GQ! I have the same problem in the mornings, sometimes staying in bed as long as 2–3 hours.

No. You might feel more relaxed, but your body won’t gain what it does from sleep.

No – REM sleep is what your body and mind need.

No. Studies have demonstrated that sleep is a particular phenomenon with its own stages and its own rules, and resting does not fulfill the same physiological requirements.

no.you kinda might feel relaxed.And your body dosen’t work at that time

i agree wit poofandmook

Nope. Your body goes through very specific sleep stages. It needs to achieve all of them more than once a night (well most people do anyhow). Lying in bed is very refreshing and relaxing but not the same as sleep.

No – however if you are having difficulty sleeping it is a much better idea to get in to bed and closing your eyes than to get up and do something to tire yourself out.

I have often wondered this myself as I lay there awake… unable to sleep.

I agree that there’s nothing like sleep, especially when it comes to your body being able to handle stress and keeping your immune system strong.

Sometimes though, if sleep is not an option I have found that at least laying down somewhere quiet and relaxing, maybe even meditating on something tranquil goes a long way later on when you have to be awake.

For me, if I“m able to lay down for an hour or two it helps my endurance later on.

Not really, but to help sleep come, I suggest you do that, and take deep, regular breaths.

What you are describing is “rest”, which is physiologically different from “sleep”.

I ‘m a little off-topic but I have found concentrating on every breath ends up boring me to sleep!

To add to what @lightlyseared said, it’s probably not a good idea to lie in bed awake if you have trouble sleeping. Nor should your read in bed. You want your brain to associate bed with sleep.

Of course, if it just happens every now and then, I wouldn’t worry about it.

@faye Exactly

Not at all. REM sleep is what has the affect.