Prioritize Your Sleep Based on Your Dosha: Self-love serves as a hot topic in the current days. When you have self-love, you will lead a healthy life with minimal worry towards your body or the sleep. Whereas, when you experience love with the significant other you will have trouble sleeping at night.
It all depends on the hormones of the body. If you experience happiness or sadness there comes the hormone abnormality in your body keeping you awake the whole night or may feel exhausted after hours of sleep.
The sleep regulation is imparted by the hormonal roles. Hormones get affected by the environment, diet and weather conditions also. Some may fall asleep as they close their eyes while others experience sleep issues associated with the digestive fire, hormones and mind. Practising sound sleep is the self love you do to yourself. One must ensure to respect themselves as well their body.
This blog details how you can fall asleep within a few minutes and the ayurvedic perspective of sleep in daily life.
What do you mean by good quality sleep?
An individual’s health is based on three variables of the physiology, such as:
- Sleep Quality
- Daily routine speed
- The digestive fire
This kind of variable is not constant, as it varies depending on the body, age, type and the nature of your lifestyle. The individual’s ability to fall asleep in a few minutes lets the undisturbed sleep an individual can get in the daytime as the three quality determinants of the sleep.
The Quality of Sleep
- The duration of time one falls asleep once they hit the bed?
- How much time do you sleep at night?
- Do you nap in the morning or noon time?
- Do you feel disturbed by hearing noises or through light?
- Do you feel energy depletion in the daytime?
If your answer is yes to the last three questions, you exhibit poor sleep quality ignoring your first and second answers. If you are healthy, you may hit the bed on sleeping 10 to 20 minutes. If it takes more than 20 minutes, you need to revise your sleep patterns.
Generally, 6 to 8 hours of sleep is required for an individual to take rest and recuperate their body.
Ayurvedic Thought on Sleep
The immunity of the individual is determined by the sleep an individual experiences as per the Ayurveda. There are certain philosophies involved such as digestive fire, hormones and mind influencing one’s sleep. Ayurveda terms insomnia as Nidra-naasha. The sleep- deprived condition or insomnia results from the accumulation of impurities or dirt in the body occurred through diet and the circumstance around you as mentioned in Ayurveda.
The Ayurvedic wisdom shares that sleep is essential than having a proper diet. Sleep can be induced only if you consume a proper diet. The ancient system of medicine groups sleep that renders to an individual’s dosha imbalance and prakriti. Inadequate sleep leads to the aggravation of doshas by stabbing the physical and psychological conditions of the human mind and the body.
Ayurveda embraces the natural flow of energy in the world inside you and around you. The morning’s usually have a fresh flow of energy than the night time. It’s due to the continuous change in the weather condition of the day. All the living organisms react to the weather appropriately changing the temperature based on the principle of “Homeostasis”.
The Ayurvedic cycle and the time (energy flow) in the day depends on the doshas as:
Kapha : 6 to 10 am & pm
Pitta : 10 to 2 am & pm
Vata : 2 to 6 am & pm
As the kapha time starts at 6 am, the Ayurveda encourages you to wake before 6 am. By doing so, you would rule the day for sure. The evening 6 pm is again your kapha time to have your dinner. Preparing the bed at this time serves to be an ideal choice because Kapha rules by heavy elements like earth and water. Consuming a light dinner is a wise choice to balance these heavy elements. This cycle depicts that flowing in time is crucial and the impact it has owes on your sleep and the night time.
How to sleep based on your dosha imbalances ?
The hormones of the body trigger and inhibit sleep. The lifestyle, diet and words you hear affects your sleep cycle. Certain days you fall asleep as you hit the bed, other nights it feels like a war with your mind. The hormones and the moods control sleep. In the terms of Layman, the imbalances in the dosha is the root cause of sleep disorders, as pinpointed through Ayurveda.
When your Vata energy is aggravated, a flood of emotions rise in your subconscious mind, as you hit the bed. This makes the brain stay active for hours and makes the sleep-inducing hormones struggle for secretion.
As your Pitta energy gets aggravated, you would be tired enough to sleep. But you wake up at mid-nights from a deep slumber and cannot sleep again.
People with an elevated Kapha energy may experience the sleep disorder a bit. You may sleep for long hours but would feel exhausted at day also.
It’s best to take a Prakriti Test to understand well about your dosha imbalance and prakriti.
The Prakriti Quiz
Knowing your dosha is important to control the factors which influence your sleep. A remedy like taking a hot shower, or meditating before you sleep may work for some, but it doesn’t make sense for others. An individual with dominant Vata, will not sleep if their vata energy is elevated.
The creative wanderer finds it difficult to turn off their mind. Consuming warm milk or taking a hot shower will not make them fall asleep. Similarly, we can see how each body type and prakriti serves in falling asleep on accord of their mind, hormones and digestive fire.
The Night Routines and sleep tips for Kapha
If you exhibit the dosha of Kapha- Pitta, Kapha Prakriti or Kapha- Vata Prakriti, then 99% of people may feel effortless to fall asleep. But if the Kapha levels are aggravated at high levels, sleeping would become a struggle.
The characteristics of a Kapha Prakriti individuals look like :
The digestive fire of the Kapha Person can be termed as “Mandha Agni”. They exhibit a slow metabolism rate, that is not ideal for them to consume heavy meals at any part of their day. If they have a balanced portion of diet that includes bitter, pungent, and sour taste food, it gradually increases their digestive fire.
Kapha people can be said as the sages of the world. They won’t get an adrenaline rush or the nerve wrecking sweat like others. But when the Kapha Dosha is disturbed or elevated, they sleep throughout the day and can never maintain their night time routines. Their melatonin (sleep hormone) gets disturbed.
Night Routines of Kapha individuals
Kapha individuals are meant to be slow-moving people, but if you have an elevated Kapha, the evening routine is ideal for you to have a good night’s sleep. By nature Kapha elevation makes you procrastinate at the first half of the day with the attitude of lethargy and rush to catch everything at the second half of the day. To prevent this, you need to start your morning with a heavy workout inorder to increase your energy levels.
Heavy Work-Out
While you return from your work, you might feel to sit in front of the television or mobile phone to sit on your couch, being a Kapha person. You can avoid this, by getting into the shower in the evening and hitting the gym. This may reduce the screen time and make you active in the evenings.
You can perform a high intensity workout, where you can feel your energy levels to be pumped up and kick the inertia of your Kapha imbalances. This can transit you from the work-mode.
Avoid Television at Dinner
Binge watching Netflix, sitting with the laptop or television and spending time on mobile attribute to the characteristics of a Kapha person. Avoid these kinds of habits during the dinner for tasting the food and shifting the focus on the food for a healthy body.
Consume Ginger Tea After Dinner
Usually the digestive fire is slow for Kapha people, in order to increase your night dinner metabolism, you can consume milk-free ginger tea that speeds up the digestion process by preparing the body for better night sleep with no trouble in the bowel movement.
Pranayama Before going to Bed
Imbalanced Kapha doshas lead to negative thoughts and even depression. Depression is the big reason for insomnia and sleep disorders. To eliminate the negative thoughts, simple breathing exercises can be done just before hitting the bed to ease the melancholy mind.
Follow a dietary pattern
The high levels of Kapha leads to sleep disorders and lethargic days exhibiting no energy to work. It is mainly because of the imbalance of the melatonin hormone and your body doesn’t feel energized during the daytime. Certain foods must be avoided from your diet, if you exhibit elevated levels of Kapha energy in your body.
- Avoid the consumption of frequent intake of desserts, sugar or any sweet based food.
- Carbonated drinks, soda, tetra pack juices must be ignored.
- Any alcoholic consumption must be avoided
- Deep fried or shallow fried dont serve a good choice for Kapha people
- Heavy, oily and cold meals should be avoided.
- Red meat consumption is not a good choice for Kapha individuals
Changes in the Lifestyle
Kapha people must practise the morning and evening workouts. The sluggishness can be avoided through a high intensive exercise. This can be a part of your daily routine forever.
- Avoid being a couch sloth – ignore sticking with television or electronic devices
- Don’t overeat – Overeating leads to insomnia and obesity. Fill only ¾ th of your stomach while you eat.
Include massage and music to your routine
- Listen to brisk music
- Morning massage with sesame oil activates the body cells with blood circulation.
The Night Routines and Sleep tips for Vata people
Elevated vata energy individuals impart Vata dosha with increased amount of air and ether elements of the body. The Vata people exhibit creative wanderers of the earth and display the characteristics of air and ether.
They usually represent air, movement and the forced pressure. Ether represents the space and emptiness. The individuals who are active gain full potential to increase their growth in life over a small period of time. When their energy becomes elevated, the Vata energy is increased, and leads chaos to the individual with a restless mind.
Practise a good sleep pattern
The digestive fire of the Vata Person is depicted as “Vishama Agni”. These people have an erratic metabolism rate. They should avoid eating dry, raw or skipping their meals at any part of their day. If they go for a balanced diet, they can consume sweet, salty and spicy food, to regularize their digestive fire.
Vata people are considered as the wanderers of the world. They are constantly engaged in doing something and can never stay idle. They have solid focus if their energy is well balanced but when elevated or disturbed, they may lose their concentration, willpower and determination to complete their tasks. They get tired throughout the day and cannot maintain a proper night time routine. Thereby, the melatonin gets disturbed at high levels for a Vata person. They are diagnosed with insomnia and exhibit low-levels of melatonin.
Evening Routine
Following a routine is difficult for a Vata person. Making it easy with the routines for balancing the Vata dosha implements time and step-by-step processes:
Sticking to a fixed evening routine will balance out the elevated Vata energy and calms the mind before going to sleep. Have your dinner before 7 PM and consume a very light dinner. If you are hungry after 7 PM, intake fresh fruits alone. Switch off all the electronic devices to become screen-free after consuming your dinner.
Note down the next days to-do list of activities. This leads the Vata mind to calm down and feel good about themselves. Apply some herbal oils like Nalpamaradi Thailam, sesame oil , almond oil on your face, joints, fingers and the neck region. Give a gentle massage in circular motions and allow it on the skin for 10 minutes. Take a warm shower or wipe out with a wet towel.
Mix a tablespoon of Ashwagandha powder in 1 glass of warm milk and consume them. Vata people must opt for a very soft bedding, wear soft and comfy clothes while sleeping. A clean sheet, fluffy pillow, and warm blankets will make Vata people have a peaceful sleep.
Avoidable foods
Avoid the frequent intake of raw food, salads and pungent tasting food. Ignore the Carbonated drinks, soda, tetra pack juice. Deep fried or shallow fried are not a good choice for Vata people, so avoid that. Dry meals, without oil or spiciness must be avoided. Limit the intake liquid foods during the meal hours. Processed or packaged food should not be frequently intaken. Avoid skipping the breakfast Vata Dosha.
Change your Lifestyle
To calm the mind of a vata person, it is recommended to wake up and sleep at the same time every day. Don’t pressurize your body to wake up at 6 am. Stick to one specific time and repeat the same for a week. Try moving half an hour early after each week.
Vata people can lower their energy levels by interacting with nature. Outdoor walking, meditation, jogging and breathing exercises in the morning serves an excellent way to calm the mind and replenish your energy. Morning and evening meditation helps the Vata individuals to ease their mind and improve the sleep patterns.
The Vata Dosha elevates to increased emptiness, thereby increasing them with heavy elements like water, oil, and moist substances that balance their energy. When the emptiness seems occupied, you will not have any struggle for calming your mind.
Mindfulness tricks your mind and makes you listen to your subconscious mind. Here comes a saying “Your soul heals itself, it is the mind which you need to calm”. The elevated Vata energy will have many thoughts running in their mind and may get stressed to develop the anxiety disorders. Vata people should learn to eliminate negative thoughts into their mind. Their focus must be on the things they say to themself. Besides resting the body, opting breaks in between their works will eventually rejuvenate their mind.
The Night Routines and Sleep tips for Pitta people
When the pitta energy overflows, people turn angry, clingy and shallow. Pitta represents the element of fire and water. Excessive pitta energy can lead to ulcer, heart burns and skin rashes. The digestive disorders give them insomnia. By nature, these kinds of people are very warm and organized people who follow a good routine.
Balance your Pitta energy
The digestive fire of the Pitta Person is stated as “Tikshna Agni”. It leads to the high level of metabolism rate. The food molecules pass very soon through the digestive tract to leave their tissues with undernourishment. High Pitta energy leads to increased body temperature, inflammation and irritation that disturbs the sleep pattern.
Pitta people are the bridges of the world connecting different things with a proper systematic order. They exhibit a good sense of mental stability and sharp focus if their energy is well balanced but when it’s elevated or disturbed, they eventually turn into the angry birds. They feel irritated throughout the whole day and never be able to maintain their routines. The melatonin gets disturbed at a high level for a Pitta person. They are mainly diagnosed with the trouble of falling asleep.
Evening Routine for Pitta people
Keep a balance of when you eat and how you eat them. Ayurveda guides them to consume a warm cooked meal, but it’s best to consume the meal at room temperature.
It is essential to consume three meals a day. A good meal at evening stops the irregular appetite of late night meals. Intaking sweet, juicy foods during the evening makes the Pitta digestive fire to metabolize slowly and keep your tissues to be nourished properly.
The physical activity should be balanced between the intense and mild workouts. Heavy cardio, weightlifting or mild easy stretches does not calm your mind. Exercises like slow jogging, freestyle swimming, aerobics and moderate level of yoga tend to be more helpful for de-stressing your body and preparing your mind for the night.
The overactive Pitta mind requires appropriate rest. Practicing Sheetali Pranayama & Nadi Shodhana will help your brain to regulate the hormones properly to sleep overnight.
Skin issues are common with elevated Pitta energy people. Application of night creams, serums and essential oils protects the radiating texture of the Pitta skin. This tones down the blood circulation to the normal level by maintaining the pH of the skin.
Applying night creams or serums on your face with gentle massage will calm down your sensory organs and signal your brain to get ready for sleep.
Using a firm mattress with less blankets, no-fluffy pillows in a cool room temperature is advisable. This bed-set induces the elevated Pitta Dosha to fall asleep quickly irrespective of where they sleep.
Avoidable foods
Avoid the intake of spicy food with chillies, hot sauces and peppers. Minimize the salt consumption in your food and eliminate the sour tastes too. Dried fruits must not be taken in large quantities because they accelerate the digestion process and it increases the Pitta in the body. Limit the citrus intake as it increases the acidity in the body. Avoid consumption of hot, boiling and heated oven food.
Lifestyle changes for Pitta people
It’s good to follow the same time to have breakfast, lunch and dinner that activates the hyperactive digestive system of Pitta people and keeps under control. Sleeping and waking up at the same time serves your brain to understand the physiology better and balances the hormones accordingly.
Avoid working in a hot region, air conditioned rooms are suitable for Pitta people. A cool environment with a little dry climate can help Pitta people to balance their mood.
It is mandatory to include a few complex carbohydrates consumption in your diet. This aids in balancing out the spiking Tikshna Agni of your body. Some Examples are Oats, wheat bran, tubers and multigrains that serve as the complex carbohydrates.
Sleeping should not be taken for granted. No leader has mentioned destroying your mental peace to succeed in life. Hustling is cool but it won’t worth the cost of your body or mind.
