Meditation and Sleep Deprivation

boatBurner

shutup, crime!
Feb 24, 2012
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I've been sleep deprived a lot lately.

I've taught myself to run on 3-4 hours of sleep, less in extreme situations. Back home, this is different though. My excuse is that "I'm working", and usually that is the case.

But after 4-5 months of this, I'm really starting to feel the burn. It was mentioned by a few peers to try meditation. This goes against the core of my testicles, but I'm not against it.

Does anyone have experience with meditation and/or sleep deprivation? I'd prefer to stay away from medicine.
 


I got off my sleep meds recently and meditation has helped alot with the withdrawals (very sleep deprived). It doesn't have to be all spiritual and yoga. I use this NLP/binaural audio to help me fall asleep, it's on my other computer I'll give you titles/link so you can download later today.
 
Thanks for the input. Ill be waiting for the links. This shit is getting ridiculous, and has turned counter productive.
 
I read something that said you don't have to close your eyes and chant or have a meditation room or any of that crap. It said meditation can be as easy as picking a spot on the wall and doing that glazed thing with your eyes "staring off into space" for 20 minutes. I don't know if that's true or not, but I know how much it annoys me when people start waving their hand infront of my face when I am staring off into space because I was actually enjoying the...whatever state I was in.
 
Meditation has many benefits for me its better focus and increased productivity. Also 4 hours sleep is unhealthy as fuck.
 
I meditate. None of that gay chanting though. I usually just wake up early before everyone else and sit in the middle of the living room staring at the wall for a few minutes. Then I close my eyes and focus on my breathing and try and "zone out." I'm gonna be honest I thought it was a bunch of crap the first week but after that I was sold. My mind is clearer, my thoughts are more focused and I generally feel better. That and some of my most genius ideas come to me while meditating.
 
I think it can help. I lay on my back, start at my toes and imagine moving them, without moving them, like you start to try to move them the littlest amount possible while trying not to move them. It starts a sensation. Then I start moving up the foot, imagining I'm dipping it into water, and the feeling as the sensation moves up the foot. Then I work back to the toes, then work back up to the shin, then back to the toe, then up to the knee, etc start a new area then return to the beginning.

After like 30 min once I've worked up to the shoulders and down the arms to the tips of the fingers, your whole body feels kinda warm and glowing. Often, even though I wasted 30 min of my sleep being awake, I feel far more refreshed when I wake up.

Currently I'm taking prednisone steroids and can't sleep at all, just feel wired all the time, sleep 3-4 hours per night. Normally this would give me a migraine if I'm sleep deprived more than a few days.

I take melatonin which helped feel tired at night but it doesn't seem to help at the moment with the medicine I'm taking.
 
Try mindfulness meditation (aka meditation for atheists). Same results as the real stuff, none of the bullshit jargon.

If you want to be happy, do 4 things.

1. Sleep at least 7 hours per night, AT night.
2. Eat good, nutritious food.
3. Meditate.
4. Exercise.

4 simple things that seriously mean the difference between night and day to your productivity, intelligence, and happiness.
 
I felt a bit of an arse at first, but meditation definitely helps in a lot of ways, energy levels, clarity of thought, uninterrupted sleep etc.

I just listen to a relaxation tape whilst in bed at night. It gets me unbelievably relaxed before dropping off to sleep.

One thing I always try to make sure of, is that I get my 8 hours sleep, without fail.

To make money, you work all hours and make yourself ill. What good is the money when you feel so shit?
You really need to focus on your health more and your productivity will increase dramatically, therefore you will get a lot more done in a shorter space of time, leaving more time for you.
 
It's funny, my brother is a hardcore atheist and he's been mediating for quite a few months now. It's definitely made him a better person.

Anyway one day he was trying a heart chakra meditation (of course he thought it was all bullshit) and he felt an energy opening up in his chest and moving around his body LOL. I thought that was hilarious and awesome at the same time. You don't need to believe shit (trust me, it really doesn't matter), just do it and results will come.
 
Meditation is huge for relaxation. Just focusing on your breathing for 20 minutes a day can have tremendous benefits because it's time where you aren't focused on the "internal noise" of your own thoughts.

All day long we have internal stimuli (thoughts and emotions) pushing and pulling and banging around in our minds. When you take a few minutes a day to push all of that off the table, you can focus better on what actually matters. I think of it as a reboot of sorts, and it definitely helps.

There doesn't need to be any mysticism or anything like that involved, you can conceptualize it any way you like. The important thing is that you spend a little bit of time not giving in to your mind's desire to think. It's an exercise, and it's kind of like training a dog not to go wild when they see another dog. A well behaved mind is a productive mind.
 
Meditation is the shit, especially right before bed. I've gotten extremely solid sleep this way. If you have an iPhone I HIGHLY recommend the guided meditation apps by Andrew Johnson, you should check them out they're fucking great.

For me guided is better than just focusing on breathing, it's too easy for me to get distracted. Guided meditation will straight hypnotize you into passing out. Good luck bros.
 
Meditation is the shit, especially right before bed. I've gotten extremely solid sleep this way. If you have an iPhone I HIGHLY recommend the guided meditation apps by Andrew Johnson, you should check them out they're fucking great.

For me guided is better than just focusing on breathing, it's too easy for me to get distracted. Guided meditation will straight hypnotize you into passing out. Good luck bros.

I already have that app. Really effective.
 
You have adrenal glands fatigue. Google that.

I've been sleep deprived a lot lately.

I've taught myself to run on 3-4 hours of sleep, less in extreme situations. Back home, this is different though. My excuse is that "I'm working", and usually that is the case.
  • But after 4-5 months of this, I'm really starting to feel the burn. It was mentioned by a few peers to try meditation. This goes against the core of my testicles, but I'm not against it.
  • Does anyone have experience with meditation and/or sleep deprivation? I'd prefer to stay
away from medicine.
 
Meditation is awesome, and I'd recommend it for anyone.

However what you're doing is self-abuse. It's like asking "hey, I've got a crack habit, and it's been ok but I'm getting a little crazy recently. Will meditation allow me to keep on hitting the rocks with no bad consequences?"

It will help sure, but it's not a miracle cure. Get some more sleep.
 
Try mindfulness meditation (aka meditation for atheists). Same results as the real stuff, none of the bullshit jargon.

If you want to be happy, do 4 things.

1. Sleep at least 7 hours per night, AT night.
2. Eat good, nutritious food.
3. Meditate.
4. Exercise.

4 simple things that seriously mean the difference between night and day to your productivity, intelligence, and happiness.

WTF, a good post by pewep? :S
 
My goal is to break this habit, not to sustain it. I'll work, work, work and then shoot the shit, read a few blogs, skype a pal, then work again. It takes me into the wee hours. Family of six, military day job (on my way out). Time management is suffering. But I need to break this sleeping cycle, and a doc mentioned meditation. Also, our docs immediately point to PTSD, and Im confident this is not that.

Hack, got those links?
 
So does that eyes glazed-staring off into space thing help? Or was that just bullshit that I read?

I like the idea of meditating with my eyes open...mostly so I don't fall asleep. :/
 
So does that eyes glazed-staring off into space thing help?

It sounds like that would involve being in a more relaxed brain wave state, which is what meditation does. So I would say it could help, but probably not if you did it all day long.


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