When I go to a doc, and they give me some forms to fill out, one of the
questions may be, “How many hours of sleep do you get each night?” My answer is
"Six to seven hours." And that answer often raises an eyebrow.
We’ve all been told that adults need seven to nine hours of sleep, so
getting six hours usually leads medical professionals to assume you’re
chronically sleep-deprived. But there are two crucial questions that never get
asked: “Do you meditate?” and “How long have you been meditating?”
Long Term Meditator
I’m a very long-term meditator. I’ve been meditating
regularly for over 55 years, and my personal experience is that six to seven
hours is genuinely all my body requires. I don't feel tired the next day, I don't struggle to stay awake during the day, and I don't rely
on caffeine to get through the afternoon. I woke up ready to start the day,
especially after I finished my morning meditation. I do my second meditation
late afternoon or early evening, and I’m energized for the evening.
While this is me, this has raised the question for me – in general, can long-term
meditators actually influence their biological sleep needs?
There is a vast difference between someone who sleeps
six hours because they were up late scrolling through their phone, worrying, or
managing stress, and someone who has practiced meditation for years, sleeps six
hours, and wakes up naturally feeling alert. The number on the clock is
identical, but the physiological circumstances are entirely different.
I Decided to
See What the Research Says
It turns out that my experience isn't an anomaly.
Studies on experienced meditators show noticeable differences in sleep duration
and what the researchers call sleep architecture compared to non-meditators.
Research indicates that long-term meditators often sleep less while maintaining
normal daytime alertness and cognitive performance. In fact, a study published
in Behavioral and Brain Functions
found that meditation acutely improved psychomotor vigilance and suggested that
meditation may actually decrease the need for sleep.
It isn't just about sleep quantity…it's about sleep
quality. Sleep isn't a single homogeneous block; we rotate through different
phases of sleep from light sleep to REM, and slow-wave sleep, which is deep
sleep.
Deep slow-wave sleep is the most restorative phase. Research shows that
long-term meditators often experience higher proportions of slow-wave sleep.
Seven hours of tossing, turning, and waking up in a state of high stress is not
equivalent to six hours of uninterrupted, highly restorative deep sleep.
Restful
Alertness and Stress Reduction
Meditation itself provides a form of deep physiological
rest. During a person’s meditation session, heart rate and metabolic activity
drop while parasympathetic activity increases, which is a state researchers
refer to as “restful alertness.” While you aren't asleep, your body isn't
operating under the constant strain of daily stimulation.
In addition, stress is inherently exhausting. Modern
life keeps our brains processing information, anticipating problems, and
replaying events right up until we hit the pillow. Meditation trains the mind
to step back from that constant mental chatter. Systematic reviews of one type
of meditation called mindfulness show significant improvements in sleep quality
and reductions in insomnia symptoms. When your brain isn't spending half the
night processing unmanaged anxiety, you may simply require less time in bed to
feel restored.
A Word of
Caution
I am certainly not suggesting that anyone should
deliberately cut their sleep short just because they started meditating. The
research is looking at “experienced meditators and “long-term meditators.”
So…if you start meditating, after a couple of months, you can experiment by
seeing if six to seven hours is enough. Let your body tell you what it needs.
If you wake up exhausted or rely heavily on stimulants after you’ve gotten up
(as in: ”I got to have that cup of coffee”), six hours is likely not enough for
you. The goal isn't to hit the lowest possible number on the clock; it's to get
enough restorative sleep to function at your best.
My Take
Before I started meditating, I needed 8 to 10 hours of
sleep. Years of meditation have changed how my mind and body respond to stress,
rest, and recovery. While the science on long-term meditation and sleep
duration is still evolving, we shouldn't dismiss these experiences simply
because they fall outside standard baseline recommendations.
So…perhaps it's time for medical sleep evaluations to
expand beyond a single number. Instead of only asking "How many hours do
you sleep?", maybe the questions on the form should also ask: "How
rested do you feel?" and “Do you meditate” and "How long have you
been meditating?"
This way, the doc will get the real picture of a patient's
health and not just look at them as just a number!
References
·
Kaushik, R. M., et al. (2010). “Meditation
acutely improves psychomotor vigilance, and may decrease sleep need.” Behavioral and Brain
Functions.
·
Nagendra, R. P., Maruthai, N., & Kutty, B.
M. (2012). “Meditation and Its Regulatory Role on Sleep.” Frontiers in Neurology.
·
Rusch, H. L., et al. (2018). “The effect of
mindfulness meditation on sleep quality: A systematic review and meta-analysis
of randomized controlled trials.” Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
·
Cahn, B. R., et al. (2013). “Experienced
mindfulness meditators exhibit higher parietal-occipital EEG gamma activity
during NREM sleep.” PLOS
ONE.