For example, brain function is more coherent both in sleep and the waking state as a result
of meditation. Chronic insomnia is not experienced by regular meditators. Respiration is
improved. (The effects on breathing are particularly marked using this technique - Vedic
meditation has, for example, been shown to help people with asthma). The drop in metabolism
(that is to say, the use of oxygen by the body) in a period of just 15 minutes of meditation has
been measured to be 20% below the rate during waking state activity. This is truly remarkable,
as without meditation it takes fully five hours of normal sleep to drop the metabolic rate by just
8%. So Vedic Meditation has a major impact on how the body rests and thus the way
breathing is regulated in the body.
Subjective reports about sleep are consistent: over time, as the body habituates to the regular
practice of Vedic meditation, meditators experience less and less of the 'dead to the world'
black out sleep. The black out is replaced by brown out, - meditators report having a sense of
remaining aware to some degree during the night, even though their bodies are resting
perfectly well. It turns out that sleep with this faint inner awareness is physiologically more
restful than the total loss of awareness in sleep prior to practising meditation. It appears that as
we evolved as a species, the need to be on guard against danger during the night was
important and so if the mind were to switch off completely, the body had to be kept ready for
action. Yet, after learning Vedic Meditation and practising it for a while, 'brown out sleep'
occurs: logic would suggest that if the mind is to some extent alert, then it will permit the body
to rest more deeply, hence the greater restfulness experienced during sleep. Also, any
grogginess or confusion on waking that may have been the norm before learning meditation
now fades away entirely, and meditators wake up refreshed and fully alert.
On the subject of sleep apnea, incidences of apnea are typically associated with 'black out'
sleep - during the black out state the individual is entirely unaware of the cessation of
breathing and the subsequent build-up of carbon dioxide in the system that can cause
concern. As black out sleep fades away over time with Vedic Meditation, the incidences of
apnea will logically be reduced as well.
Other contributing factors to apnea are body weight and alcohol consumption or the use of
other relaxants that can cause the airway to become blocked temporarily. There is a large
number of studies that show that meditators have healthier bodies and tend to use fewer
recreational drugs, both legal (alcohol and tobacco) and illegal. This diminishing of habits that
are less healthy is spontaneous and seems to be a result of: (a) developing a healthy
replacement habit, i.e. meditation, which provides the brain with natural bliss chemistry in a
sustainable way; (b) the actual practice of meditation altering some of the ways the brain works
- a kind of 'rewiring' so that unhelpful impulses occur less and less often.
Another way to look at this is that, for example, the desire to drink alcohol or smoke or overeat
to calm the nerves and act as a relaxant naturally declines because the body and mind are
more and more relaxed over time as a result of regular practice of meditation. Whatever the
exact mechanism - and it is likely to be a combination of all of the above -, repeated studies
show a steep decline in use of the 'social relaxants', all of which have a negative impact on the
quality of sleep.
So, learn to meditate and you will enjoy greater levels of rest, which will make your life more
joyful and more fun.
of meditation. Chronic insomnia is not experienced by regular meditators. Respiration is
improved. (The effects on breathing are particularly marked using this technique - Vedic
meditation has, for example, been shown to help people with asthma). The drop in metabolism
(that is to say, the use of oxygen by the body) in a period of just 15 minutes of meditation has
been measured to be 20% below the rate during waking state activity. This is truly remarkable,
as without meditation it takes fully five hours of normal sleep to drop the metabolic rate by just
8%. So Vedic Meditation has a major impact on how the body rests and thus the way
breathing is regulated in the body.
Subjective reports about sleep are consistent: over time, as the body habituates to the regular
practice of Vedic meditation, meditators experience less and less of the 'dead to the world'
black out sleep. The black out is replaced by brown out, - meditators report having a sense of
remaining aware to some degree during the night, even though their bodies are resting
perfectly well. It turns out that sleep with this faint inner awareness is physiologically more
restful than the total loss of awareness in sleep prior to practising meditation. It appears that as
we evolved as a species, the need to be on guard against danger during the night was
important and so if the mind were to switch off completely, the body had to be kept ready for
action. Yet, after learning Vedic Meditation and practising it for a while, 'brown out sleep'
occurs: logic would suggest that if the mind is to some extent alert, then it will permit the body
to rest more deeply, hence the greater restfulness experienced during sleep. Also, any
grogginess or confusion on waking that may have been the norm before learning meditation
now fades away entirely, and meditators wake up refreshed and fully alert.
On the subject of sleep apnea, incidences of apnea are typically associated with 'black out'
sleep - during the black out state the individual is entirely unaware of the cessation of
breathing and the subsequent build-up of carbon dioxide in the system that can cause
concern. As black out sleep fades away over time with Vedic Meditation, the incidences of
apnea will logically be reduced as well.
Other contributing factors to apnea are body weight and alcohol consumption or the use of
other relaxants that can cause the airway to become blocked temporarily. There is a large
number of studies that show that meditators have healthier bodies and tend to use fewer
recreational drugs, both legal (alcohol and tobacco) and illegal. This diminishing of habits that
are less healthy is spontaneous and seems to be a result of: (a) developing a healthy
replacement habit, i.e. meditation, which provides the brain with natural bliss chemistry in a
sustainable way; (b) the actual practice of meditation altering some of the ways the brain works
- a kind of 'rewiring' so that unhelpful impulses occur less and less often.
Another way to look at this is that, for example, the desire to drink alcohol or smoke or overeat
to calm the nerves and act as a relaxant naturally declines because the body and mind are
more and more relaxed over time as a result of regular practice of meditation. Whatever the
exact mechanism - and it is likely to be a combination of all of the above -, repeated studies
show a steep decline in use of the 'social relaxants', all of which have a negative impact on the
quality of sleep.
So, learn to meditate and you will enjoy greater levels of rest, which will make your life more
joyful and more fun.
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Vedic Meditation and its Impact on Sleep
Vedic Meditation
with David Giles
with David Giles
There is a solid body of evidence, both in published
studies and anecdotally from meditators, that the quality
of rest during sleep improves very significantly.
studies and anecdotally from meditators, that the quality
of rest during sleep improves very significantly.
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