Friends, after the daily routine(Dinacharyaa), we are now going to talk about the nighttime routine. We have already discussed the diet to be followed at night. The most important part of the night routine is ‘Sleep’! Therefore, we are now going to discuss about ‘Sleep’.
A lot of body movements happen during the day. Energy is consumed by the body parts during various activities. Our body needs rest to refill this energy and feel refreshed again. This need is fulfilled through ‘sleep’! As all activities are stopped during sleep, it naturally gives time for the body to refill this energy. All of the body’s cells are revitalized, and we get the strength and enthusiasm to work the following day.
Along with these, one more important benefit of sleep is that it also provides rest to our mind! Our mind is fickle by nature. It is constantly working every moment. We can provide rest to our body, but it is highly difficult for our mind to get rest. ‘Sleep’ is the only element that provides rest to the mind as well. It also refreshes our mind. In this way, sleep refreshes both our body and mind. It motivates us to work again. Therefore, in the old books of Ayurveda, sleep is termed as ‘Bhootdhatri’ means ‘who holds or takes care of the body’. Of course, to get all these benefits it is better to sleep seven to eight hours a day. Depending on an individual’s age and occupation, this may vary. Youngsters naturally sleep more.
Sleep is very important for the development of our body. Elderly people can sleep more than eight hours to reduce the weaknesses and wear and tear of the body that occur due to aging. It would be beneficial for elderly people to get more sleep in case they have fatigue due to illness.
Those people whose occupations involve physical exertion should sleep more. Conversely, less sleep may be sufficient for those who have sitting jobs with no physical exertion. Sufficient amount of sleep may vary from person to person. For some people, less than six hours of sleep could be sufficient. However, some people need a minimum of eight hours of sleep. Therefore, we should decide the amount of sleep by analyzing ourselves.
Just as the sleep should be for the right duration, it should also be a quiet, deep and sound sleep! Upon waking up in the morning, if we feel refreshed, only then can we say that we have had a sound sleep. Continuous dreams or a little sound can disturb sleep. Sometimes, we may wake up and are unable to go back to sleep. These things can lead to symptoms like dullness and feeling sleepy. Therefore, it is very important to get a quality sleep.
Nighttime is the natural time for sleeping. After the day’s hard work, we automatically feel sleepy. Obviously, when we say nighttime, we do not expect to sleep late at night. It is better to sleep as early as possible! It should be between 9 and 10 pm. However, because of television, we tend to stay up until eleven or twelve. This causes unnecessary stress on our bodies and minds. Our bodies are impacted, even if we are accustomed to sleeping late. Due to this we hear complaints about not getting proper sleep. The time we go to sleep is equally important as how many hours we slept. In this aspect, sleeping and waking up early is beneficial for our body, whereas sleeping late and getting up late is not at all good for our health. We have already seen the benefits of rising early. However, sometimes due to unavoidable reasons we may stay up late. We will discuss this in the next article.
Dr Mayuresh Aagte
Note : Please use all of the foods/medicines mentioned in this article after consulting with your doctor and taking into account your age and health.