After a whole day of work, we need a nice place to rest our body-mind. The guest's sleeping room in our Indian house
Hello, all friends greetings. today let us talk about sleep this post is a contribution to the lovely community #unitytowardfreedom by my dear friend @anttn. The topic is sleep,
This photo was taken by me in 2019 when we were visiting family. my niece peacefully asleep reminds me of my own childhood.
I am always giving importance to sleep.
“Happiness and unhappiness, nourishment (good physique) and emaciation, strength and debility, sexual prowess and impotence, knowledge, and ignorance, life, and death—all are dependent on sleep.” according to the Ayurveda text Ashtanga Hrudayam.
Ayurveda teaches us that sleep (nidra) is one of the three pillars of health, along with diet and energy management.
Sleep is a natural biorhythm, maintaining balance, and reducing mental, physical, and emotional stress. when reading some posts here on this topic I understand why some people have a very stressful life.
When we were children the school inspector always asked one question: What are our needs for survival?
the expected answers were Air, Water, Food, and Shelter, but to the consternation of my teacher, I added Sleep. I give importance to sleep because I think sleep makes us mentally alert, physically strong, and emotionally balanced.
Everybody needs quality sleep for restoring energy and detoxifying the body, The best quality sleep requires darkness for the body and mind to rest, reset, detoxify, heal and rejuvenate. When we’re exposed to light, our body produces the hormone cortisol, which signals the brain to be alert, active, and productive. But as the sun sets, the body produces the hormone melatonin, which signals the brain to wind down and go to sleep. By using artificial lights, we reduce melatonin secretion, whether intentionally or not. In addition, tobacco and alcohol, TV, computers and caffeine, and energy drinks all compound the matter but the recent excessive use of smartphones is perhaps the greatest disturbance to natural body rhythms. Disturbing our body's system leads to obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, allergy, anxiety, depression, insomnia, etc.
In my practice circa 50% of clients are depressed and suffering from insomnia, young people even more so. it is very sad.
When I saw this worker lady on siesta, I was thinking how lucky she is no mattress no pillow, no comfortable room just relaxing in her deep sleep on the sand with her clothes as a bedsheet and pillow.
each person is unique and their sleep varies accordingly. there are a number of influencing factors such as lifestyle, digestion, geographic location, culture and seasonal changes.
Growing up in the 1970s in a small village in India, there was no electricity, no radio or TV, and no telephone. Back then, lack of good sleep was almost never a problem. I believe my sleep helped keep my mind sharp, and maintain my physical, mental, and emotional balance.
Our school studies were normally done when there was daylight, seldom by kerosene lamplight in night. Regular bedtime was around 9/ 930. We rose early for yoga, meditation and remaining school work, if any. this routine kept us very alert and healthy. In the 1980s we installed electricity in our house. high school education required more studies. During this same time, I lost my mother, that period in my life was very tough, and it disturbed my sleep. Then higher education required traveling to another town, and involved more studies
that had to be done at night.
My sleeping irregularities started during my medical education. During my internship, I was assigned night watches in hospitals, staying awake through whole night. That is when some stress-related problems started.
But when choosing that profession we were aware of what it involved so I was somewhat prepared for it. I never tried smoking or drinking coffee or alcohol and there were no mobile phones or computers. Working in the cardiology and accident emergency center I didn't think about myself- the patients were the first priority. Being young and strong, losing sleep was not a huge problem but still, tiredness and stress bothered me. My duty in the ICU or casualty at night was keeping an eye on the patients who at any time could die. That was far more stressful than issues related to my lost sleep. Practicing yoga and meditation helped me a lot and with the help of traditional natural ayurvedic remedies, I didn't suffer any serious problems.
When I moved here to the northern part of the world my whole biorhythm was disturbed. I was not prepared for the winter with long nights and the summer with long days, the variable climate, as well as the regular use of mobile phones and computers, and now this Hive world. but still I am a good sleeper.
I advise my patients to get good quality sleep by adopting a balanced diet and regular routines for good health.👇
- Try to go to bed earlier if possible.
- Unplug all electronics at least 1 hour before retiring or
Read a book or listen to some calming music or
Do some breathing exercises-pranayama or a short session of Yog Nidra. - Never keep your mobile phone by your bedside. Spend some time before
bed or even a whole evening without electricity- electricity fasting. - Body and /or head massage with coconut oil or foot massage with mustard
or other suitable relaxing aroma therapy oils. - Drink warm milk with spices like cardamom, saffron, cinnamon, nutmeg, and poppy seeds. Eat some fruits like bananas, mangoes, or black grapes.
this Shirodhara treatment also helps a lot for somebody suffering from insomnia.
These are what I suggest to my clients. there is a lot of helpful information on how to improve sleep on the internet. Just don't sit up all night reading about it
In the end, I will like to sleep as a baby.
Thank you🙏