3 Reasons You Are Going Unconscious in Meditation (And What to Do About It)

Christine Tavolacci
3 days ago
4 min read

Have you ever been meditating—feeling present, aware, connected—and then suddenly… nothing?

You lose the thread of the meditation. You lose the guide’s voice, or you fall completely asleep and wake up wondering, “Wait… were we meditating?”

If this has happened to you, you’re not alone!

In this post, we’ll explore what it actually means to go unconscious in meditation, three common reasons why it happens, and what you can do about it—with compassion for wherever you are in your journey.

watch the full video here ⤵️

What Does It Mean to Go Unconscious in Meditation?

When I talk about going unconscious in meditation, I’m referring to losing your conscious awareness in the meditation space.

You might begin the meditation aware of:

Your body
The room around you
Yourself as a spirit or energetic being

And then suddenly—your awareness drops out.

This can happen in any type of meditation: guided meditations, mindfulness practices, or energy work you do on your own.

There are two very common ways this shows up:

1. Losing the Guide’s Voice or the Process

You’re following along with a guided meditation, fully present… and then suddenly you’re gone.The guide’s voice disappears.. You miss steps. You feel like you went somewhere else entirely (and yes, your awareness did travel!).

2. Falling Asleep

You pass out into a deep, peaceful sleep and wake up refreshed—but confused.“What just happened? Were we meditating?”

Both of these are examples of going unconscious in meditation.

Three Reasons You Might Be Going Unconscious in Meditation

These aren’t the only reasons, but they’re the most common—

1. You’re Simply Tired and Need More Sleep

This is the most obvious reason (like Ockham's razor says...)

If you’re not getting enough sleep at night, working hard during the day, and then sitting down to meditate in the evening, your body may simply say:

“Thank you. I’ll take this rest now.”

This happened to me often, especially early in my meditation journey, when I was overworked and overtired.

Your body will take rest wherever it can get it, including in meditation space.

I can’t tell you how many times someone has said to me,“I just can’t meditate—I always fall asleep.”

When I ask:

Are you sleeping enough at night?
Are you working a lot?

The answers are often no and then yes.

This isn’t a judgment—I’ve done the same thing (many times!). But it’s important to recognize that if your body is exhausted, you’re setting yourself up to go unconscious frequently in meditation.

What You Can Do

Get more sleep
Change the time of day you meditate
- Try the middle of the day when you’re more alert
- Or the beginning of the day
- Consider avoiding late-night meditation until you’re consistently well-rested

2. You’re Encountering Unconscious Energy or Blocks (Especially in the Third Eye)

Another very common reason for going unconscious in meditation is unconscious energy in your energetic body, particularly in the sixth chakra (third eye)—our center of perception.

This often shows up when:

You suddenly lose a guide’s voice
Visualization goes blank
Awareness drops out mid-process

In energetic terms, this is like hitting a blind spot—an area of “don’t look here” or “nothing to see.”

This unconscious energy can come from:

Past trauma
Other lifetimes
Absorbed societal conditioning
Other people’s energy

All of it can limit our ability to perceive the non-physical, and meditation is often where this shows itself most clearly.

If this is happening to you, please know: This is extremely common in healing, psychic development, and spiritual growth, and it's not permanent. We always have the power to shift and change our energy!

What You Can Do

Ground your body—physically and energetically
Set an intention that you speak out loud, such as:
- “I ground out unconscious energy from my sixth chakra”
- Or more generally: “from my body, chakras, and aura”

You can also work with energy tools that help you:

Separate from other people’s energy
Gradually release unconscious energy over time

If you’ve never practiced grounding in meditation before, check out my free grounding meditation HERE.

3. You’re in Resistance to a Deep Healing

The third reason you may be going unconscious in meditation is resistance in your field—your body, chakras, and aura—to releasing or healing something specific.

I’ll share a personal example:

One of my long-standing life lessons has been around receiving—allowing myself to receive without feeling like I have to earn it by over-giving.

When I heard about a workshop focused on becoming a powerful receiver, I thought:Sign me up. I need this.

During a long guided meditation at the event, I was following along… and then I completely passed out into the deepest sleep I’d had in a long time.

I woke up right at the end—feeling refreshed, renewed, and deeply nourished—but I had been totally unconscious.

When I reflected on it with my guides, the insight was clear:I had so much resistance to receiving that my system needed to shut down completely in order for the healing to occur.

What You Can Do

If this is happening to you, there’s nothing to "fix", simply allow yourself to move through the experience.

This is often your Higher Self, highest Guides, and Source stepping in and saying:“This healing is needed. Let’s help them get out of their own way and make it happen.”

The best response here is self-compassion.

Trust that even if you weren’t consciously aware, the healing still occurred.