I keep falling asleep when I sit. What am I doing wrong?
Nothing is wrong. Your body is tired, and the moment you stop pushing, it collects what it is owed. But sitting is not resting. Look at the hour you sit: after a meal, late at night. Look at your eyes: closed, drifting downward. Look at your spine: collapsed, the chin sinking toward the chest. Sleep comes in where attention goes slack, and attention goes slack where the posture does. So do not fight the drowsiness with willpower. Change the conditions. Sit earlier, before food. Sit on something firm. And when you feel the heaviness arrive, do not scold yourself; notice it, and stay awake to it. Next time you sit, keep your eyes half open, gaze resting on the floor a metre ahead, and lift the crown of your head toward the ceiling.
This was one stranger’s question. In the app, you sit, say what is actually going on, and the teacher answers you, in a voice, privately. The first dokusan is free.
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