We always have someplace to be and matters to attend to. This restless pace of modern life has deprived us of life’s most simple but fundamental necessities. One of them is a good night’s sleep.

If you ask yourself, how much sleep did you catch last night? Some of you won’t even remember.

Sleep is equally important to our well-being as diet and an active lifestyle. Sleep can help you maintain a healthy weight, improve your heart health, reduce stress, and lower your risk of chronic conditions like diabetes.

Sleep is especially important for children and teens, who need more sleep than adults. Unfortunately, unhealthy lifestyle affects them the most and lack of sleep has become common among the younger generation.

Fortunately, Ayurveda supports healthy sleep habits with the incorporation of a few changes and Ayurvedic remedies that we will discuss in this blog.

First, let’s discuss Ayurveda’s suggestion of getting a good night sleep:

Sleep And Ayurveda

Sleep is a vital pillar of health in Ayurveda. It nourishes the body, mind, and spirit. Quality sleep enhances vitality, digestion, mental clarity, and longevity.
A proper sleep routine can be influenced by the balance of tamas guna and kapha dosha, with both timing and routines playing a key role in promoting restful sleep.

Tamas guna is one of the three energies of the universe; Tridosha: Sattva (goodness), rajas (movement), and Tamas (ignorance). Tamas means darkness or ignorance and guna refers to quality or attribute. Tamas guna represents mental dullness, laziness, and low energy. Dominating tamas guna makes an individual lazy, a procrastinator, and in poor health.

Kapha dosha is dominant in heavy sleepers but causes sleep disorders like sleep apnea (breathing repeatedly stops or becomes shallow while sleeping) and frequent urination at night.
Ideal sleep for adults is 7- hours at nighttime without irregular patterns like, interrupted sleep, going late to bed, waking up randomly at night, etc. These patterns in repetition can cause mental fatigue over time.

Ayurveda emphasises aligning sleep with natural rhythms for a healthier life. To improve sleep, maintain a calm bedroom, follow a routine, and avoid synthetic sleep medications. Practices like taking light massages and warm milk before sleeping, and a certified Ayurvedic supplement promote relaxation.

Top 10 Tips For A Better Sleep At Night

1. Make Lunch Your Biggest Meal

Ayurveda explains Agni as the digestive fire that helps in the digestion process. Digestion and sleep are directly linked as your meal plan can affect the duration of your sleep. Instead of dinner, take a heavy meal at noon when the digestive fire is at peak. A heavy dinner can disrupt sleep because the body is working hard to digest food instead of resting.

If you are among those who don’t get time for the main meals of the day, then you can shift your meal patterns accordingly. Like, you can make lunch or brunch your biggest meal and take a light dinner.

It is also important to avoid fried or heavy foods as they slow down your digestion process and cause other health problems. Make sure to finish eating at least three hours before bedtime.

2. Enjoy an Ayurvedic Nightcap

Going to bed after taking a warm glass of milk evidently improves sleep quality. You can notch up the effect by adding Ayurvedic herbs like chamomile, valerian, or nutmeg that can soothe the nervous system and prepare the body for rest. Herbal teas prepared with these herbs which balance Vata dosha and are excellent alternatives to milk. Drink these an hour before bed.

You can consult your healthcare provider to recommend ayurvedic medicine. Life Aveda’s stress and anxiety capsules are highly recommended by many health practitioners for improved sleep.

3. Reduce Caffeine Intake

It goes without saying that drinking coffee keeps you awake and many utilise this to avoid sleepiness during work hours. Coffee is a high source of caffeine which over-stimulates the nervous system and keeps you awake. However, this leads to poor sleep quality and other problems. Other stimulants such as sugar, tea, supplements, etc., need to be taken in minimal amounts. If absolutely necessary, limit caffeine to the morning hours.

Replace coffee with Ayurvedic alternatives like Life Aveda’s Mystic Leaf Herbal Detox Tea, which is caffeine-free and contains stress-relieving herbs like green tea and shatavari.

4. Stick to a Consistent Routine

Study reveals that people who stay up late tend to get less restful sleep than early sleepers. Even if they complete an 8 hour sleep cycle, their sleep is often interrupted , which diminishes its overall quality. This is because irregular sleep schedules can throw off your body’s natural rhythms. As a result, it becomes difficult to fall asleep and wake up feeling refreshed.

Ayurveda suggests to follow a structured daily routine or dinacharya for overall balance and better sleep. It works on simple logic: if you go to bed early, you wake up early. And when you wake up early your daily routine gets ample time to accommodate all the tasks properly.

Try it yourself. Set fixed times for waking up, eating meals, and going to bed. If you combine it with daily exercise and follow the routine for a week or so, you will see the results yourself.

5. Sleep Before Pitta Time

In Ayurveda, different times of the day are believed to be governed by doshas that affect your energy and sleep patterns. Sleeping at the right time helps you rest better and feel more refreshed.

If you go to bed before 10 p.m., your body benefits from the "Kapha energy," which makes you feel calm and ready for rest. Staying up past 10 p.m. can bring in "Pitta energy," which makes your body more active and alert, making it harder to fall asleep.

Try adjusting your bedtime little by little so you're in bed before 10 p.m. This helps you sleep deeply and wake up feeling energised, ideally by 6 a.m.

6. Unplug and Unwind

Spending too much time on phones, tablets, or laptops can overstimulate your mind, making it harder to relax or fall asleep.

Using electronic devices aggravates the Vata energy, which can make you feel restless and interfere with sleep. Turn off your electric devices by 8 p.m. Instead, do something calming, like reading a book, doing gentle stretches, or taking a warm bath with soothing herbal oil. This helps your mind and body relax, promoting better sleep.

7. Practice Self-Massage (Abhyanga)

A gentle oil massage is an effective Ayurvedic remedy for stress and anxiety that can help you get a quality sleep. It can make you feel less stressed, calm your mind, and get your body ready for a good night's sleep. According to Ayurveda, massaging key points on your body (called marma points) helps balance your energy and release tension.

Before bedtime, massage your hands and feet with a soothing oil designed to calm the Vata energy. This easy routine can help you sleep more deeply and wake up refreshed.

8. Write Your Thoughts Down

After a long day if your mind is still lamenting on the day's activities, don’t fight it and simply put that in writing. Keeping a journal will help you maintain a healthy habit of keeping things off mind and relaxing.

Before going to bed, create a calming bedtime environment. Use herbal incense sticks or soothing aromas from essential oils to enhance the experience. Write down your thoughts, to-do list, significant moments from the day, or important self reminders. Stick to this routine and spend 10-15 minutes writing each night before bedtime.

9. Use Ayurvedic Herbal Remedies

Ashwagandha, Brahmi, Jatamansi, Tagar, Chamomile, Lemon Balm, etc. in Life Aveda’s Premium De-Stress capsules eases anxiety naturally and promotes healthy sleep cycles. Try Melatonin tablets enriched with calming herbs. Other herbal remedies that target dosha imbalances and support relaxation include Gotu kola, valerian root, lavender, etc.

10. Cultivate Gratitude

Ayurveda is all about balancing doshas with positive energy. It emphasises on bringing in sattvic (pue) emotions via thankfulness and gratitude that reduces stress. The positive emotions are believed to nourish the mind and body and counter negative impacts of stress that affect sleep quality. Practice gratitude by spending a few moments before bedtime reflecting on the things you are grateful for. Combine this practice with deep breathing for a calming effect.

Conclusion

An active lifestyle is the key to overall health but stress and negative energies also come along that disrupt dosha balance. Ayurveda suggests incorporation of a healthy diet and habit in your daily routine. Eat healthy and light foods that go easy on your digestive system. Avoid heavy and processed foods that overwork your digestion while you sleep. Go out, practise yoga, follow a consistent routine, keep electronic items away, write a journal to record your thoughts, drink herbal tea before bedtime, etc. these tips will help you align yourself with natural rhythms and get quality sleep every time you go to bed. Be regular and consistent to achieve long term results.