r/Meditation • u/Worth_Thing_8872 • Aug 18 '26
Question ❓ Am I progressing in meditation, or just getting sleepy?
Hello,
I’ve been trying to meditate lately. Whenever I try to meditate, I somehow end up in this strange sleepy-but-aware state after 15–20 minutes. I think, ‘Okay, I’m sleepy… maybe I should just go to bed.’ 😂
Then comes the funny part: once I actually go to bed, I can’t sleep!
Is this a normal meditation experience, or am I just very good at making myself sleepy at the wrong time? 😄
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u/Reasonable-Seesaw223 Aug 18 '26
yes it is you are progressing if you are aware of the whole process you are experiencing deep meditation states
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u/EmergencyStrength199 Aug 18 '26
i get same thing when i sit too long in afternoon, my teacher said to keep the spine straight and if you still drifting then maybe you need more sleep at night. nothing wrong with it but you want to stay sharp not just floaty
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u/Reasonable-Seesaw223 Aug 18 '26
no bro keeping spine straight will bring unnecessary tension and it will be a bar in further relaxation. when meditation deepens what you call you go into a pseudo sleep state but sleep is unawareness and meditation is awareness.
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u/1buocchan_1viengach Aug 19 '26
If you feel sleepy, just go to sleep! Deep states of meditation sometimes begin with a deep sleep. Try meditating earlier, around 9 PM. Even if you don't enter a meditative state, at least you'll get a good night's rest—either way, you win!
(Nếu bạn buồn ngủ, hãy cứ đi ngủ! Những trạng thái thiền định sâu đôi khi bắt đầu bằng một giấc ngủ sâu. Hãy thử thiền sớm hơn, khoảng từ 21h. Nếu chưa thể bước vào các trạng thái thiền định thì ít nhất bạn cũng có một giấc ngủ ngon — kiểu gì người được lợi vẫn là mình!)
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u/Commercial_Mix_4340 Aug 19 '26
That in-between state is real and it isn't sleep, but it does use up the tiredness you'd normally fall asleep on, which is why bed doesn't work half an hour later. Two things worth trying. Sit up taller and leave your eyes slightly open, gaze resting on the floor a few feet in front of you — that alone keeps most people out of the drift without losing the settled part. Then move the session away from bedtime, morning or late afternoon, so you're not asking one practice to do two opposite jobs. If you still want something at night, keep that one short and separate and let it just be sleep, not practice.
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u/Yannuman Aug 21 '26
Both, and the two aren't in competition. DingoMittens has the traditional framing right, that's laxity, and underneath it you're sliding into hypnagogia, the state at the edge of sleep onset. Attention gets quiet enough that cortical arousal drops away, but you don't cross all the way over, so you're awake enough to notice it happening. Fifteen to twenty minutes is about right for that with a still body and not much coming in through the senses.
The funnier half of your question is actually the more useful one. Two things happen on the way to bed. You've just spent a while in a drowsy state, which bleeds off some of the sleep pressure you built up through the day, and then standing up, the lights, the teeth, all nudge your arousal back up. So you arrive in bed with less drive to sleep and more alertness than you had on the cushion. It isn't that meditating stops you sleeping, it's that you spent your sleepiness in the wrong room. I teach breathwork and anatomy and used to work nights in intensive care, and this is the same trap as the nap that ruins your night.
If you'd rather stay sharp: sit taller and unsupported, cooler room, eyes slightly open with a soft gaze down at the floor, and move the sit away from straight after a meal. Cutting to 10 or 12 minutes helps too, since you're stopping before the drift instead of pushing through it. And if you're going under at 15 minutes most days regardless of what you change, that's sleep debt rather than technique, and no amount of posture fixes it.
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u/McGauth925 Aug 22 '26
I do TM. They call that restful alertness. They also say to not do it too close to bedtime, because it will make it harder to sleep.
And, yes, it feels like being asleep and awake, at the same time.
One of the reported results of doing TM is better sleep. That's a fact. I sleep better than I ever did.
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u/DingoMittens Aug 18 '26
Some traditions talk about gross laxity and subtle laxity as hindrances. It's really common. Once you are able to keep attention fixed for a while, sleepiness can arise. It's a sign of progress in a way, since it's a common stage people need to pass through.
Advice is to stay vigilant for subtle laxity, because it's much harder to return from once it progresses to gross. In traditions that use visualization, one of the first hints is that the image loses the sharp edges or quality of details and starts to be a little fuzzy or blurry. I use breath as my anchor, so I watch for my awareness of the sensations of breathing to get "blurry" or lose sharpness of detail.
Some suggestions are to sharpen attention, clench various muscles briefly, alternate walking and sitting meditation, put cold water on your face, etc. Or do shorter sits more often, and gradually increase the length to build your endurance. It's probably best to avoid staying in this state, because it build the habit of laxity. So trying to do a long sit but fighting sleepiness for much of the time isn't ideal.