Mindfulness meditation activates the rest and digest response of our parasympathetic nervous system, so we often feel relaxed during meditation practice. When we are relaxed, it’s easy to doze off, especially if we are tired or sleep-deprived. That’s very natural. In fact, falling asleep during meditation is very common. This tendency is so common that meditation postures are designed, in part, to facilitate wakefulness in the midst of relaxation.
It takes practice to maintain a balance between relaxed and alert when we are meditating. With training, we can be both relaxed AND awake. Like a string on a violin, it cannot make a note if it is too loose, and it will break if it is too tight. Similarly, in our mindfulness meditation, we have to find that middle ground.
The way to do that is to simply pay attention. Even when we are relaxed and calm, we can still pay attention. We can be aware of our breath, our body, our surroundings, and our thoughts. When we notice that we are drifting off into sleep, we can make the choice to fall awake instead of fall asleep, and reconnect with our breath. Granted, it can sometimes be hard to do, especially when we are tired. And that’s OK. We just do the best we can.
Even if we doze off while meditating, we’re still going to wake up at some point. Whenever you come to, just recognize that you’ve drifted off. It’s no different from discovering that we’ve drifted off into thoughts and fantasies while meditating. We just acknowledge it, without judgment, and bring our awareness back to the breath.
Falling asleep is no problem, because we can always wake up. Mindfulness practice is about waking up to our life in each moment. That is a choice we can learn to make.
Mindfulness FAQ 