Insomnia

[greggorious]

I've had issues with insomnia my whole life, and while meditation can often help with my anxiety issues, I still have real problems with falling asleep. Can anyone offer any suggestions or tips with this? I'd be especially keen to hear of any Buddhist techniques, mantra's etc that might help. I think I once read that Ajahn Chah recommended the mantra 'Buddho' to mentally repeat until you fall asleep.
Would love to hear people's thoughts on this.

May you all be happy, at ease and free from suffering

Greg

[Crazy cloud]

You have a nice mantra to reside in your own chosen signature, my friend

[SarathW]

Why insomnia a problem.
Why do you have to sleep if you are not sleepy?
Isn’t this garde now you have all time to practice?

[santa100]

Meditation is great but don't forget some physical exercise, especially outdoor cardios (jogging, biking, hiking, etc.) just 1/2 hr daily would be very effective against insomnia.

[markandeya]

Maybe not everything will be in the suttas about these things.

I like the answer that SarathW gave, if your not tired why let it bother you. There is a Zen saying, when tired sleep when hungry eat.

It does seem that anxiety is the root cause.

There are some natural things that you can do, one is soaking the feet in warm water and also massage some oils on the soles of the feet and hands. Everything in the Body, which is same as mind or related completely has endings in the feet and the hand. As a Rule I generally need 4-5 hours sleep a day, it may vary what times I sleep, but I use the soaking feet and massage quite often as this promotes regularity.

Reading something that is calming, not intellectual debates, that can stimulate thought, there are also frequencies on youtube that are said to help promote sleep, but I am not sure f they work as I dont have sleep issues, my issues are when I am awake

When I was travelling I very rarely used melatonin which would help with different times zone.

Good luck

With Metta

[salayatananirodha]

I've heard various accounts that the buddha only slept two hours at night and would take a nap during the day. Although monks will probably need less sleep than most lay people, it is not the case that we should sleep a certain amount of hours, what is considered necessary by modern standards. I've also had a hard time sleeping, especially putting into practice this sutta: https://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitak ... .than.html
If you're feeling anxious and miserable and that is accompanied by lack of sleep then you have a problem, but if you're just not sleeping as much as you think you should, it might be a good thing.

[TRobinson465]

One thing you could do is do sitting meditation, then lying down meditation until you fall asleep. I myself have had insomnia problems all my life, especially as a child. i have found this helps.

[Bundokji]

Why insomnia a problem.
Why do you have to sleep if you are not sleepy?
Isn’t this garde now you have all time to practice?

[DNS]

I've had issues with insomnia my whole life, and while meditation can often help with my anxiety issues, I still have real problems with falling asleep.

What time of day do you eat your last meal? The Buddha ate one meal a day and this diet is catching on in modern times (one large meal around lunch time), even among non-Buddhists due to foods being poorly metabolized in the evening. Food is basically fuel and if you eat late (not saying you do, just asking), there is all that fuel in your body and it thinks it is time for work or exercise, not sleep.

[greggorious]

Thanks for all your replies and suggestions.

May you all be happy, at ease and free from suffering

[Laurens]

Try to stay awake and keep your eyes wide open all night.

Reverse enthusiasm can be quite powerful for some people

[_anicca_]

Focus on breathing in a relaxing and calming way, relax the entire body, and then focus on the breath until you sleep.

Melatonin is a good dietary supplement you can take long term that induces sleep.

[polo]

Hello, hello, I used to have sleepless nights called insomnia. One day I discovered that I had a rather unwholesome attitude towards sleep.
These are the unwholesome attitude, (1) The unwholesome desire to sleep 8 hours ( listening to rubbish doctors telling you the amount of hours you need to sleep, absolute rubbish - you will discover this rubbish the doctor tells you after the insomnia goes away).
(2)The unwholesome desire to enjoy my sleep. This relentless unwholesome wanting to enjoy a good sleep is self-defeating in every sense of the word. Look at a young child (about 3 to 5 years old) they don't know nothing about enjoying a good sleep, they just sleep when they are tired and when they wake up they got up and not laying in bed trying to enjoy more sleep, their minds have not been corrupted yet by this unwholesome desire.
(3) Trying to count the hours of your sleep will make you anxious that you are not getting enough sleep will start the cycle of insomnia.
(4) If you don't get enough of sleep you will feel tired the next day that's natural and if you relax and not let anxiety overcome you, you will sleep a little earlier the next evening.
(5) In the Abhidharma, it says, "sleep is not for enjoyment it is for your body to rest so you will not be tired or sick". If you have unwholesome desire to enjoy your sleep then you will not be sleeping well"
How much sleep you need is difficult to say. You just sleep and when you wake up you should not try to go back to sleep to enjoy more sleep then you will not have insomnia coming your way.
Other than having some physical illness or pain or worry on financial problems being the reasons that you are not sleeping well, you shouldn't have problem falling asleep.
If you are having late night dinner you wouldn't be waking up early the next day and it will kick start the insomnia problem the next evening because you break the cycle of your sleep pattern. So your gluttony is an accomplice with this insidious sleep thief.
Sleep and foods are not for enjoyment- they are for keeping you alive and healthy.
TOTAL awareness of your unwholesome desire for sleep will make you see the reasons of your insomnia.
Note that no where in my comment did I say you suffer from insomnia because you don't suffer from insomnia, but you do suffer from your unwholesome desire to enjoy a good sleep and your unwholesome desire to sleep more.
Unwholesome desire=suffering. (Insomnia a self created and self-defeating problem)

[pilgrim]

Light meditation (i.e avoiding strong concentrated effort) is useful to rein in the mind from overthinking so that it settles down. But when one is close to sleep, one has to decrease the effort further so that the mind naturally rambles before it slips into unconsciousness. I usually prefer to use body scanning or focusing on the pressure of the body on the bed as I don't want to condition the mind to sleep when I do meditation on breath.

As a side note, I have often practised watching the mind as it falls asleep or when it awakens from sleep. Not that it has any immediate benefits but I find it interesting.

[dharmacorps]

I have trouble sleeping too sometimes. I do find it is worse when my daily meditation practice is disrupted or shortened. There are a lot of different possible reasons for insomnia though, so it may be something very individual to you. As others have mentioned, you could review your attachments to sleep and expectations there. If you are exhausted during the day and have trouble getting things done, you may want to speak to a doctor to make sure you are OK physically; you may then want to speak to a experienced meditation teacher.

When I have trouble sleeping, I recite (not aloud but mentally) memorized chants or suttas, the longer the better. It acts like a lullaby! If that doesn't work, I follow the breath, not to try to fall asleep but just to do something constructive if I can't sleep.