Meditation causing difficulty sleeping? - please help :(

[nferr]

Hi,

I have been meditating a lot recently to cope with anxiety/OCD and even when im not actively meditating I am always trying to stay present, if i notice myself getting caught up in my mind i try to gently bring myself back to the present.

Anyway i have been having a disturbing experience, when i am drifting off to sleep and my mind starts to wander just at the pre-sleep stage, without trying to i become present instinctively and fully aware and i just 'sit' in my body while it fails to get to sleep. This seems to be repeated again and again until i give up trying to sleep.

This has really scared me, any advice any of you could offer would mean a lot to me

Thanks

[iciek]

Originally Posted by nferr

Hi,

I have been meditating a lot recently to cope with anxiety/OCD and even when im not actively meditating I am always trying to stay present, if i notice myself getting caught up in my mind i try to gently bring myself back to the present.

Anyway i have been having a disturbing experience, when i am drifting off to sleep and my mind starts to wander just at the pre-sleep stage, without trying to i become present instinctively and fully aware and i just 'sit' in my body while it fails to get to sleep. This seems to be repeated again and again until i give up trying to sleep.

This has really scared me, any advice any of you could offer would mean a lot to me

Thanks

There is a safety mechanism in meditation which is the moment you find anything disturbing it returns you to your everyday state.
What you are experiencing is something new which brings the mind into analytical mode thus destroying the "now" moment. Whilst you have that fear of the unknown you are firmly rooting yourself into the known for safety's sake. Eventualy when you have become familiar with the experience and no longer question it you will move on. (You may even start to experience lucid dreaming which is fun and allows you to sort out any issues you might have.)

If fear dominates your thoughts then meditate on it and understand it's source and nature. Once you understand it will no longer exist in it's current form and will not hold you back. Fear of the unknown is common and is dissipated when the unknown becomes known.