LessWrong (30+ Karma)

“Meditation and Reduced Sleep Need” by niplav

Apr 5, 2025

Dive into the intriguing relationship between meditation and sleep needs. The discussion highlights how extensive meditation might drastically reduce the hours needed for rest. Personal anecdotes and research reveal fascinating insights into this connection. It also touches upon the experiences of lucid dreaming in deep meditation, showcasing the unusual changes in sleep patterns among dedicated practitioners. Overall, it explores the balance of meditation practice and the necessity for some sleep.

07:03

Creator website

AI Summary

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Extensive meditation practice can drastically reduce sleep requirements, with some practitioners sleeping only four to six hours nightly.

Individual meditation experiences vary significantly, with some reporting reduced sleep needs while others observe no change during specific practices.

Deep dives

Meditation's Impact on Sleep Need

Meditation has been found to significantly reduce the need for sleep, particularly with extensive practice. For instance, practitioners may experience a decrease in sleep requirement to as little as four to six hours per night during intensive meditation sessions. A correlation of minus 0.32 between total sleep duration and time spent meditating further illustrates this relationship. However, while reduced sleep may occur, it is still recommended to obtain some rest on a nightly basis to maintain overall well-being.

Exploring the Link Between Meditation and Sleep Reduction

7min

Summary: Meditation may decrease sleep need, and large amounts of meditation may decrease sleep need drastically. Correlation between total sleep duration & time spent meditating is -0.32 including my meditation retreat data, -0.016 excluding the meditation retreat.

While it may be true that, when doing intensive practice, the need for sleep may go down to perhaps four to six hour or less at a time, try to get at least some sleep every night.

—Daniel Ingram, “Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha”, p. 179

Meditation in dreams and lucid dreaming is common in this territory [of the Arising and Passing away]. The need for sleep may be greatly reduced. […] The big difference between the A&P and Equanimity is that this stage is generally ruled by quick cycles, quickly changing frequencies of vibrations, odd physical movements, strange breathing patterns, heady raptures, a decreased need for [...]

---

Outline:

(03:13) Patra and Telles 2009

(04:05) Kaul et al. 2010

(04:26) Analysing my Data

(05:58) Anecdotes

(06:25) Inquiry

---

First published:
April 4th, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/WcrpYFFmv9YTxkxiY/meditation-and-reduced-sleep-need

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.