Sleeping well every night helps you maintain optimal health. Right from helping you avoid that tired, worn-out feeling, to supporting healthy brain function, to even keeping all your health woes at bay– a good night’s uninterrupted sleep can do wonders. Yet, many Indians toss and turn regularly at night, trying to get the quality sleep they need. A recent national survey highlights the disturbing fact that nearly 75% of Indians say that they do not get deep restful sleep every night. In this blog, we will discuss some simple tips and Ayurvedic home remedies for good sleep. But before that let’s understand what causes sleeplessness or Anidra.

Ayurveda’s Perspective on Sleep

Ayurveda says that aggravated Vata causes feelings of anxiety and worry in Individuals. As a result, they struggle to fall asleep with an overactive mind and keep tossing and turning at night. Individuals with Pitta-type sleep-related problems may fall asleep quickly but experience intermittent wakefulness, or wake up frequently at night with palpitations, body pain, or emotional disturbances. When this ongoing problem persists over extended periods of time, the consequences can be detrimental to your overall health. So, it is extremely important to balance your Vata and Pitta doshas to calm the mind and create a state of deep restful sleep. The good news is, that you have much more control over the quality of your sleep than you probably know. Count on these tips and Ayurvedic home remedies for good sleep.

Fix Your Nighttime Schedule

Every day make a commitment to get in your bed, by 10 p.m. Ayurveda also recommends that one should wake up before sunrise because after this Kapha becomes dominant. If you wake up after 6:00 a.m., Kapha’s heavy and slow qualities cause sluggishness, inducing dullness in the body. Also, make sure you stick to the same sleep schedule each day, even during the weekends, to keep your body’s biological clock in check.

Eating a healthy and light dinner 2 hours before going to bed is also recommended. An ideal time for dinner is 7 p.m. Embrace this routine daily as this helps your body slowly ease into sleep mode.

Unplug before Bedtime

All those mindless minutes of scrolling through social media can seriously damage your quality of sleep. This is because too much electric energy vitiates Vata, resulting in restless sleep and insomnia. It is also found that exposure to blue light emitted by smartphones may disrupt your circadian rhythm (or natural sleep-wake cycle). So, why put your eyes to work when you go to sleep? Try to avoid using smartphones, and other devices during bedtime. Instead Turn down the lights, signaling to the pineal gland that it’s time to start secreting melatonin.

Use Vata Oil to Practice Abhangya (massage)

An Ayurveda ritual, Abhyanga, is self-massage which is practiced using a warm herbal oil all over the body. This Ayurvedic massage oil helps you get deep restful sleep. All you need to do is to apply a warm, sesame-based oil like Maharishi Ayurveda Vata Oil that helps balance Vata and calms the mind. Often, individuals find it a daunting task to massage the entire body. These individuals can simply give themselves a soothing foot massage, or Padabhyanga, before or after a shower, using a few drops of this warm organic massage oil. The warmth of the oil helps to ground Vata, thereby promoting relaxation and sleep.

Engage In Yoga and Pranayama Daily

Our sleep cycle gets disturbed when we are stressed and anxious. Practicing yoga is a perfect way to wind down your day and promote relation and calmness. After a busy day, just before your bedtime, you can practice a few relaxing yoga poses for sleep for 3-5 minutes each. This includes Wide-Knee Child’s Pose (Balasana), Standing Forward Bend (Uttanasana), Legs Up The Wall Pose (Viparita Karani ), and Reclining Bound Angle (Supta Baddha Konasana). Each yoga pose can be combined with Ocean breath (or Ujjayi Pranayama). This breathing technique consists of a smooth, deep inhalation through the nose which is followed by an exhalation. During exhalations, the muscles at the back of the throat are tightened.

Use Ayurvedic Sleep Formulations

Herbs and ayurvedic medicines help you achieve a state of deep restful sleep by resolving the main causes of sleep deprivation. Daily use of herbs like Ashwagandha and Brahmi helps you elevate occasional stress, anxiety, and depression, thereby promoting sleep. Individuals with sleep-related issues can also take the best Ayurvedic sleeping pills that help them get sound sleep at night without making them feel drowsy the next day. Blissful Sleep is an Ayurvedic medicine for sleep which is a blend of potent herbs that work synergistically to help you calm excess Vata. This helps manage stress and anxiety, thereby fostering an easeful transition into sleep. It also calms aggravated Pitta so that your sleep is not interrupted, and you enjoy a full night’s deep, uninterrupted sleep.

Avoid Consumption of Alcohol, Caffeine, And Other Stimulants

Reduce or avoid the consumption of alcohol at night. The sharp, Pitta-provoking fire of alcohol may affect your sleep. While alcohol often initially helps you fall asleep, it overstimulates the liver, which is a pitta organ, thereby causing restlessness. Due to this, individuals may wake up in the middle of the night with night sweats, or hot flashes. Intake of caffeine (coffee), black tea, alcohol, and other stimulants should also be avoided.

Conclusion

Our bodies must have enough rest to function well. But due to our never-ending professional commitments, a sedentary lifestyle, personal issues, poor sleeping habits, and other factors our doshas fall out of balance. As a result, the normal processes of waking and/or initiating sleep do not happen. Sleep deprivation can be a dangerous cycle and wreaks havoc on your overall health. So, it makes sense to try to bring back the balance, especially when you are dealing with sleeplessness. With a few simple Ayurvedic tips and remedies, you can easily balance your doshas, enjoy better sleep at night, and improve how they feel and perform during the day.

Hope you find this helpful!