Should I Sleep or Meditate?

There is no question we live in a sleep-deprived culture. Mathew Walker’s new book Sleep is your Superpower, does a brilliant job of giving us the data on how challenged sleep has become in modern times. It’s interesting to me how few people truly place value on the benefits of a good night’s sleep, yet, every person I know loves to feel restored and renewed with sleep. 

Do you love the feeling of having had a good night's sleep?

I believe we should intimately understand how much sleep we need and why. To me creating the right circumstances for a good night’s sleep is a non-negotiable. Like my meditation practice, my sleep habits have become a sacred ritual. I used to beat myself up about valuing sleep so highly saying it was because I was too old or have migraines, or maybe just a tad uptight, but the more I learn about sleep, the more affirmed I am in not only valuing sleep but in making it a top priority.

The new science of sleep is out and if you care about the quality of your health, relationships and life; it’s your time to make sleep one of your top priorities. As a meditation teacher, I care about sleep not only because of its numerous health benefits, but because it is intimately related to brain wave activity and people are always asking me; if I can’t sleep should I meditate? As a mentor coach, I find the most complex problems often distill down to basics, and that includes sleep.

Sleep is like the foundation of your house. If it’s unstable, nothing else aligns properly. 

Once you know your sleep success formula, you should honour it like you would anything else of value. This means saying yes to boundaries, yes to communication with the people in your life that will affect your sleep, yes to forming good sleep habits and yes to consistency. Like meditation, the benefits of sleep are inherent in you doing it. I like to remind people, meditation is a physiological event. It’s similar to jogging, you aren’t getting any health benefits by reading about meditation or intellectually understanding it. Sleep is very much the same. Building a good sleep practice is like building a solid meditation practice.

The two most common sleep/meditate conundrums I hear are: 1) Should I set my alarm earlier to meditate? 2) What if I have insomnia, should I meditate or try to sleep? 

The only should in this blog is you should get enough sleep. So if you are the kind of person who can still get enough sleep by rising 15 or 20 minutes earlier to meditate, then go for it. This is an ideal time for neuroplasticity, changing mood set points and deepening practices. 

Since insomnia is an aspect of the sleep-wake cycle and I am strongly advocating that you know your sleep cycle intimately, then ask yourself, what kind of insomnia is it? If it’s the kind where you know you will be up for hours and there is little you can do about it, then yes, meditate. By meditating you will also access those early morning brain waves and you will be doing something healthy and nurturing for yourself rather than stewing about not sleeping. 

Meditating in the middle of the night or at odd hours is also ideal for your family members and pets. They will love and appreciate you more knowing you are calmly creating a quiet healing presence in the corner of the room, rather than restlessly roaming around the house checking off items from your “to do” list…which I might add, won’t help you sleep.

The sleep-wake cycle has been studied for decades. As I see it sleep is an essential service that has slowly been eroded by light pollution, sound pollution, the progressive desire for more ego satiation including money, status, and image and the biological influences of technology. What was once considered a natural part of being alive has been challenged and eroded by societal pressure and norms and ultimately by our personal values and choices. I know people today who will willingly sacrifice their sleep and even the sleep of their children to ensure their role in society is maintained or their plans remain unchanged. Yet the latest research proves that by compromising sleep a person is compromising their health (not in small ways) and the longevity of their life.

With the internet, all the information we could ever need is available at our fingertips. Talking about the value of sleep is nothing new but perhaps challenging the societal pressures around sleep with the latest new science is. This is where I think Mathew Walker has pulled together sleep research in leaps and bounds and I encourage you to listen for yourself.

If this was helpful and you still have questions let’s connect. Meditation, sleep and anything “conscious related” is my soul's purpose, my pleasure and my passion.