Applying Meditative Awareness To Waking Up Feeling Uneasy

This is the second in the series Applying Meditative Awareness to Life's Difficulties. Waking up and Feeling Uneasy. When you first wake up from sleep you can feel anxious from your dreams or from looking foward to your day. They system is low energy from sleep so there can be disturbing thoughts and feeling about the day, about your self esteem, or about the future. Therefore, you need to ilicit a higher state of consciousness to start your day with ease.

Transcript

Satsang Podcast with Sri,

Using meditative awareness when waking up in the morning and feeling uneasy This is the first part for the 8 solutions to difficult life situations using meditative awareness.

The last recording was the introduction to all 8 and now there will be 8 different recordings or separate recordings dealing with each difficult life situation.

I'm sure you notice that sometimes you might even go to sleep feeling good and have a restful sleep,

Maybe even nice dreams or maybe some bad dreams.

But whether they're bad dreams or good dreams,

Sometimes you wake up in the morning and there's a heaviness in your system,

You feel uneasy.

Your mind starts to dwell on all the problems from the day before,

The problems of the day,

All the problems that you are dealing with in your life.

Even though for some time while you were asleep,

When you were in deep sleep,

All those problems disappeared and you were there,

Your heart was speeding,

Your blood was pumping,

Your digestion was happening,

Everything was moving properly in your system and you were fine.

Your mind was asleep.

So all those problems that you thought you had were gone for that time.

But then when you wake up in the morning,

Again depending on the condition of your system and your sadhana or your meditation practice,

You will wake up either feeling good,

Having zest for life,

Feeling good about your day or you will wake up with your system,

Meaning your body,

Mind,

Intellect and ego feeling uneasy,

Unsettled.

You won't be in the samya of a star or the steady state of mind,

The samadhi state.

You will be instead in the waking state.

You'll wake up being identified with yourself as a body and a mind and an ego with all your life challenges,

Some successes,

Some failures and maybe even some dread about having to get through another day dealing with all these situations.

This happens in varying degrees from some days waking up,

Possibly feeling really good,

Excited about starting your day,

Maybe you're going on a vacation and are getting ready to go to the airport and you're excited about this time away or waking up feeling heavy,

Lethargic.

Now the system which we've talked about a lot is the yogic system which is based on the interplay of the three gunas,

The three qualities of your existence.

And to review,

Those qualities are rajas,

Activity,

Tamas,

Inertia,

Steadiness and sattva,

Lightness.

So through meditation,

You're naturally developing more sattva,

Lightness of being through eating light foods also will help the system.

So if you go to bed at night and you've had a heavy meal or ate late that night and of course if you drank that night,

Then your system will be affected and will not be under your control how you wake up in the morning.

You will wake up according to what the system dictates.

So first step then in waking up in the morning,

No matter what your state of consciousness is at that time,

Is to know that the system is affecting your mental state.

So if there's too much tamas,

Lethargy,

Heaviness due to overeating,

Due to drinking,

Due to overextending yourself in any of life's pleasures,

Then you will wake up that way feeling heavy.

If your system is stimulated first thing in the morning,

If there's a lot of activity,

If you didn't sleep well,

If you were restless possibly,

If your mind is very active,

You'll have too much rajas,

Too much activity in the system.

And then there'll be anxiety,

Worry about what to do with all that energy,

How to get what the system is telling you it needs,

How to fulfill your desires because that will be what the mind will tell you will bring your satisfaction.

Again,

The system just works this way and through meditation,

We're settling the system.

So rather than being a victim to your system that works that way,

You're becoming the master.

So as that master,

As soon as you wake up in the morning and notice that there's uneasiness,

That there's worry,

That there's tension,

That there's fear about the day,

That you're not wanting to get up,

You wanted to just stay unconscious so you don't have to deal with anything and your body maybe feels heavy or sluggish.

You just know that this is due to the system and you are the knower,

You are the watcher of the system.

So immediately in the morning when you wake up,

You can bring in a mantra such as the mantra that I share with you from my teacher which is Amaramham Madhuramham.

Amaramham Madhuramham meaning I am immortal,

I am blissful.

So these words,

Even though they're in Sanskrit which may not be a language that you're that familiar with,

They have a particular vibration and just by repeating them in your mind,

The system becomes more sattvic,

More balanced,

More lightness comes into your system.

So this way you can immediately change the quality,

The interplay of these three gunas which are always in effect and affecting you.

So by repeating the mantra Amaramham Madhuramham,

Watching the pause,

Watching from where the Amaram comes from and the Hum dissolves back into,

You immediately attune yourself to that space that you are which is forever pure and forever free.

Pure free forever.

So now your attention goes or moves from the identification with your mind,

You that pure being now woke up and started identifying with the physical condition in your body which is uneasiness or with the thoughts in your mind which are creating worry and anxiety and instead you're shifting your attention to Amaramham Madhuramham.

Or another technique might be to just watch your breath.

Since you're not out of bed yet,

You're not that awake yet,

You can start by just watching your breath coming in,

Watching the pause when the breath is held in,

Exhaling and watching the pause when the breath is held out.

Inhaling,

Pausing,

Observing that pause,

Exhaling,

Observing that pause.

Even at your normal breath rhythm,

This can be done or if the system is very agitated or uneasy,

You can take deeper breaths.

Inhaling,

Holding the breath,

Watching,

Exhaling,

Holding the breath out,

Watching.

And you can see even by doing this now for a short time,

Immediately your attention moves from the physical system which may be agitated or uneasy to that pure being that you are which is forever residing within.

You are already that.

It's only the mind that takes you away from that with all of its thoughts and concerns and worries and doubts.

And every night when you're in deep sleep,

You experience who you are directly as that peace,

As that evenness.

So now the practice is even while awake to remain easy,

To trust in that space of your own being rather than trusting only in the mind which is limited,

Which will say,

I need this,

I need to do that,

I need to accomplish this,

I need to achieve this,

And then I can feel easy.

That's backwards.

The truth is,

Is that easiness you already are,

But you're not tuned into that easiness if you're feeling uneasy.

You're tuned into the worries of your mind,

The agitation in your physical system.

Again,

With practice,

The system will become more sattvic,

More balanced.

There will be more lightness of being rather than that overactivity of Thomas or the dullness of Thomas rather or the overactivity of Rajas.

So you have the power through the yogic system to balance those energies,

To bring in more sattva,

To bring in more clarity.

Now the mind,

Believing itself to be the reality,

Will tell you,

You don't have time for this.

You need to get this and that done.

You need to change this.

You need to achieve this.

You need to straighten this out.

You need to solve this problem.

That's the nature of the mind.

It's an instrument,

But rather than you using the instrument to achieve things in your life and to have what you not want or what you need in your life,

The mind starts to control you.

And because the mind is only an instrument,

It's limited.

So instead of being limited by your ego,

Sense of I separate,

Mind,

Generator of all those thoughts and body,

Which is a physical system,

Which is action and reaction,

Cause and effect,

You shift your attention to the vast ocean of infinite consciousness.

Because without that pure being,

Without that sense of the whole as you,

Without that light of the self that reflects on your mind,

Your mind can't function.

Just like without the light of the sun,

The plants and the life cannot exist.

Another example is the electricity.

The outlet itself is not going to work unless the electricity is hooked up to the outlet.

So your body and mind is not going to function unless there's that being,

That self,

That consciousness moving through you,

The very life energy that you are.

So a dead body lying there never worries,

Is never uptight,

There's never a problem.

So once that life moves through your physical system and you're identified as the system,

Then the problems begin.

But when you're tuned into that life,

Then you can have all the joys of operating through a physical system,

Mind,

Ego,

Intellect,

Body,

And remain free.

Because you're not bound by the dictates of your mind and body and intellect.

So this can start first thing in the morning,

Because who woke you up?

Again,

You become aware that you don't have a doership.

You went to bed at night,

You put your head down on the pillow,

Put your blanket over you,

You got yourself comfortable,

But you couldn't make yourself go to sleep.

Sleep comes on its own.

You can wake up to an alarm clock and that will wake you up,

But if you don't use an alarm clock,

You still will wake up at some point.

Something wakes you up,

Something digests your food,

Something allows you to breathe during the night,

Something allows your digestion to happen,

Your heart to beat.

Who's doing it?

You're not doing it.

So without that consciousness moving through you,

You couldn't be alive.

So now the key is not to limit yourself by the physical system,

But to know that consciousness,

That pure consciousness,

That pure existence,

That pure bliss that you already are.

It's not that you're going to find the bliss somewhere.

The drop keeps looking for the ocean,

Trying to find the fullness of his own self or her own self,

That bliss that you are,

But keeps struggling to find it.

Whereas if a wave of the ocean just covers over that drop,

The drop no longer exists.

You become the full ocean.

So this is what you experience in meditation.

You tune into the full ocean of consciousness,

Pure existence,

Pure bliss that you already are.

But when the system is agitated,

When there's too much rajas,

Overactivity,

Too much tamas,

Inertia,

Dullness,

You can't do anything,

No energy,

Then this can't happen.

So we want to create as much sattva in the system as possible.

And pranayama meditation,

Light yogic diet are all means.

Yoga asana,

Keeping the body active through exercises will also add to your system becoming more sattvic.

But while you're in this process,

You still don't want to suffer with a mind that's agitated.

So then,

As the one examining your own mind,

As the aware one,

You can sit and watch.

And that's what the meditative awareness is all about.

Not just when you're sitting silently in meditation,

But anytime throughout your day,

You can become who you are,

Which is that knower of your mind.

Shift your attention away from just your mind,

Body,

Emotions,

Reactions,

Actions,

To the one who's knowing.

This is the secret to how to remain peaceful.

Because as soon as you shift your attention to amaramham maduramham,

You're shifting it away from I am a body,

Mind,

Ego with peace problems and life situations and health issues and family issues and financial issues.

You're shifting that attention and you can see the reaction in your system even when I talk about that.

Now you're shifting it to I am pure,

Free forever.

I am immortal.

I am blissful.

This is who I am.

So the I am now shifts away from the problematic mental condition,

Physical condition,

To the pure,

Free forever being that you already are.

That is the knower.

Because that knower is pure knowingness.

You are the knowingness pure.

And that knowingness is forever present.

So if you're not experiencing that,

You just know that the mind is covering it.

And you don't have to believe the mind because as soon as you pause,

As you did watching your breath before,

Going in and pausing,

But in that pause,

You're free.

And when you exhale and pause again,

You're free until the mind takes over again.

So now we want to strengthen the ability to rest with that pure being.

Again in my example of not being the doer,

Waking up in the morning or going to sleep.

In the same way,

You can't be the doer to force yourself into the space.

So all you can do is a technique.

And that technique is to repeat the mantra,

To watch the space of your paused breath in and out,

And to just notice the difference when you're knowing your own breath,

You're knowing I am pure,

Free forever,

You're knowing yourself as the watcher of your mind and not your mind.

And this does take practice,

So you continue the practice.

And best to start first thing in the morning to go into meditation on Amaramham Madhuramham Amaramham Madhuramham.

So now your mind begins to repeat,

I am immortal,

I am blissful,

I am immortal,

I am blissful,

I am pure,

Free forever.

And because the nature of the mind is such that it'll keep pulling you into those other thoughts,

And the body,

If it's agitated,

Will keep letting you feel as if you need to deal with those other thoughts and not take the time to meditate.

So this is how the practice continues.

You just understand the mind,

Just like a child that wants your attention,

But you are pure,

Free forever.

You are immortal and blissful.

And by repeating,

I am immortal,

I am blissful,

I am pure,

Free forever.

And the Sanskrit vibration of Amaramham Madhuramham Amaramham Madhuramham will be like that lull by for your mind that will allow you to wake up and then start to feel easy,

Free,

And know the purity that you are so that you can go about your day with enjoyment of knowing the bliss that's already residing within.

Om Shanti Om Peace.

May this peace be with you always.

Reviews

This was incredibly enlightening. I am so thankful for your care and respect with explaining the Sanskrit and the deeper meaning and support of the chant.
I woke up feeling such a heavy sense of dread, and the first time I heard the words “I am immortal I am blissful I am pure I am free” I couldn’t contain myself from sobbing. I had to pause the recording and journal out some thoughts and feelings before continuing.
One thing that occurred to me that I am hung up on is that my ego mind and body feel neglected or invalidated in some way with this mantra. And it dawned on me that similar mantras that seemingly discount the body/mind do leave me feeling partially neglected. But your talk about what we can do to care for the body did give me a little clarity.
I can care for my body and mind even though they are not immortal. I can hold space for the grief in my body and mind for their mortality while holding the bliss of eternity in my spirit.
Thank you for sharing this.

Informative about meditation philosophy and how to see yourself beyond the mind and thoughts.