Dear Friend,
Back-to-school or back-to-work after a vacation often means a drastic shift in sleep patterns. It's been all over the news lately about young children and teens not getting the amount of sleep they need. Ditto most adults in today's modern world.
According to Ayurveda, our daily cycle is divided into six four-hour segments, based on the predominance of the doshas and their different energies at certain times of day. If we can get back to following our natural rhythms, sleep will happen much easier.
The nighttime dosha time frames are as follows:
Kapha Time - 6:00 p.m. - 10:00 p.m.
Pitta Time - 10:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.
Vata Time - 2:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m.
Because Kapha by nature is slow and heavy, this is the time of night when our bodies are winding down and preparing for sleep. Let nature take its course and put yourself in that time frame.
Some tips during these hours are:
▪ Eat a light supper early so that your body doesn't have to digest a heavy meal (which will interfere with sleep).
▪ Limit the use of electronics (especially after 9:00 p.m.) as they interfere with our circadian rhythms.
▪ Avoid situations that will create a lot of stress. It goes without saying that stress is the #1 sleep killer.
THE KEY TO A GOOD NIGHT'S SLEEP IS TO GET TO BED BEFORE PITTA TIME KICKS IN!
I know this seems impossible to most of us in this day and age, but I can tell you from experience that it's true. I suffered from chronic insomnia for years. On the nights that I get myself into bed before 10:00 p.m., I usually sleep like a baby.
Pitta time (10:00 p.m. - 2:00 a.m.) is an active time. The body wakes up from the slowness of Kapha time and jumps into action. It is the most important healing time for the body and critical that we are sleeping during these hours.
It's when that broken leg repairs or stored fat gets burned. All of the organs are actively doing their job.
This is the time when we get our second wind or we burn the midnight oil. And guess who generally does the most of this? Pitta-types! Pittas have a hard time turning off their reading/learning/taking in information mechanism. I can definitely relate to this!
Pitta dosha rules metabolism. If we've eaten a late heavy meal our body will need to send most of its energy to digestion, and healing everywhere else will be delayed.
And last, but not least, Vata dosha is responsible for waking us in the wee hours of the morning. Vata is active, light, airy. Lots of vivid dreaming happens at this time, especially for Vata-types.
If you are plagued by interrupted sleep during these hours, my advice is to learn to meditate. Sitting up and meditating for twenty minutes is almost always followed by delicious rejuvenating sleep.
I'm challenging you (and myself, too!) to make sleep the priority it deserves to be. You can set your DVR to watch your favorite program another time and "Like" your Facebook friends all day long. Leave nighttime to important body maintenance and of course, sweet dreams.
Happy Sunday!
Much love,
Barbara
