Sleep organisation stabilizes among vipassana meditation practitioners: study

What is the News?

Researchers have found that practitioners of meditation have better sleep as compared to those who do not practice meditation.

What are the sleep disorders?

Sleep disorders are a group of conditions that affect the ability to sleep well on a regular basis.

Some of the commonly found sleep disorders are insomnia, sleep apnea, restless leg syndrome, hypersomnia, narcolepsy and shift work disorder.

In India, over 93% of our population is affected by sleep deprivation or disorders.

What is the purpose of this study?

Frequent sleep transitions (from higher deep sleep to lighter sleep) are seen in sleep disorders, and with age, these transitions increase. 

Traditionally, meditation has been recommended as a solution for sleep disorders. However, scientific evidence on the relationship between meditation and sleep disorders was lacking. This study focuses on that.

Note: This study has been supported by the SATYAM Programme of the Department of Science and Technology.

What are the findings of the study?

Researchers have found that practitioners of meditation transition from light to deep sleep faster, and their period of transition does not increase with age as against those who do not practice meditation.

Moreover, the duration of the deep sleep period is also the longest among the people who meditate whereas this duration reduces with age among those who don’t meditate. 

Source: The post is based on the article “Sleep organisation stabilizes among vipassana meditation practitioners: study” published in PIB on 20th June 2022.