In Ayurveda, the term used for chronic sleep problems is Anidra. The quality and duration of sleep hours are indicators of the overall health of the person. More deeper imbalances like Vata, Pitta, and so on will primarily cause problems in the gut and directly affect the sleep quality and duration of a person. The following are the symptoms, along with the cause and remedies, as suggested by Classical Ayurveda:
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Insomnia or Difficulty Falling Asleep
Cause: Overthinking, irregular routines, too much screen time, or too much travel.
Ayurvedic Remedy: Early and light dinner, Self-Abhyanga with warmed Sesame Oil at least 1 hour and 30 minutes after meals, Calming meditation, gratitude prayers, and easy Pranayama.
Frequent Night Awakenings
Cause: Unstable nervous system (Prana Vata disturbance). Restless thought process and activity pattern during the day. Too many things to be accomplished simultaneously, and nothing is accomplished.
Ayurvedic Remedy:
- Learn to do one thing at a time
- Stay grounded functionally and mentally in the job at hand.
- Take a few minutes’ breather, enjoying the success of the job accomplished before proceeding to the next
- Treat yourself to a good, warm oil head massage with soothing background music.
- Stick to regular sleep patterns, a warm bath, and warm milk with nutmeg before retiring.
Waking up very early (between 3 and 5 AM)
Cause: You are depleted of Ojas (Life Force), having drained your physical, mental, or emotional energy to an extent beyond your limits.
Ayurvedic Remedy:
- Time yourself with a task or thought when you first had the thought/task, and then assess how much time it took to finish (use an alarm).
- When performing a task, monitor how methodical/organised/structured your flow of the task was and whether it was productive (or possibly unproductive).
- Keep a Journal for a few days to develop a pattern to assist you in overcoming this specific issue (waking up very early) from continually repeating itself.
- Set reminders to drink water frequently.
- Set reminders to walk at least 10 minutes and breathe at least 2 minutes every 90 minutes to clear your mind and energise yourself while giving your mind a break (body and mind are dependent on each other for energy for functioning).
- Schedule a Nourishing Diet to complement your Primary and Secondary doshas (Vata-Pitta, Kapha-Vata, or Pitta-Kapha) for optimisation of Energy levels.
- Go to bed early in a consistent manner.
Restless or Light Sleep
Cause: mental restlessness, sensory overload, inactivity, and morose thought process during the day.
Ayurvedic Remedy:
- Limit screen time by clocking your screen time regularly. It is essential to ensure that you remove your eyes from the screen every 45 minutes, cup your hands over your eyes, and perform a 2-minute eye exercise wherever you are
- Use cotton pads soaked in cucumber water or rose water on your eyes after closing work for the day
- Turn inward to the dark silence and meditate for at least 20 minutes
- Perform calming pranayama in the evening.
Vivid Dreams or Nightmares
Cause: Aggravated Pitta dosha in the mind and subconscious.
Ayurvedic Remedy:
- Avoid sour and spicy foods
- Eat cooling foods if your main dosha is Pitta
- Complete meal during daytime suggestion would be traditional khichdi
- Moon bathing and Chandra Nadi Pranayama
- Light dinner followed by plain butter milk
Occasional disturbances in sleep are as normal as we are leading a busy and hectic life, and also with the change of seasons. But if the disturbance is regular, then it has to be treated as a chronic disease. Since this symptom is a holistic indication of how the body, mind, and rhythm are dealing with the situation on a day-to-day basis and are crying out for attention. Ayurveda does not promote the suppression of these symptoms but rather the healing of the cause from the root.
In some instances, a slight lifestyle change is all that is required. In other instances, expert advice or a well-structured healing environment can work nothing short of miracles. Get in touch with our wellness experts who will advise you on the type of support that is required in your situation.