Sleep and Ayurveda
Sleep is now but just a distant dream…? For most of us… sad but true.
With all gadgets and readily available any time anywhere social media and our never really switching off brains, are we all headed to illnesses that we have “under-slept” our way to ? Our constant companions are modern phones hooking us onto unlimited screen time, texting time, calling time, social media time and endless encroachers into our precious sleep time.
We no longer sleep by a consistent time routine, neither do we stop and leave our phones or screens to ensure our sense organs get a break well before we hit the sack. We tend to brush it aside as just some sleep we can catchup on the next day of course..! But do our bodies keep up with this never ending load of sleep deficit ? And what really happens if we skipped a few hours ?
Early sleep ensures a well rested nervous system, which is your brain too. The Brain gets time to boost its cognitive functions and prepare your mind for better thought process and boost your memory too.
During the deep sleep wave, our blood sugar levels fall and this helps lower blood glucose levels and help prevent lifestyle diseases like Type 2 Diabetes.
Our heart benefits most, when the rate of beating slows down naturally while resting at night and allows for our circulation to recover.
We give time for our immune function to revive, balance our hormone function and so much more when we sleep right.
Charaka Samhita states sleep is 6 types
- Natural sleep: most beneficial and may vary according to stages in life.
For example childhood is associated with Kapha predominance, hence increased time for sleep is natural and beneficial in this physiological growth phase.
Youth and Middle Age are associated with Pitta predominance and high levels of energy and heat in the body. This is a time of moderate amount of sleep and it is natural to be able to sleep atleast 7-8 hours at night.
When ageing process sets in we see a rise in Vata Dosha naturally. This causes a physiological decline in sleep, and care must be given to build a good routine and lifestyle that calms Vata down.
- Sleep Due to increased Kapha : due to the heavy quality of Kapha Dosha promoting heaviness in the body and increasing sleep.
This can happen by eating foods that are too sweet, too oily , moist and heavy to digest. - Sleep due to Exhaustion of Body by extreme physical work.
- Chronic disease
- Injury or imbalance in the body.
According to different Body types, the Vata & Pitta find it difficult to stop what they are doing and sleep at night. While the Kapha will find it easy to get to sleep, they too might find it difficult to switch off.
Ayurveda has always given importance to building a good dinacharya or daily routine to build up to a good night’s rest.
People ask, what can I do to stay healthy ? The answer , sleep well to better health. Our bodies are wonderful healers, they do this in the night though.., so give them a chance to rest and revive too. Have you noticed how the birds are so busy throughout the day, but as soon as dusk falls, they retreat, they rest and are up again at the break of dawn…. We have so much to learn from nature. Take some inspiration from that bird song you hear at dawn….🤗sleep well