Sadhguru once questioned Alia Bhatt’s 9-hour sleep schedule’s effect on her life. Do experts agree that she may be sleeping too much?

Alia Bhatt, earlier this year, spoke to Sadhguru in April and their conversation turned towards the topic of sleep when the Bollywood actor revealed that she usually sleeps for eight to nine hours. Sadhguru, who said he sleeps for around four to five hours a day, questioned whether spending that much time asleep leaves enough time to experience life.

But while this conversation raised a philosophical question about how people spend their time, sleep science offers a more practical answer: for most healthy adults, getting at least seven hours of sleep regularly is recommended for good health.

Sadhguru questioned Alia Bhatt’s 9-hour sleep routine

During their conversation, shared on Sadhguru’s YouTube channel on April 11, Alia asked him about his own sleep schedule. Sadhguru said that for around 27 to 28 years, he had functioned on only two and a half to three hours of sleep.


He said this changed after he underwent two emergency surgeries following an accident in which his head was split open and he was given sedatives. He now sleeps for around four and a half to five hours, depending on the day.

Alia was surprised by the figure and revealed her own routine: “I sleep for 9 or 8 hours.”

Sadhguru responded by pointing out that four to five hours already accounts for a quarter of a day, before asking her, “When will you live?”

Alia said that sleep helps the body recover

Alia then raised a point commonly associated with the importance of sleep. “All we are told is sleep, rest, it’s when your body repairs itself. That’s what we are told,” she said.

Sadhguru challenged the idea from a different perspective, asking, “Why did you damage your body in the first place?” He explained his own approach by saying, “People ask me, ‘What do you do to unwind?’ I say, ‘I don’t wind myself up’.”

Alia acknowledged that people often feel mentally and physically wound up by the end of the day. She said she can still want to sleep even after getting eight hours of rest and added, “I love sleeping.”

Sadhguru countered that people may actually enjoy the restfulness that comes from sleep rather than sleep itself. “Nobody loves sleeping because when you’re really sleeping, you don’t exist, so what’s there to love about? You don’t love your existence. You may like the restfulness it creates for you,” he said.

Is 8-9 hours too much for an adult?

Science does not support the idea that an adult should routinely cut sleep down to four or five hours simply to spend more time awake.

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine and Sleep Research Society recommend that healthy adults aged 18 to 60 get seven or more hours of sleep per night on a regular basis. Their consensus statement also links regularly sleeping for less than seven hours with several adverse health outcomes, including impaired performance, increased errors and accidents, as well as metabolic, cardiovascular and mental health problems.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute similarly notes that adults who regularly sleep for less than seven hours may experience more health problems than those who sleep seven or more hours.

More sleep is not automatically a problem

At the same time, the scientific research does not treat nine hours as an inherently unhealthy amount of sleep.

The sleep consensus statement says that regularly sleeping for more than nine hours may be appropriate for young adults, people recovering from sleep deprivation and those who are ill. For others, the health implications of regularly sleeping beyond nine hours remain uncertain.

Harvard Health Publishing also stresses that sleep needs differ between individuals. Eric Zhou of Harvard Medical School notes that some people need less than seven hours while others may need more, and that sleep quality matters alongside duration.

If someone wakes up refreshed and has enough energy for the day, Zhou suggests focusing less on the exact number of hours and more on the quality of that sleep.

Therefore, sleep is not just a question of adjusting more waking hours into the day. Consistency and quality matter too. Harvard Health recommends paying attention to whether the sleep time is being interrupted, how long it takes to fall asleep and how rested a person feels after waking up.

For most adults, the evidence-based baseline remains clear that regularly getting at least seven hours of sleep is important for health. Alia’s eight-to-nine-hour routine, by itself, does not establish that she is sleeping excessively.