation helps you balance that to find some common ground between the two. This practice tries to keep you alert but also relaxed at the same time. As we said, our bodies tend to be fully relaxed, so much that you might feel as though you are asleep, but our mind is fully aware.
In such a state you have not drifted off into a dreamy sleep state, since your mind is focused. This is the point that most people who practice meditation try to reach and maintain. Relaxed but still aware. It is hard in the beginning since you either tend to get distracted and lose relaxation or become too relaxed and fall asleep. Remember, both cases are totally normal and you just have to practice it more to become used to it.
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