How much sleep do you get?

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Yogis,

How much sleep do you get? I’m taking between 6.5 and 8.5 hours presently. Sometimes I feel like I need more because I’m in school and it’s quite taxing.

At the times in my life when I was the most fit (which wasn’t very fit) I was jogging about 5 miles a day. I felt great at this time and was definitely right around the 6.5 hour sleep range.

I feel like there just aren’t enough hours in the day sometimes. I also feel that with the help of yoga (along with chi gung and tai chi) that I can minimize the amount of actual shut-eye that I’m needing.

In addition to all of this, I am becoming increasingly mindful of what I put into my body.

So how much sleep is enough for you - and how much yoga practice (I guess I mean asanas) do you get in daily? I’m hoping to replace those 2 extra hours of sleep with yoga practice.

#2

I don’t buy the hype. Granted the amount of sleep a person needs will vary from individual to individual and best modified by expenditure output the need to repair and regenerate systems build muscle etc. But that we all need 8 hours is an urban myth.

Back working construction I needed sleep to perform optimally and safely because I had to be ON. I’d get home and force a meal in me before I passed out sometimes in my gear only to awake what seemed minutes later for my next shift.

9-5 is gravy!

When I worked shift work and found that I could work 2 full time jobs and a bag a few z’s with a 3rd on call overnighter. Still was competitive and never had a problem.

I’m older now with less to prove but I still doubt I could sleep 8 hours in a row.

#3

Actually the last study that I read posits 4 90 minute cycles that a sleeper needs for full functionality the next day. Some people cycle back-to-back, and thus, need 6 hours. Others wake up some, have to go to the bathroom, can’t get back to sleep, finally get back to sleep. This is where the higher end comes from.

#4

How much sleep do you get doesn’t necessarily transfer to how much sleep do you NEED.
And many of us will lie to ourselves, thinking we are fine on less, when really our body is slowly tiring out.
Those who get 6 hours a night or less, how much do you rely on caffeine or stimulants to get you through even part of your day?
Some are not even fully aware that they really are tired, or will shrug it off and say they do fine on less hours of sleep, after all they aren’t sick and they aren’t passing out at the end of the day!
The question I think should be, are you getting enough rest?
This will vary so greatly due to age and health and diet, exercise and most importantly, asana and yoga.

#5

Oh yeah I’m hopped up on caffein 20/7 Bring it!
The health benefits and enhanced meditative qualities for the tea drinker far outweigh the addictive properties and the diuretic effects are easily countered by drinking more tea.
Tea and thus caffein is the ideal beverage and drug of choice for many a monastic. It refreshes the mind supplements hydration. Thus tea has long been used as a beverage to keep monastics awake and focused during the long hours of deep meditation.

The book, Amalgamation of the Sources of the Five Lamps records that: “Drinking three cups of tea after each meal was the tradition of Chan monks.”

Hence, drinking tea was an important aspect in a monk?s daily routine, a custom that remains popular and respected to this day.-Buddha?s Light Publishing.

#6

I like 8 hours. I can function on 6-7. Less than 6 and I can really feel it. If I get 6 hours of sleep several days in a row, then I really need 8 hours to make up for it. I do need less sleep now than when I was in my teens and early 20s. At that time, 10 hours was good!

#7

BlueLotus,
I was a 10 hour a night person too! Working full time now prevents me from sleeping as long as I’d like, but when I was on vacation I did notice that 8 hours pretty much did it for me, when 10 used to be my norm many years ago. I’m ok on 7, but after a few days of that I do need a good 10 or 12hr sleep on the weekend to make up for it. Although, that might change if I were to go to bed at my normal time on Friday night instead of pushing it an hour or two later!
I’m not being good to my body. I need to change that. :slight_smile:

#8

I think that I function best with 8 hours. I can handle 5 or 6 but not on a regular basis (like catching a flight at 3 a.m.) I think that you just need to get the sleep that’s best for you.

I think that I needed more sleep when I was younger. Especially as a teenager.

#9

[QUOTE=BlueLotus;50176]I like 8 hours. I can function on 6-7. Less than 6 and I can really feel it. If I get 6 hours of sleep several days in a row, then I really need 8 hours to make up for it. I do need less sleep now than when I was in my teens and early 20s. At that time, 10 hours was good![/QUOTE]

That about sums it up for me too. The thing is that I wake up early, basically no matter when I went to bed so if I’m tired and really need my rest I have to go to bed before 9 pm.

#10

Our bodies can heal only when we are in deep sleep. While we are awake, there is only maintenance. Plus, only while we are asleep do our vertebral discs rehydrate and then only if there is enough water available.

Having said that, though, I read Bikram’s Yoga book and he said his series of postures allows for less sleep, and that he only sleeps 2 hours each night!

I think that meditation allows for us to reach the brain waves of deep sleep which would allow for less sleep.

I like my 8 hours of sleep! I can usually tell if I haven’t had enough sleep by a burning sensation in my eyes. I enjoy afternoon naps, too, usually an hour to an hour-and-a-half–when I can take them. :smiley:

#11

Might bee that time we spend sleeping is more important to us than time awake. Sleeping is not time waisted, so dont try to minimise it. Scientist has found out that less sleep = less creativity.

#12

I see people around me trying to reduce their need for sleep. Their bodies pay a heavy price and the people they are interacting with during the day pay too actually. Irritable, unreliable and, as pointed out above, not very creative.