Proper sleep is so important in Ayurveda that it is considered one of the four pillars of good health or if compromised, a condition for poor health.  The other three pillars are proper digestion, proper elimination, and proper purification. 

Sometimes when we have lots to do, we burn the midnight oils and forgo sleep.  That is the last thing we should do.  When we sleep, we reconnect with our source -- the underlying field of intelligence.  With source intelligence, we restore our energy, build cells, regulate our weight, and strengthen our immunity.  

As we sleep, we also digest our emotions and daily experience.  During sleep, our brain performs specialized sorting, stabilizing, and filing tasks as we cull out or reinforce and store memories from the day.  So lots of essential restorative activity goes on during sleep.

Restful nightly sleep is the key to peak performance and Ayurveda offers some simple and effective tools to invite deep, restful sleep. 

Sacred Sleep:  10 Rituals  to Invite Restful, Replenishing Sleep

 

You may be surprised at how much your sleep can improve if you apply these tips regularly over time.  The body physiology needs to find a pattern that invites sleep.  What you do all day long affects your sleep. Having sustained daily rituals is the key.    

 

If you get off track then gently return to these rituals.  There will always be travel, holidays and environmental conditions when we are disrupted, but restful sleep is vital to health in every aspect--from the health of our organs and  hormonal processes to healthy cell development and more.    

 

If you don't sleep well a night or two, so be it. That happens.  Worrying and dramatizing your thoughts about needing your sleep will only awaken you more.  Tell yourself it's okay and that you will get through the next day.  Then, try some more of these tips to support restful, nourishing sleep.  

 

Consider the Sleep Workshop to find out more.  We will delve deeply into root causes and strategies. 

1. Warm Milk and Nutmeg Night Cap.  According to noted Ayurveds Vasant Lad and David Frawley, nutmeg "is one of the best medicines for calming the mind."  Use raw milk if you can get it (Moonique Dairy), low temp VAT milk, almond milk, or rice milk.  Raw milk is best because it contains peptides (proteins) that calm nerves and reduce anxiety.  
2. Take a Hot Bath before bed to relax muscles and sooth Vata.  Add some espsom salts to clear toxins and a favorite essential oil like lavender for aroma therapy. However, if it's a hot day or your emotions are hot and your Pitta is fired up, you can try a cooling shower to relax.  Balance is the key.
3. Give Yourself an Abhyanga Massage or a Mini-Massage.  Use sesame massage oil to sooth Vata or coconut oil to sooth Pitta.  For the mini-massage focus on the scalp and feet.
4. Do Some Yoga.  Even starting your day with yoga can lead to better sleep at night. Stretches once in bed will relax muscle tension.
5. Balance Your Dosha with Diet.  This goes back to the basics.  Favor the foods that will balance your Sleep Dosha imbalance.  Difficulty falling asleep and restless sleep - Vata.  Early morning awakening (2-4am)- Pitta.  And sleeping but not feeling refreshed upon awakening - Kapha.  Which one or combo are you? Visit my website for support on balancing doshas 
6. Meditate or Do a Relaxation Practice.  An easy breathing practice to do once in bed is to inhale to a count of 3 or 4 and to exhale to a count of 6 or 8.  Doubling the exhale releases the body holds so you can let go.Want to go a step further?  Use 1:2 breathing and take 8 breaths on your back, 16 breaths on your left side and 32 breaths on your right side.
7. Make Your Bedroom Simple, Cool, and Dark.  Use your bedroom for sleep, sex, and meditation.  Keep it sparse. exposure to light reduces release of melatonin and we need that for deep sleep. Unplug your bedroom and pull the shades.
8. Drink Herbal Tea one to three times during the day to avoid accumulating stress.  Passionflower is one of the best herbs for chronic insomnia.  Tulsi and brahmi make  great tasting nervine teas that promote restful sleep.  Avoid caffeine after mid-day.  Caffeine can stay in your system for 12 hours.  Alcohol is a depressant and might initially induce drowsiness but it suppresses REM sleep and causes restless sleep after it metabolizes.
9. Go to bed by 10pm.  This is still the Kapha time of day and when our energies are slower.  10pm-2am is Pitta time so if you stay up after 10pm you may get a second wind. 
10. Nourish Yourself.  Do you sometimes feel like you are too hyped up to sleep?  Often we feel like we need to relax in order to sleep.  Here's an interesting phenomena.  Sometimes we cannot sleep because we do not have the enough energy to do so.  It takes energy for the body to engage the proper responses to allow sleep and engage the night time restorative processes

Bonus--If you cannot sleep because you are rehashing conflicts of the day, try breathing an attitude of respect for yourself and the other person.    Consider what lesson is in the experience for you -- what you might choose to correct with yourself.  Look for an opportunity to communicate with the person(s) or with someone who can open your understanding of the situation---not just agree with you.