I’ve been meditation almost daily for 15-20 minutes the last 1.5 months. I enjoy the pratice, and it is nice and relaxing, however I find the changes, if any, to be very subtle (to the point that they might as well be placebo).
Curious to hear your experiences.
Ah, the losing of sleep I’m describing is not due to the bells, but it is a good point that not sleeping is practically institutional at a monastery.
I think whether losing sleep is negative depends on the framing.
In Buddhism, it is taken as a sign of progress, but in secular contexts lacking sleep like that can be a problem, esp. when meditation is mistakenly suggested to help with insomnia.
Mostly I struggled to have equanimity towards the lack of sleep - losing sleep also impacted my meditation, making it harder to concentrate or have good sessions. I would say mostly it felt like I just needed less sleep, but even so it was hard to lie awake every night for several hours, unable to lose consciousness.