sleeping problems

[galtar]

Hello everyone,

I've been doing AYP Deep Mediation for about a month now and been been enjoying it, yet having a few problems. I had one experience where I felt extremely frustrated and irritable after a session. Since then I've implemented self-pacing and dropped my time down to the 10-15 minute range and be sure to rest after the meditation session. That has helped the irritability. The main problem I've had now (since week 2)is that I'm having trouble sleeping. I seem to wake up many times throughout the night, or else just wake up two hours before my usual time. I've not yet begun any of the pranayama yet and feel like I need to wait a few months for that, but I have added Dr. Weil's 4-7-8 breathing techniques to help relax before bedtime. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance. This is a great site and a great web community!

[Shanti]

Welcome to the AYP forum Galtar![]

Excellent self pacing and increasing rest to avoid irritability...

What time do you do your second practice session? Make sure you don't meditate close to bed time.

[AumNaturel]

Welcome Galtar,
eating well during the day, and any bit of exercise can help the body ease into sleep as its temperature is able to drop lower after a peak. Seems there is a difference in how the routine influences sleep. My second one can be long and I do it sometimes late night right before jumping into bed, and if anything I am much more calm and relaxed, unlike when concentrating at something all day which really throws me off into light sleep.

Have you done other forms of meditation before AYP? If not, try giving it some time and see if your body is able to compensate or adjust.

[Medea]

Hi Galtar,

I've had practice-related sleeping problems too. What helped for me is to keep at least 3 hours between the last session and sleeping time. Also, when I can't sleep I drink a glass of milk. I met a yogi once that told me when I was unable to sleep, it was because the nerves are 'over-heated' and one should cool them down by drinking a glass of milk. I know it sounds silly but works like a charm...

[galtar]

Thank you all for the input!

Shanti: I usally do a session when I get home from work ~6:00pm. I try to go to sleep around 10:30-11:00pm.

AumNaturel: I have done a small amount of Vipassana meditation where I watched my breath, but only for a few days. I find the mantra meditation easier for my level at the moment.

[AumNaturel]

Keep us posted on how things work out. I also did regular hour long twice daily breath meditation for a year, and then past that alternated it with other practices, and I recall clearly that it was harder to sleep for some time, but not always. With those longer times it may be possible to deplete serotonin levels necessary for falling asleep, so eating something containing the precursor tryptophan (ex. banana) can sometimes help a bit. 5-HTP is a very direct one which can create tolerance and offset natural production of 5-ht, so better remain on the natural end of things if extra nutrition helps.

[nookslist]

Along with meditation you should have to do some physical work or physical exercises during the day. It will help you in sleeping better at night..

[Arman]

Even with quite a lot of pacing and doing my second session at least ~6 hours before sleeping, I still had what I considered purification related sleep problems. Sometimes it comes and lasts for a week or two then goes away.