sleep
A
ccording to Ayurveda, sleep is just as
important as diet, and the best time to
sleep is from 10 pm until 6 am. These
hours are the most rejuvenating and
as our biorhythms are programmed to
follow nature’s rhythms, ideally we should sleep when
it’s dark and wake with sunrise. Of course, seasonal
changes affect these times, but 10 pm is also a good
time to sleep because of the dominance of the kapha
element [the dosha, or energy, responsible for the
support of our physical body] at this hour, making
it more conducive to fall asleep.
We live in a fast-paced world. Many of us feel
exhausted during the day but can’t fall asleep at
night, with constant thoughts, to-do lists and worries
running through our minds. Naturally more of a night
person, I often feel ‘wired’, with a sudden burst of
energy, at night. It’s hard to get to sleep when feeling
energised, or when the mind is pacing through all
your thoughts.
This is why there’s now such an emphasis on
winding down, on putting away your phone, on
switching off from social media. It is important not
just for the mind, but for all the body functions and
our own wellbeing, to calm ourselves and activate our
parasympathetic nervous system, so we’re in ‘rest
and digest’ mode (opposite to ‘fight and flight’).
Activation of our parasympathetic nervous system
allows us to digest food properly, allows our muscles
to relax and our heart rate to drop.
The realisation of our absolute need to relax and
de-stress is the reason why meditation apps are so
widely used – they’re as popular with the business
and banking communities as they are with yogis.
There have been a number of brilliant books on sleep
in the last few years, from Arianna Huffington’s
The Sleep Revolution to Why We Sleep: The New Science
of Sleep and Dreams by Matthew Walker. The world
has woken up to the detrimental effects and
consequences of insufficient sleep.
So how do we ensure that we can actually fall
asleep? How do we create an environment that allows
us to, and encourages us to, slow down and get into
sleep mode at night? Ayurveda can help...Winding down at bedtime in our fast-paced world
can be difficult, but a few simple rituals can help,
says Ayurvedic practitioner and author Mira Manek
13 rituals
for restful sleep