Dosha Balancing to Improve Sleep
Insomnia is the dissatisfaction with rest quality, difficulty falling asleep, frequently waking up during night or waking up before morning time. Nidra (sleep) is one of the important aspects of healthy well-being. Kapha is diminished with imbalanced vata and pitta in people who have insomnia.
Effects of dosha and sleep disorder
Doshas are vata, pitta and kapha. Dosha defines psychosomatic attributes of a person. Each dosha imbalance has a specific effect on sleep. Vata imbalance makes the mind overactive, and it is harder to go to sleep and a person wakes up in the middle of the night. The mind goes over all the events that happened in the day with associated emotions. This happens because dhi, Dhriti and smriti (learning, retention and recall) become weak. It doesn’t let the person rest well. Even if a person falls asleep, the sleep is very light.
Pitta imbalance sleep is moderate but have lot of dreams. It usually happens because of emotional trauma or stress. Kapha imbalance sleeps long and deeply but they don’t feel rested and feeling of tiredness doesn’t go away during the day.
A person with Vata dosha needs a lot of sleep but they sleep very light. They need 7-9 hours of sleep every day. Pitta dosha sleeps moderately and requires 6-8 hours of sleep. Kapha sleeps longer though they don’t need to sleep so much.
Dreams
Dreams can also let us know what psychological or dosha imbalance we are having. It is thought that dreams originate in Majja dhatu (nervous tissues and bone marrow). The nervous system generates these dreams through signals and nervous system connection. It is a way for the body to experience and complete psychological connections that were made during the day.
A person with vata dosha has dreams that involve lot of movement such as flying or running, fearful, being chased or locked up. Sleep deprivation leads to vata imbalance. Pitta dreams are intense and involve problem solving, teaching or studying. It may also involve anger, shame or other aggressive behaviors. Kapha dreams have emotions such as love, lust, material or emotional attachment. Oversleeping may lead to kapha related dreams. Too many dreams also reduce the quality of sleep.
Ayurvedic Remedies
There are Ayurvedic remedies if insomnia has become a frequent problem. First is to follow a daily routine. There are other remedies such as yoga and herbs – ashwagandha and brahmi.
A study was conducted on geriatric population who had difficulty sleeping or maintaining sleep. The group was divided into three interventions – yoga (physical postures, relaxation techniques, breathing exercise and philosophy), herbal intervention and no intervention. After self-assessment for sleep, it was found yoga group decreased the time taken to fall asleep by 10 mins, increase in number of hours slept by 60 mins and feeling of being rested in the morning after six months. The other groups did not have significant results.
The above study set up was repeated among patients 18-45 years of age. Once a week of nidra yoga and 3 days in a week of jal neti were also included in yoga intervention arm. Herbal intervention included two drops in each nostril for 48 days in the morning and evening. This study also showed that yoga group improved global sleep quality, subjective sleep quality, wake -after-sleep onset, daytime dysfunction and sleep efficiency compared to herbal and standard care. Stress reduction improved cognitive function and quality of life were also seen in the yoga group.
A systematic review found Bhrami also improves cognitive abilities. This herb has antidepressant effects too which can help in improving sleep quality. Ashwagandha is another herb that has been studied extensively. A large literature review of ashwagandha use in humans has shown that it has many benefits including to reduce anxiety, depression and improve sleep. It has minor side effects.
In a recent study, a trial with ashvagandha and placebo were studied to see the potential to treat insomnia. The safety and efficacy were studied over 10 weeks. The benefits of ashwagandha were seen after 10 weeks with significant improvement in sleep onset latency (SOL). Sleep efficiency also improved with ashwagandha compared to placebo. Ashwagandha is a root extract with sleep inducing potential and is well tolerated.
Other useful home remedies to improve sleep is taking milk with honey at bedtime, nutmeg in milk also helps. Shirobasti, massage on head and ears also helps in sleeping better. Taking yogurt daily with lunch helps in better digestion and better sleep.
In summary, each dosha has a different physiological and emotional effect. Sleep is one of the strong pillars of Ayurveda along with diet and yoga for a person to be healthy physically and mentally. Sleep repairs the body and mind at night. Vata or pitta aggravation leads to insomnia whereas Kapha increases the sleep time and makes the person lethargic. Vata and pitta should be in balance so quality, and quantity of sleep can be better. Daily routine or dincharaya should be followed, yoga, home remedies such as head massage, milk with honey at bedtime and herbal medication such as ashwangandha and bhrami have shown benefits in reducing insomnia.
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