Quality Sleep for optimal health

Ayurveda and Quality Sleep

This week’s topic is not just about getting more sleep but about getting a better quality of sleep too.

As we explore just the tip of the teachings of Ayurveda in these blog posts – we are uncovering 2 important pillars of health which are typical to Ayurveda.

1. Diet – click here for the 6 tastes of Ayurveda article
2. Sleep – this week we dive into our “rest and digest” system

The intention this week is to bring awareness to one’s typical sleep patterns and at the same time bring awareness to evening routines and habits which often contribute to the quality of your sleep.

First let’s explore what throws sleep cycles out of whack – some you may have little control over and some you have a lot of control over.

1. Life… life as it unfolds is not always in your control to change. As a human being you will experience stress.  Life unfolding in expected and unexpected ways is inevitable. How you respond to how it’s unfolding is optional.
2. Responsibilities, long work hours, shift work, sick kids, new babies, pain, illnesses… some of these things are out of your control, yet how you respond to them in the moment (whether you can control them or not) will greatly impact your ability to accept them and hold your own while you deal with them. Learning coping skills will improve your quality of sleep. Your “issues” do not go away as you move into slumber, so your ability to accept them and find peace in the moment allows you the opportunity to settle into a deep slumber. Cultivating quality sleep will help your body digest the experiences of uncontrollable situations, so you can deal with them much better when you are in your waking state.
3. Food & drinks – sleep is when your body & mind digests and detoxifies your food and your experiences of stress from the day. If you eat a large (or unhealthy) meal and/or drink alcohol close to your sleep time – you disrupt this very important process as your body is too busy digesting the food and/or drink you consumed and this hinders your ability to fall into the deep slumber of detoxification those first very important few hours of sleep require. A lighter meal eaten at least 2 hours before bedtime is recommended for the optimal detoxification each physical body receives during sleep time.
4. Sensory overload – think of your 5 senses and how they are taxed on a regular basis throughout the day. The things you see and witness with your eyes. The sounds you hear and experience with your ears. The smells you encounter with your nose. The sensations you experience through your body on your skin, and the tastes you encounter with your tongue. You can adjust your sensory experience before you head to bed. You can choose to support a quality sleep by consciously calming your senses instead of continuing to overtax them.
5. Blue lights – you have an internal clock that is meant to alert your body when it is time to wake up and when it is time to prepare for sleep – this clock is a part of the natural bio-rhythm of the Universe (circadian rhythm) it flows in tune with the earth spinning in orbit over a 24 hour time span. This internal clock is activated by the rising and the setting of the sun, but with the invention of the light bulb this ability within – is challenged daily! 24 hour access to light, computers, television and your smart phone “lights up” this natural internal sleep clock – confusing and tempting your mind with many distractions. Your body sends messages to your mind every evening to head to bed but often the mind is captivated by the “lights” and either doesn’t notice these messages or chooses to ignore them.

What choices are you making before you go to bed?

• What are you experiencing in your environment the few hours before you head to bed?
• What are you doing at this time?
• What are you watching or reading?
• What are you eating or drinking?
• Who are you talking to and how are you communicating?

Notice any sensory overload and stress response your body & mind experiences from an argument or exchange with your partner or children before bed time.

Notice any sensory overload and stress response your body & mind experiences from watching the news or a disturbing movie, article, email or post.

“Disturbing” is a matter of perception. Disturbing can be in the tone of someone’s voice that triggers an internal emotional reaction or it can be in a more clearly direct obvious trigger. Triggers all the same can cause late night eating, unhealthy foods, drink or medication choices that can easily become habitual patterns and incorrectly lead one to believe they need in order to get to sleep or sleep deeper.

AND even if you are not emotionally, mentally or physically triggered by your environment just the inner sensory overload created from the “blue lights” of your devices will hinder your mind’s ability to drop into a much needed deep slumber.

Your body is begging for your mind to pay attention and take the time to set yourself up for a deeper sleep.

How is YOUR body begging YOU?

Your body communicates with you through sensations like;

• Tension, pain or discomfort in the body
• Digestive issues
• Headaches
• Exhaustion
• Cravings
• Muscle, bone or joint aches
• Brain fog
• Memory loss & forgetfulness
• Burning eyes
• Hot flashes

And it will speak to you with strong emotions of;

• Overwhelm
• Annoyance
• Frustration
• Sadness
• Fear
• Shame
• Guilt
• Anger

If left unattended or un-listened too, these messages from your body can easily result into;

• Insomnia
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Chronic pain or illness
• Disease

**Note sleeping pills can mess with your natural sleep cycles and may even numb you from these sensations and emotional messages. Sleeping pills may be required for a short period of time and for certain times in your life – but keep the mind-set that sleeping pills are a temporary solution to provide some relief as opposed to a long term solution.

The power of the Circadian Clock 

Sleep is when you heal. Emotionally, physically and spiritually.

There are precise hours that allow for the body’s own natural and innate healing abilities to occur. These hours are between 10pm & 6am

Circadian Clock 10pm-2am

Specifically between the hours of 10pm-2am is the greatest potential to reach your deepest sleep. During this time, when you access a deep sleep, your body is at its highest optimal performance to release physical stress, physical pain and physical discomforts. 10pm-2am is the “body detox time” but if you are awake during this time – your body misses out on this healing and detoxifying opportunity.  If we have eaten too late, too heavy or too much, your body cannot reach the state of deep sleep it needs to recover physically. If you have sent your senses into overload with an argument, the news, a movie or any form of blue light – your body & mind cannot reach this much needed state of deep physical healing sleep.

Circadian Clock 2am-6am

Between the hours of 2am-6am is when your mind typically moves into a lighter state of sleep. This is a dreamtime state of consciousness. Dreamtime is when your mind gets its mental detox, a time when your mental mind has the chance to release all the mental stress from your day. Even if you don’t believe you dream at night you still achieve this mental detox state with the proper re-set before going to bed. One will typically wake up a few times within this 4 hour time frame. If you haven’t taken the time to calm your nervous system before bed, you could be bombarded with thoughts and worries during these waking moments. When this happens you will most likely have a harder time falling back to sleep, which interrupts this mental detox process.  Releasing emotions, stress, experiences and trauma’s during this time is subconscious. Which means your mind has a greater chance of releasing these experiences – to the point where you are less triggered by your everyday life and its chaotic tendencies. Life is never going to stop handing you experiences to stress and worry about, however you can set yourself up for success and achieve the rest & digest process quality sleep is meant to do.

Can sleep heal you from illness and disease?

As the “rest & digest” process of quality sleep detoxifies, releases and balances your body and mind, I absolutely believe the answer to this questions to be YES!

There are approximately 5% of diseases that are out of your control. This means there are 95% that are within your control. Ayurveda is a program that gives you this control and getting quality sleep is one of the ways you can focus on your well-being which is why sleep is one of the top pillars of Ayurveda health.

What can you do to calm your nervous system and bring balance back to your natural circadian sleep cycle and healing system within?

1. Add SLEEP to the top of your self-care list.
2. Be patient with this process and yourself.
3. Listen to the messages of your body.
4. Bring mindfulness to the choices you make every day for your body and mind.
5. BELIEVE your body can heal.

Try these following practices to encourage deeper states of sleep and dream time;

1. Awareness & willingness; you cannot change what you don’t acknowledge and you cannot shift what you are not willing to change. This week bring awareness to your evening routine and notice your willingness to make some changes to allow your mind & body access to a deeper quality sleep.
2. Eat your biggest meal in the afternoon; ideally between noon & 2pm as this time is when the body extracts the most nutrients from any meal. Eat a lighter meal in the evening.
3. Set your intention to get to bed between 10-10:30pm each evening. This may be a process if you are used to going to bed late. Adjust your schedule by 15 minutes every few nights to get closer to your desired bedtime choice. This of course will be a challenge if you work shift work. Do your best with the other options while working shifts.
4. Daily Meditation and breath work practices; Meditation & breath work practices help you get through situations you have no control over and allows you to get clarity on the situations you do have control over. Come into stillness and breathe deeply into any stress you are feeling at the moment – as you release this breath soften any tension you are feeling in your body – feel it begin to melt.  With repetitive practice of this breath awareness you can calm your nervous system, prepare your body and mind to deal with the stress currently unfolding in your life and it is also a great practice to do before bed to signal your mind it is time for sleep. 
5. Less “blue lights”; Eliminate Television, computer and smart phones 1 hour before your bedtime. This is going to be the biggest challenge for most. Try it a few times to notice the difference in your ability to fall asleep faster and stay asleep longer in a deeper, restful sleep. For those who fall asleep with the TV on (that used to be me!) it will be a process to break this habit. You have trained your mind to fall asleep during sensory over-load. You may have trained it – but you are losing deep, nourishing & detoxifying sleep with this choice – so be willing to un-train it!
6. Use your senses! Instead of over-taxing your senses before you go to sleep, consciously take the time to calm your mind and body with your 5 senses;

• Taste – sip chamomile tea
• Touch – massage your feet
• Smell – use a calming essential oil when massaging them
• Sight – dim the lights 1 hour before bed.  In summer months – cover your bedroom windows to dim light.
• Sound – listen to calming sounds. Waves, rain, streams, harps, or a guided sleep meditation.

This week’s intention is all about awareness of your patterns, routines, habits AND your willingness to make some changes. Choose 1 change every day to try. Experiment with it. Be patient with this process. Take pride in your choices and open yourself up to sleeping deeper and feeling better than you have ever felt before.

If you are interested in group or one-on-one Ayurveda sessions or live on-line fitness and yoga classes with access to many recordings. Contact me to discuss which option would be best for you. Call or text at 780 722-3442 or email leslie@wellnessdefined.ca

Private coaching sessions with me are also available.