Often, meditation can feel like you’re just sitting there going over your to-do list or thinking about the process of meditation itself, which can cause the time to drag on. Rest assured that you might be going deep into meditation—even if you don’t realize it. Like falling asleep, the transition into a deep meditation can be subtle. Admittedly, this is where the practice gets tricky. Anyone who’s tried to make themselves go to sleep at night by thinking about how they can’t sleep usually ended up keeping themselves awake for longer. Instead, sleep experts recommend keeping your mind preoccupied with other things, like picturing sheep, counting backward, or reading. And this is why, historically, some meditation styles have employed the use of a mantra, yantra, or breath awareness, to gently lure the mind away from surface awareness, so you forget about the fact that you’re meditating at all. From the outside, it looked like you could’ve been sleeping, but on the inside, it weirdly felt like you were still sitting upright. It’s also not unusual for meditators in these extremely deep states to drool on themselves from time to time. While jogging, your breathing rate will be heavy. While sitting and reading a book, your breathing rate is significantly lower. While sleeping, your breathing rate slows even more. And while meditating, your breathing rate can reach levels that are even deeper than sleep, where you’re barely breathing at all. During these pockets of extremely deep rest, you may stop breathing altogether. This is usually followed by a deep gulp of air, after which, everything will quickly even out and you can continue breathing normally. RELATED: Breathwork: How To Tap Into The Incredible Power Of Breath The trick is to adopt this attitude of indifference about all meditation experiences. Also, understand that consistency plays a huge role in the quality of your experiences. Don’t look for major changes in your first few days or weeks, or even months of meditation. They will eventually occur but usually when you least expect them to happen. Remember: All meditations are useful, and each one makes it easier for you to have more effortless experiences in your next meditation.
