Bedtime Meditation Technique

An accomplished meditation expert will probably tell you that you must not fall asleep during meditation. The aim is to be in control of your mind during the meditation session, and falling asleep quite clearly takes away that control. Similarly, somebody who practices mantras will inform you that the mantra should be exhibited orally, and very many times.

There are times in life, though, where it can pay to adapt valuable concepts and practices, and mould them into your own life and lifestyle. A full meditation session of any type really cuts deep into the day, and while it would be beneficial for everyone to indulge in a regular full session, some people just cannot, or will not, fit it into their daily schedule.

As for mantras, many Westerners would feel very self conscious of the oral repetition which, to others, may sound rather zombie like. However, there is a time of day when you can "cheat" on both the mantra and the meditation, and still get some amazing results. That time is after you have gone to bed, after you have finished your other bedtime activities, like reading War and Peace, but before you fall asleep.

When you sleep, your subconscious mind does not rest; at least, if you give it something to work on, it will not rest. If you count sheep to get to sleep, though, your subconscious will maybe think: "Oh my, we're into farming now. Looks like the quiet life from now on." The secret is not to think about going to sleep, confine sheep to the oven for your evening meal, and give your subconscious some serious activity for the night.

From 1990 to the mid 1990's, I discovered the power of the subconscious to resolve work related problems, in highly complex projects that I was involved in managing. One in particular was very high pressured, high profile at the time, and very complex. It was an outsourcing project, worth about $50m a year, and of a type not attempted in Europe before. The responsibility was enormous, we were breaking new ground, and there were lots of problems.

Yet, I never worried about the problems, and did not have to. Most could be resolved in working hours, and it was my practice not to take work home. Difficult problems that there were no immediate solutions for were set aside at the end of the working day. I did not lie awake worrying about them, but I did focus on communicating them to my subconscious just before I slept. The solution, at least in outline plan, was always ready and waiting by the time I got to work the next day; without fail.

I had never read about meditation at that stage, but later realized that what I was doing naturally was a quick meditation technique, with a particular purpose in mind.

Since then, I have added to that technique, and use it not just for problems, but for achieving what I want to in the future. I have even used it, at its most magnified, for a couple of emergencies. My bedtime meditation now comprises:

1. Lying in bed, on my back, focusing on my breathing to get into a totally relaxed state, as for a normal, long, meditation session.

2. As soon as I feel I am able to communicate directly to my subconscious at a deep level, I focus, one at a time, on the things I want to achieve in the next few years. Each one I repeat in my mind, like a visualized mantra; not orally so that I keep my wife awake, but through imagery I hear what I am repeating, and see what I will be achieving.

3. The words I am saying are all in the present tense, thus stating to my subconscious that "this is how it is...it's up to you to get me there."

So far, the plans that I have been imposing on myself are gradually coming to fruition. They are long term and ambitious, but they will happen.

How I will get there I do not know, as I have learnt with these techniques that the end result may be achieved in an unexpected way. I mentioned earlier using these techniques in an emergency, and have done so twice in the past two years. On the last occasion, the night before the last pre-court hearing over a lease contract, our opponent, against all expectations, suddenly caved in. Why she did so I would never have guessed in a million years.