Week 11 guideline - The 3 habits of good sleep

Week 11 guideline - The 3 habits of good sleep

One of the most overlooked and underappreciated aspect of good health is good quality sleep. Its ability to build your immunity and help you recover from illness is at par, if not more, than the food you eat or the medicine you take. All ancient cultures consider sleep as vital, are aware of its rejuvenating properties, not just for body, but the mind, and take great care to ensure good quality sleep. Science is finally decoding the importance of sleep and research has conclusively proven how there isn’t a bodily function, an organ, or hormone, which is not impacted positively by good sleep.

But how to ensure we get good sleep? We again have our ancestors to thank for some easy, practical and time tested methods they gave us. This week’s guideline dips into that wisdom and considering the present situation, comes with 3 habits of good sleep. These are -

- Fix your bedtime
- Warm water bath with neem leaves/ nutmeg
- Ghee on the soles of your feet

Why?

1. Fixed bedtime – Ayurveda gives a whole lot of importance to dinacharya or to following a routine in life where things are done on time. We all understand that this is important be it in business or academics but with health we don’t appreciate it in its full glory. A fixed (and an early) bedtime along with a fixed wake up time, helps your body to be in sync with the natural rhythms, improves digestion and helps prevent diseases or ageing.

2. Warm water bath with neem leaves/ nutmeg – Neem is celebrated in India for its ability to fight infections and keep your immunity up. Nutmeg too is known for its antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. A warm bath in the night with any of these or both of these will leave you feeling calm, strong in your mind and help optimise sleep.

3. Rub ghee on the soles of feet – This has many benefits, especially for those who feel bloated and gassy at night. It also brings about a balance in your constitution and is especially useful when anxiety and fatigue may have gripped you. It leads to improved sleep quality and allows you to wake up feeling fresh as a daisy. Traditionally, there was also a special waati (kansya) with which you are supposed to rub the ghee on your feet.

Apart from these 3 habits, it’s a good idea to practice basic sleep hygiene every day –

- Keep a 2-3 hour gap between dinner and bedtime (one of the 4 principles of eating right)
- No gadgets 60 mins before sleeping (guideline from 2018 project)
- Have haldi-milk in the night (guideline from this year)
- Sleep in a well ventilated, cool and dark room
- Say a prayer before sleeping

Sleep well to feel well!

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