Sleep

Just a quick reminder that sleep is incredibly important in our simran practice. I was discussing with a Gurmukh who mentioned that some people have noticed worsening mental health or some bodily problems while doing simran. This is because they have not gotten their proper sleep and anyone without sleep is going to develop these problems, this is simply medical science. It was written into Bhai Sewa Singh Ji's books as well, but needs a hard emphasis. We shouldn't be forceful with our bodies. If we want to wake up early we should gradually adjust our sleep schedule, or we can nap afterwards, etc.- it is just important for us to complete our necessary sleep cycles. This process is not about punishing our bodies. We know from Gurbani that the Yogis used to do all kinds of physical things to try to achieve mukhti but this is not the way. 

Many people also wonder about how we can do simran if we cannot sit cross-legged for long periods of time. I spend a lot of time sitting cross-legged because of playing my rabab and vaja, but even then after a while your legs do fall asleep and I find it is just hard to stay in the same position due to pain. The important thing for simran is to find a comfortable position where your mind is not focused into your body. For example, many people as they enter sunn, might have their head fall forward and then that distracts them. In other cases you might be just focused on physical pain in certain positions. Simran is not about positions/asans. To bring the focus out of the physical body and inside, it is best to find a comfortable state. If you are in front of Guru Granth Sahib Ji obviously you need to be mindful of being respectful. If you are cutting your vegetables, you need to keep your eyes open. If you are simply just at home, its fine to be lying down too. 

I hope that this opens up the opportunity for more people to do simran that thought they couldn't or it wasn't possible. It is possible for all of us, and we need to be gentle and kind with ourselves. You can't expect yourself to suddenly be doing hours.