The Black Ribbon Thread (The Sleeping Quarters)

[The Shogun]

 

 

 

 

Do you find that you constantly fall asleep during meditation?

 

 

 

 

 

Share your advice, experiences, questions, and challenges in here.

 

 

 

 

 

Just don't disturb those who are already sleeping.

 

[PinkNinja]

I suck at sleeping. I should work on this in a future challenge.

[ChrisWithaStick]

Sleep rituals/patterns/etc, anyone?  I'm off track with getting my butt to bed - anyone have personal experiences with setting a routine - and - making it work?

[Mistr]

I know people who have had success with setting an alarm for 30 minutes before bedtime. That let's you know it is time to stop what you are doing and get ready for bed. I tried this method and gave up. I can totally ignore an alarm when I am in the middle of something.

 

I do better when I choose my evening activities to take less time than I think I'll have. It also helps to promise myself I can do something fun in the morning if I get to bed early.

 

For staying awake during meditation, my zen teacher suggested biting your tongue. And working on getting more sleep.

[Kishi]

For me, I've found that cutting myself off from media that is nonfiction/interactive works really well to just get me to slow down and get bored enough to sleep.

 

Another thing to try is a cold compress across your back for 15-30 minutes before you go to bed. The lowered temperature actually can help put you under pretty fast if you go to bed right after.

[Chen Wangting]

I use apps (for my computer and my phone) the change the light the screen emits. Helps me a lot. Besides that i try to keep the room where i sleep as dark as possible. I try to shut of all media about 30 minutes to an hour before going to bed. Temperature also plays a role.

 

Also i use sheep wool bed clothes instead of feather ones. Normal covers, so you couldn't tell the difference when you don't open the covers. I find it regulates the temperature better for me. Feathers are almost always a bit to warm for me.

[Teirin]

I found learning to accept not finishing things help.  No, finishing the dishes is not worth getting to bed that late.

 

Other than that, tea and reading is a nice way to settle.

[Thrillho]

Sleeping has been my game-changer for February.  Literally everything in my life has gotten better since I started using melatonin to sleep at night and letting myself sleep in until 6:30am in the morning. 

[ChrisWithaStick]

Are you just using the melatonin to readjust your sleep schedule, or do you see it as more of a regular supplement?

[Thrillho]

I was using it to re-adjust my sleep schedule, but I am finding I need it almost every night just because it takes me 2 hours to fall asleep without it for 45 minutes with.

[UnknownUser]

I know that i'm not a poster boy for getting enough sleep, but I find that I don't have much difficulty falling asleep once i'm in bed. I have an extremely active imagination and it likes to go off on tangents all the time. Especially when i'm trying to sleep. Since I have so many ideas popping into my head all the time, i've gotten into the habit of immediately taking note of anything noteworthy. I make use of Evernote, Wunderlist, and I actually have two notepads on my desk at all times (I even have a massive whiteboard next to my desk). If it's something that needs to be done, it gets stuck in Wunderlist or on a physical sticky note. Anything else has a home in Evernote. I find that doing this helps keep my wandering mind stay focused. I hate forgetting things, so it also helps with that.

 

What do y'all think? Do you do something similar?

[Luciana Valerosa Culming]

I know that i'm not a poster boy for getting enough sleep, but I find that I don't have much difficulty falling asleep once i'm in bed. I have an extremely active imagination and it likes to go off on tangents all the time. Especially when i'm trying to sleep. Since I have so many ideas popping into my head all the time, i've gotten into the habit of immediately taking note of anything noteworthy. I make use of Evernote, Wunderlist, and I actually have two notepads on my desk at all times (I even have a massive whiteboard next to my desk). If it's something that needs to be done, it gets stuck in Wunderlist or on a physical sticky note. Anything else has a home in Evernote. I find that doing this helps keep my wandering mind stay focused. I hate forgetting things, so it also helps with that.

What do y'all think? Do you do something similar?

I sometimes write down to-do-lists or reminders before going to sleep. It helps me to stop thinking about this stuff.

[sarakingdom]

I may try the writing-things-down-before-bed method.  My sleep has been poor lately, and it's messing me around.

[Teirin]

Notes are great for settling your mind.  Once it's written down, you don't have that worry that you'll forget it.  I end up emailing myself or writing things down regularly.  All of my work notes are emailed so that they'll be at the office when I get there. 

 

My brain is also overly active at night.  Breathing exercises do help to shut it up and let me sleep.

[sarakingdom]

East Coast Monks who aren't getting to bed on time, how many of you are aiming for the 10:30 to 11pm range?

[Kishi]

Not at this time, no. I need to get from 4-5 to 2.

[Teirin]

Not so much.  I'm good if I get to bed by Midnight.  I'll get down to 11 pm someday.

[theodinspire]

My sleep seems to have fallen apart since last weekend: I haven't been able to fall asleep before midnight all week.

 

I have been avoiding screens more or less, and have been writing or reading immediately before lights out (which too is happening slightly later than I'd like). The only major change I can think of is that I've added leg stretching to my previously wrist only stretching before bed. Otherwise, I might entertain the theory that something is up with the batch of one of my prescriptions: my focus is a little more off during the day and I can't get to sleep, it makes me wonder if release was somehow affected to be longer lasting? I know that bio-effectiveness shouldn't change in medication, but that doesn't mean that it doesn't happen.

[Kishi]

Boy, that's a tough one to crack. I don't really know. I wouldn't want to advocate for you getting your medications adjusted because I'm not a medical professional and I don't think I have the right to speak up on that kind of thing.

 

Still, maybe try placing the stretching somewhere else if you can?

[sarakingdom]

Is it that you're letting the whole process drift later than it usually does and that it's taking longer to fall asleep when you get there?

 

I guess the first thing I'd try is just getting the whole going to be process back at its regularly scheduled time.  Sometimes if you run late, you get a second wind, and it doesn't help the sleeping.

[theodinspire]

Hah, I got to sleep before eleven! I missed two days of that medication this past weekend (one day because I find it interferes with reading comprehension, and the other because I just forgot DX), and I had a theory I had forgotten where I need a certain level of sleep debt while on this medication to have a "normal" night's rest. I mean it's that or that tiny beer I had at dinner (8 oz at 6:30). I'll be keeping my eye on it this weekend though.

[PinkNinja]

Getting up around 5:20 has actually helped me sleep more. I just have to keep remembering to go to bed on time. I'm less cloudy & groggy when I'm getting up at this early than when I was getting up at 7:30. It feels weird.

[RedStone]

I have a three fold that's been helping me lately (I've always been a terrible sleeper). White noise machines makes me sleepy the second I turn one on, something about the weight of a heavy comforter helps keep me still (physically), and when I can't turn off my thoughts, I count to 5, again and again and again. There's something meditative about that. 

 

What doesn't work for me for some reason is going down too early. 10:30 is the absolute earliest I allow myself, otherwise I wake up at 4am and stay up for several hours! If I go down at 11:30, I'm adequately tired enough to fall asleep and get my 8 hours in. (So long as I don't have any weird running into the GB Packers at a random bar dreams like I did last week...)

[Thrillho]

I really need to figure out the optimum level of natural sleep and chemical assistance.  I've been loving the melatonin lately to help me fall asleep, but in spite of getting a moderately solid 7 hours a night (that's ridiculously high for me), I am apparently having seizures again.  I had one last night WHILE falling asleep, and one just now.  The one now I can kind of see, the dog got me up at 4am, but last night just doesn't make any sense.  I NEVER have them at night.  Thinking I need to ease out of the melatonin and see if I can actually fall asleep naturally again. 

 

EDIT:  Also I am going to really cut back on my coffee again.  I've been enjoying it a little too much these last two weeks. 

[The Shogun]

Ok, guys. I'm having a bit of a problem with my sleeping pattern (sleeping hygiene?). For those who don't know, I used to live far away from my work. I used to wake up every day at 4:00 am just to get ready for a long commute. Last January, I moved closer to work. Since then, I've been trying to wake up at 5:00 am (after 7 hours of sleep) so I can do some workout, take a shower, get dressed and read a few pages of any philosophical book before I leave home. BUT, almost every night I end up waking up at 3:00 am. And then I can get back to a deep or restorative sleep. I just say in this soporific limbo between sleep and awake. I don't know if I should take it as an unhealthy sign for something else (am I being hunted by demons?!) or if I should take it as a sign of the force of habit that I still try to wake up at 4:00 am like I used to. 

 

Halp?