3 Situations When You Should Celebrate Falling Asleep in Meditation
One of the most common complaints I hear as a meditation coach is, "I tried meditating, but I keep falling asleep." Here is my take on it. Falling asleep is perfectly normal when:
1) You have a sleep debt (from small kids, night shifts, etc):
If you don't sleep enough, your body will snatch any opportunity to send you to the Dreamland. From the body's vantage point, meditation is a perfect time to grab a nap: you have already blocked your calendar for 10-20 minutes and arranged for a quiet spot, so why not? Your nervous system doesn't particularly care if you wanted an "I-am-in-the-Himalayas" kind of experience and got a nap instead. If you don't sleep enough, your body will prioritize a nap over a meditation.
If this happens, instead of being upset, please consider patting yourself on the back for being such a self-care champion! Once your night sleep improves, you will naturally stay alert during your practice.
NOTE: Many people will shift into a dream-like state during meditation, anywhere from seconds to minutes in duration. That's normal.
2) You are recovering from illness.
Truth be told, it is not easy to meditate when we are sick. Many techniques are about enjoying the flow of breath or becoming aware of the body. None of it is much fun when our noses are clogged and muscles ache. Thankfully, there are special techniques we could use where the goal is to slide into dreamy, sweet states of healing.
Recently, I was coaching a friend who just got over the cold. She works in drug development, so I doubt she took a single day of sick leave. A couple of minutes into our meditation, she shifted into a state so deep that she couldn't hear me talking. In her words, "My body became very heavy, and I kind of just drifted away. How did it happen? I rarely rest so deeply".
When your body needs it, and someone experienced guides you, you can go into deep rest in seconds. It happens because our bodies shift into a parasympathetic mode (rest-and-digest) instead of running on adrenaline and stress (fight-of-flight).
3) You meditate around bedtime.
A friend told me once that he falls asleep every time he meditates. Turns out, he practices at 10:30 pm, right before bedtime. I suggested that he explore meditating for 10 minutes after work or before dinner instead.
NOTE: Be careful with what techniques you practice in the evening. You can get such a fantastic energy boost that you might have trouble winding down later. One woman told me that after our 7 pm group meditation, she had to work out for a few hours to settle down.
In conclusion, any time when you are low on sleep, falling asleep in meditation is perfectly healthy and wonderful. Please don't make yourself wrong for meeting your own needs.