Sleeping bag yoga, and the case of Ven. Anuruddha sleeping in sitting posture.
Useful for:
1. camping in cold places, like in a cave in the himalayas.
2. when you wake up according to the Buddha's schedule between 2 and 3 in the morning, you're cold and tired, and don't have easy access to lighted safe are (free of poisonous snakes, wild animals, etc.) for shake and bake or walking meditation.
3. as an antidote for the hindrances of sloth and torpor, when you're drowsy, yawning a lot (body telling you need oxygen to the brain), you don't want to take a nap for fall asleep (perhaps mess up your normal sleep schedule), yet you can't get proper rest from meditating sitting upright.
4. if you don't take caffeine, coffee, or other stimulants to fight drowsiness, sleeping bag yoga is a great natural way to let your body get the rejuvenating effects of lying down, without falling asleep.
Why this works so well
Unless you're like Ven. Anuruddha, who could sleep (or get fully rested) sitting in meditation, never needing to lie down (until the last few years of his life when he would lie down 2 hours a night).
The case of Ven. Anuruddha is very instructive. How was he able to not lie down to get fully rested every night?
It's because the heat, vitality, force, of his jhāna practice was so strong, his brain didn't get oxygen deprived (from the force of gravity) in an upright sitting posture, like most people.
Horses can sleep standing up, for about a week (evolutionary necessity so they can run from predators while asleep). But after a week, they need to find a safe place to lie down to get a deep rejuvenating sleep.
Sleeping bag yoga ideas
0. if you're doing it right, you don't need step 0. But as you're learning, you should use this as a backup option. Set your alarm clock for 15-30 minutes or whatever in case you fall asleep.
1. slow deep relaxed breathing. don't use too much force to strain or injure a cold sleepy body.
- On the inhale, work on expanding the range of your breath naturally, slowly, gradually, without strain.
- On the exhale, push out all the air contracting your core, including abdomen and feel your back open and close as well.
- Optional: after all the air exhaled, while holding breath do a vaccuum, suck your belly up under your rib cage, or think of bringing belly button to touch your spine.
2. macrocosmic orbit - rotate your hands/wrist, feet/ankles. This brings qi to every cell of the body. You can do rotations all in sync clockwise or counter clockwise, or do different combinations out of phase like in cloud hands pattern.
- advanced tip: maintain jhana and relax all the joints of the body and feel rotation in all the balls moving in sync - wrists, elbows, shoulders, knees, ankles, toes, fingers.
3. eye exercises. use your eyes and make big circles (looking in extreme directions clockwise and counter clockwise). Do at least 9 times each direction.
4. kegel exercises -
a. if you were urinating, contract your muscles that would stop urination
b. if you were defecating, contract your muscles that would stop defecation
5. lions roar yoga pose - extend fingers, toes, eyes open as wide as you can, mouth open as wide, tongue stuck out as far as you can.
6. micro qigong, taiji, silk reeling movements. Such as neck exercises turtling, anything that you can do with tiny movement inside your sleeping back without ripping or stretching it.
7. lower back strengthening exercises - lift arms, legs, head, can do turtle or neck exercises. Alternate a few seconds everything up, a few seconds completely relaxed resting.
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