meditating before sleep, allows you to only NEED 2 hours, rather than 6-8?

Last night, i was falling asleep at around 5:45am. I kept tossing and turning, not able to stop thinking, so i finally told myself. Lets try some meditation to clear your mind, and then we'll go from there.
So i cleared my mind, got into a good deep state, and then i told myself...well why not try to Astral Project?

I ATTEMPTED to project for about a hour or two....everytime i got "close" something distrubted it (major bummer). But non the less i was still able to get into a really deep state of meditation.

Now its interesting because afterwards i fell asleep, and woke up 2 hours later.
Funny thing is...i did NOT feel tired in the least bit. As well, i am a tad bit sick (pretty much last day of recovery) so one would think i would be MORE tired than usual.
I have gone the entire day, and aside from psychically being tired (i'll say its because i am sick), i feel GREAT...

Now i thought to myself...why would i FEEL SO GOOD and energetic, if i oNLY slept 2 hours last night?...i know the least you should get is 6.

And then I had a thought. What if meditation, basically enables you to sleep drastically less than the average person, but still get the same "benefits"

EXAMPLES------------------

Now i know when you fall asleep the stages are somehwat as follow.

1. You clear your conciecess mind...you clear your thoughts (after or before u fall asleep) and allow JUST your sub-conciess to take control.

2.You dream...you dream for WHATEVER REASON, perhaps another way to clense your mind of thoughts.

3.AFTER THOSE TWO STAGES...then your R.E.M kicks in...and then you get REAL deep sleep..


now its interesting because, meditation basically disables the first 2 steps...obviously meditation clears your mind.
So if your going to sleep already being in a deep state of mind...totally cleared of all your thoughts...then stage 1 isn't necessary anymore...as well as stage 2

(note:i did not dream last night..i have been keeping a dream diary and i have been dreaming EVERYDAY this past month)

Could perhaps if you meditate, into a deep state of mind...be able to skip all these other steps...and literally skip the amount of sleep you NEED...and cut it down by more than double?
Imagine if you could sleep just 2-3 hours...and its the same outcome as sleeping 6-8 (if you meditate deeply beforehand)


ANOTHER THING I'D LIKE TO NOTE-----------

i have seen 4 separate documenterays on Buddhism..and almost all the Buddhist monks stated that they usually only sleep 4 hours a day TOPS....its interesting to see a people that meditate most of there day...sleep LESS THAN the average person, but are physically in great condition...mentally better than "average", as well as doing MORE physical feats, than we normally do in our reg. days.

What do you thinK?



[edit on 10/9/2009 by kaskade]

I have experienced this myself. Clear the mind, during meditation, pay not attention to sounds or physical feelings. Enjoy sleep.

And then wake up early, but energized and ready to go.

I've known a few people who work very hard on less than 5 hours of sleep every night, for years.

As for myself, I've been dreaming more, and it's my opinion that it's because I have much daytime things going on that I need to sort out. This is life though.

Tried to meditate a few times, I seem to get distracted by little noises or slight body movements. I'm not sure how to bypass this but what the hell, maybe i'll try tonight just to try again? Any tips to throw around?

Last time I meditated before sleeping, I had a case of sleep paralysis later that night coupled with the appearance of a shadow person. However, the sleep paralysis can be associated with the fact that I was attempting to lucid dream that night...anyways, I assume that the meditation probably does allow for the body to have an "accelerated rest cycle" Especially if you have been meditating and going into deep meditative states for years. You should try it a few more times so you can have a definite trend going on. Maybe one day we can all benefit from your findings.

This is interesting and I have experienced this as well. I always feel way more refreshed when I meditate before sleeping, and I need less of it.


This reminds me of the story of Bhagavan Das that was told by Ram Das in Be Here Now. When Ram (Rupert Sheldrake) went to India to find out what the eastern traditions were all about he met Bhagavan Das, who essentially took Rupert into his care and allowed him to live with him in the monastery. One of the things Rupert mentions is that he never saw Bhagavan Das sleep. Whenever he would wake up, Bhagavan Das would just be sitting there in a meditating position, all night. He never slept the way we do.

I think meditation can help us overcome many limitations.

reply to post by kaskade


I think your on to something as TPTB or media seems to want you to think that if you dont get the correct amount of sleep ( 6 hours ) then you'll have health problems or die sooner. Also i know that your right about the amount of hours monks sleep, so i would say you are more then likely correct or close to the truth in how much sleep you need or could need.

S&F! =)

Originally posted by born2BWild
Tried to meditate a few times, I seem to get distracted by little noises or slight body movements. I'm not sure how to bypass this but what the hell, maybe i'll try tonight just to try again? Any tips to throw around?

Yes there are some tips, I think your trying to hard to dismiss these disturbances. If you were to simply observe them and let them flow rather then try to exert energy to dimiss them you would have a much easier time.

I experience this too, but for me, it only shaves off maybe two to three hours max from my generally required sleep time of 8 or 9 hours. But for ME to be able to get away with only 6 or 7 hours is a miracle, as I used to need nine or ten.

Originally posted by OmegaPoint
I experience this too, but for me, it only shaves off maybe two to three hours max from my generally required sleep time of 8 or 9 hours. But for ME to be able to get away with only 6 or 7 hours is a miracle, as I used to need nine or ten.

This is how I am, I usually require 9-11 hours of sleep, but with meditation I can get away with 6 or 7 hours no problem.

Research has been done on this. I'll attempt to find it again. Usually when i meditate i require less sleep also. Maybe because when you meditate it clears your mind and one of the reasons we sleep is so we can ,"take out the trash". Your brain needs sleep more than your body does. Im eating right now but if I find the research i will post it in a bit.

Here you go. This is from one my favorite web sites.

People who meditate say the practice restores their energy, and some claim they need less sleep as a result. Many studies have reported that the brain works differently during meditation - brainwave patterns change and neuronal firing patterns synchronize.

www.newscientist.com...

A study two years ago, led by Prashant Kaul of the University of Kentucky does some way to prove that they are. Following a series of tests, when the researchers tested the alertness of volunteers, they found that meditation proved more effective than naps, exercise or caffeine. The results of the experiments were later presented at a conference of the Society for Neuroscience, which indicates the interest such research is shown.

from www.lifedivine.net...

Never been to the site above but the article seemed good. Take it all for what it's worth. I really respect newscientist.com.

Be well.

Quote from Wiki:
"REM sleep
Main article: Rapid eye movement sleep
Rapid eye movement sleep, or REM sleep, accounts for 20–25% of total sleep time in normal human adults. The criteria for REM sleep include rapid eye movements as well as a rapid low-voltage EEG. Most memorable dreaming occurs in this stage. At least in mammals, a descending muscular atonia is seen. Such paralysis may be necessary to protect organisms from self-damage through physically acting out scenes from the often-vivid dreams that occur during this stage."

Well heres something interesting because during a trance i will sometimes have REM. Any thoughts?

I practiced taoist meditation and taichi solidly for about three years. I'd meditate for about 3-4 hours a day, do the form for at least 1.5-2 hours and only slept for about 3-4 hours, all while running quite a high pressure graphic design business. I've never been fitter in my life and don't remember feeling tired very much at all during that period.

Meditation definitely seems to replace sleep to a certain degree.

well i never treid meditating. but i have run into a lot of free time. so i am now experimenting with the uberman sleep cycle. where you sleep for 30 mins every 4 hours. the basic premise is that you only need 2 hours of REM sleep and not the full 8. I havent really been able to stick to it well. but i can see where meditating can produce the same effect.