There are many causes why we fail to sleep naturally. Work and relationship related stress, irregular diet, lifestyle and sleeping habits, night shifts, bad habits like drinking smoking and drug abuse are main causes for sleep disturbances.
Before you contemplate on going for Allopathic sedatives, which are addictive, habit-forming and come with a list of side effects, I suggest you try these Ayurvedic and natural remedies.
1. Correcting the lifestyle.
– Make sure you spend your time at bed at least 6 hours at night.
– make a strict daily schedule – at what time you are going to have food, what time you will go to bed etc and stick to it.
– Try stopping day sleeping. Stopping nap will improve night sleeping hours.
– Drink a glass of warm milk at night-time.
– Take warm water bath during evening hours, after you return from office.
– Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, drink juices, get your nutrition status to optimum levels.
– Do a small workout during evening, so that you feel tired, followed by a hot shower and then a warm cup of milk will definitely send you straight to bed.
– If you are sensitive to even a little bit of noise, use ear plugs.
– If you are sensitive to light, then switch it off or use a cloth band to cover your eyes, loosely. Now it has been scientifically proven that sleeping in a dark room may prevent depression.
As per Ayurveda, sleeping before 11 pm helps you to sleep better. Kapha Dosha is responsible for inducing deep sleep and between 9 – 11 pm, Kapha Dosha is active. Read – what is the right time to sleep?
Some Useful Ayurvedic Procedures:
Massage: Whole body oil massage at least once in a week will improve your skin and muscle tone, general strength, calms your mind and relaxes your body. Mild swedana (steam therapy) after massage further helps to enhance the relaxation effect of massage therapy. It helps to achieve natural sleep.
Shirodhara, a famous procedure of instilling a stream of oil continuously on forehead for a period of 15 – 30 minutes is the Ayurvedic therapy of choice for relieving stress and to treat insomnia. It also helps to strengthen the sense organs, relieve headache and improve hair health. This procedure also helps to sleep naturally.
Medicated oils like Bala Taila, Ksheera bala taila etc. are used for this procedure.
Shiro Pichu – A simple procedure of soaking cotton swabs with the medicated oils and placing it all over the scalp for a period of 15 to 30 minutes is also very famous to induce sleep. Best results are obtained if done at night, followed by a hot shower, and a cup of warm milk. However, people with Kapha body type, and those who are lactose intolerant should not take milk at night.
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