Good sleep plays a vital role in the maintenance of proper health in the human body. It allows a person to have stability and balance of emotions. Just like a nutritious diet is needed for the energy, sleep is a must for the mind to work. Sleep is an important part of Ayurveda as well.
However, not everyone is able to have a sound sleep. According to Ayurveda sleep imbalance is rooted from a problem in the following:
- Vata dosa comes to play due to poor coordination in dhriti (retention), dhi (learning) and smriti (recall). This happens when a person is not able to fall sleep due to some sort of thoughts. Whenever you lie down to sleep a lot of thoughts regarding what you did this morning and several other things start coming to your mind. These feelings don’t allow you to sleep and eventually make you wake up tired or restless.
Ways to Combat With Vata Problem
During Day
- Have a habit to eat the heaviest meal in the afternoon and eat diner sufficient time before you go to bed. This allows the food to get digested.
- Inculcate foods that balance Vata
- The time before 10:00 p.m. is lighter Kapha time, it is better to go to bed before it.
- Intake worry-free tablets to avoid any sort of stress and tension.
During Night
- Try to have a massage at areas like hands and feet.
- Do not allow any random thoughts to hit your mind. Try to get into a mood of relaxation.
- Have a tea mixed with herbs and spices, produced to soothe the emotions before going to bed.
- Have an attitude to not think much while going to bed. Intake blissful sleeping tablets, if required.
- Kapha dosa leads to sleep disorder when despite having a long and sound sleep, the person fails to feel fresh after getting up. He lacks energy and keeps on felling lethargic for the entire day then.
Ways to Combat Kapha
During Day
- Have a habit of rising in the early morning hours, around 6:00 a.m. Sleeping beyond this can make your body feel dull and weak.
- Reduce the consumption of coffee, switch to green tea or Kapha tea instead.
- Avoid intake of desserts, start eating Kapha diet and follow Kapa lifestyle too.
- Inculcate a habit to exercise and deep breath all throughout this time.
- Pitta is an imbalance where your morning is a bit weaker and you cannot sleep for long hours. This is experienced by people going through emotional trauma in their lives. There is no problem in falling asleep in this disorder. The problem arises when you wake up.
Ways to Combat Pitta
During day
- Eat pitta foods, a diet that involves more bitter, sweet and astringent foods.
- Try to have the food at room temperature, rather than too hot.
- An ideal snack for late afternoon time can be a cup of warm milk having organic rose petals spread over it.
- Sleeping before 10:00 p.m. is of utmost importance. Have a hearty meal before it to avoid the feeling of an empty stomach.
- Also, follow a regime of eating three meals each day on the same specific time.
- Avoid going for exercises leading to overheating during sunny hours of the day. Prefer going for swimming and shaded areas.
Lastly, make sure you have the willingness to bring a positive change in your body. Also, have the right sort of food items and the teas in your kitchen to achieve proper results out of these tips.