What's on Your Mind

[MikeW]

I have severe sleep apnea and so I don't go into deep beta sleep at night. Therefore, I tend to fall asleep during the day without even realizing it. My body is still going through the motions and I "wake up" maybe a few seconds later not knowing what I was just doing. Like a black out. These are called "micro-sleeps". It's interesting that I can be so unaware of falling asleep. It's like my thoughts turn inward and I'm just less aware of my surroundings, even though my hands might be typing or I might be talking to a friend.

I'm not quite sure I understand what apnea really is. Can you explain that?

The one thing I would recommend you try (takes discipline and time) is to practice at least a half hour of meditation when you wake up and again before you go to bed at night. The specific *kind* of meditation involves sitting with spine erect with most of your other body parts relaxed and your attention open to experiencing as much of whatever is going on (thoughts, feelings, sensations) as you can (as opposed to narrow focus of attention on 'one or another' sensation or 'inner experience'). It's the process of allowing and opening to more and more. And, it is totally ok if you completely fall asleep during this process. When you come back, just continue until the time is up.

Oh, and ETA: Throughout the day pay attention to physical sensation. Example: in the midst of doing whatever you're doing, concentrate on the sensations of your left hand for five seconds. Then forget about it. Later, do the same thing but with your left foot. If you try this for some time, concentrating on various 'parts' of your body, see if at some point you can get a 'whole' sensation of the body, even if only for a few seconds.