Trouble Sleeping?
Among the three pillars of health in Ayurveda are sleep, nutrition and sexual energy. But why is sleep so important? (More to come on nutrition and sexual energy to come!) Of course, we all feel the effects of a night not well-spent but there is more to it! A bad night’s sleep here and there doesn’t have a huge impact on overall health. But, consistent poor sleep can have a dramatic impact on physical, emotional and spiritual well being.
During sleep, the body experiences a great number of important processes that set the body up for resisting disease, inviting coordination, improving cardiovascular function, maintaining healthy cognitive function & immune health and supporting ideal body weight. For women in particular, we need adequate sleep in order to maintain healthy hormonal function. The hormones are reliant upon all of the cycles of sleep in order to function properly. Disturbance to just one hormonal secretion can impact the entire symphony.
The doshas are busy ruling pretty much everyone and everything, all the time. And the hours of the day are no different and, therefore, should be taken into consideration when attempting to improve sleep. Kapha, for example, rules the hours of 6-10 (AM & PM) while vata rules 2-6 (AM & PM) and pitta is creating her magic from 10-2 (AM & PM). What this means for people with interrupted sleep is that you could be experiencing doshic disturbance from any of the doshas!
Difficult time falling asleep?
If you have trouble falling asleep, chances are it's because pitta is coming into play. 10pm - 2am are hours ruled by pitta and pitta is the most productive dosha. This means you likely experience lots of thoughts about what you want to accomplish, what you didn’t accomplish, and perhaps even find yourself criticizing yourself or others while you lie awake having what feels like the most productive thoughts of your day. When we fail to be asleep by around 10pm, it is common to experience what feels like a “second wind.” While this can become productive, the issue becomes that we miss out on the most productive time to rest. Pitta takes the trash out, so to speak. This means that when we sleep from 10pm - 2 am, we experience the best sleep cycles and set up success in creating healthy circadian rhythm in the body. If you have trouble falling asleep by 10pm, try the following:
Connect with the sunshine by 10am. A few minutes of sunshine in the morning helps support healthy hormonal cycles, inviting melatonin to kick in in time for you to sleep.
Create a wind-down routine that begins no later than 9pm. Turn off the screens, have a warm bath, read something that is not over stimulating or disturbing, practice abhyanga (self-massage) and drink something warm.
Take a little bit of chamomile tea or valerian root to promote relaxation and calmness.
Listen to/practice a calming meditation before bedtime.
Save the to-do lists for morning, when you have a clear mind. Self-talk through this practice is helpful. Creating a short mantra, something along the lines of, “Now is the time to sleep. I will sleep productively and feel refreshed to remember all that I hope to accomplish tomorrow,” can be beneficial. Creating a relationship of trust with your body is essential to this practice.
Wake and worry in the wee hours of morning….
On the other hand, if you have a tendency to wake early in the hours of the morning and worry, obsess, or feel sorry for yourself - vata is doing its number on you. Vata, being made of the elements of air and ether, is responsible for spaciousness and so, when we wake in the early hours, its more likely that we experience worry or overwhelm than productiveness. That said, it’s less harmful for the physical body to miss out on these hours of sleep and more disturbing to the mind. If you wake in the wee hours of the morning and struggle to settle in, try the following:
Take ¼ tsp nutmeg and ½ tsp ghee in warm milk or water (or a combination) before bed. Nutmeg takes 4-6 hours to kick in and is a natural sleep aide. Ashwagandha is another great option for settling the mind and its warming quality is supportive of vata dosha.
Journal before bed. Use this time to write down comforting thoughts, reminders about what is going well in your life and what you have accomplished recently, and come back to these thoughts if you find yourself awake early. Save the to-do lists for morning, when you have a clear mind.
If you wake and cannot go back to sleep, listen to a comforting guided meditation that specifically invites a body scan, taking you out of your head and bringing you back into your body.
Practice deep breathing, watching the breath and counting to 6 on the inhale and 4 on the exhale.
I can never seem to get enough sleep!
Feeling overly tired most of the time and succomming to daytime napping? Blame kapha who has a tendency to create lethargy and heaviness. People who experience good very deeply for extended periods of time and sometimes have trouble waking up in the morning, might be experiencing more of a kapha type sleep imbalance. If you might be suffering from a kapha sleep imbalance, try the following:
Go to sleep by 10pm and wake before the sun. Walk outside in the morning as the sun rises or shortly after and breathe fresh air. While difficult at first, this routine will be the most effective way to support a healthy sleep rhythm and avoid feelings of lethargy or melancholy.
Avoid napping.
Stay away from heavy night time meals and snacks. Eat your largest meal at the pitta time of day, between 10am and 2pm.
Be sure to exercise regularly. Exercise long or hard enough to break a mild sweat.
If you aren’t sure which dosha is impacting healthy sleep or if none of these remedies really speak to you, contact me for a free 15 minute Discovery Call or schedule an initial consultation and we can get down and dirty talking about you and your individual and unique needs and goals.
