VermilionFloyd

Thank you all for your ideas!

Hi everyone, I have been practicing various meditative techniques for 4 years now. Initially, it was the standard “focus-on-your-breath” / “watch-your-thoughts-pass-by” styles, but later I would switch to self-inquiry, as described by Leo and/or Rupert Spira, since the goal is obviously to get to know one’s true Self, rather than just reduce stress and calm down. I used to sit for an hour a day, then reduced that to 40 mins a day, in one sitting. I felt like I was experiencing some degree of progress initially (although this assertion is obviously unquantifiable), but that stalled about 9-12 months ago. What happened was quite peculiar… I started to FALL ASLEEP. I did not change the habit in any way, yet instead of being wide awake, mindful, and alert (which I was before), I can clearly see how nowadays, about 10-15 mins into the session, my “brain frequency” switches into this weird state of being half asleep, half awake. Rather than on my Self, I need to focus on not falling fully asleep the rest of the session. Sometimes it slips out of control, and my head shoots up as I instinctively try to wake up before actually falling down. I am not delusional: this is not “going deeper”, “getting closer” or “exploring new realms”, it’s a derailment. This thing happens regardless of whether I’ve just had a huge meal or am in a fasted state, whether I had a good night’s sleep or not, whether I’ve had a cup of coffee or not, or whether I sit to self-inquire at 10am or 6pm. The whole thing just took a huge U-turn and I feel like a complete noob now, with no additional progress. Any tips on how to resolve this? Anyone been in a similar situation? Thanks a lot!