Is sleeping a meditation?

Sometimes I don’t listen. I would rather be wandering around the hallways of my mind with my old thoughts than pay attention to what is right in front of me. Old habits never die, they just get older.

That happened yesterday at the office. My thoughts about a certain old topic were coming a bit too fast for my liking so I decided it would be a good time to sit down and ask a few questions of myself and my guides in meditation. Actually I didn’t sit, I lay on the bodywork table. When my breathing and thoughts slowed down I focused on my first question - and promptly fell asleep. Hey, it happens. I figured it was exactly what I needed. I woke up happy and rested right before my client arrived. A successful meditation!

I used to doze off quite a bit when I first started meditating on my own 17 years ago. (OK, I used to fall asleep in group meditations too, and still do.) Back then I would get upset with myself and think I was doing something wrong, or that I was not disciplined enough. These days, I sometimes get a clear message to sleep as I am sitting in my practice. Sleep. I don’t need to hear that twice. Sleep. Thanks for the invitation. I accept.

Anyway… My last client came and went, and I was packing things up in an effort to get to the health food store to buy some Chocolate Almond Chip Chunks of Energy™ when I heard, “Stop. Sit. Listen and write.” That’s a little message I get from my guides when they are ready to pass on some information to me.

“Sure,” I thought, “I’ve got chocolate on my mind and NOW you want to talk to me.”

“Stop. Sit. Listen and write.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Please sit and write. We have some things to tell you.”

“Can I do it later?”

“Sit, please.”

Does that sound like a conversation between a child and a parent? This is what I live with in my head folks!

So I sat, I listened and I wrote. Here is some of what I heard:

“Thank you for slowing down to listen. Every little step you take toward authentic listening allows you to absorb the LOVE that is always available.”

“You hold the key. Stop thinking that someone else is driving your car. You hit the brakes. You accelerate. You sit and wait or you allow the momentum of your thoughts to propel you into the life that you are wanting.”

“You are on the threshold of another new month which means that you are on the verge of another brilliant discovery about your self and our world - the Universe - Life - Creation.”

“Open to LOVE and KNOW TRUTH.”

“Freedom feels good, doesn’t it?”

And what about sleep as meditation?

“As you know, when the body is resting, the mind is able to release itself from the ordinary reality that you subject it to. Sleeping gives your conscious mind an opportunity to make the connections to what some may call the unconscious. When you are asked to sleep during meditation you notice how refreshed and clear you feel when you wake. That is a job well done!”

Amen!

Thanks and peace.

Joe