Start the New Year off Well
Author: Linda Sinden Date Posted:14 January 2019
Ah, the freedom of open blue sky, short-sleeved clothes, and beachwear. Summer has truly arrived. While the longer days of sunlight and the holiday mood allow one to go to bed later than 10 pm, is it now time to get back into a good evening routine?
Say Yes to Great Sleep
Sleep is our daily reset. It’s incredible what happens within us as we sleep. Do you know what happens as you sleep?
Sleep is an area that is only now coming into focus for modern research now that more subtle recording and measuring equipment and brain mapping tools are available. Understanding what is happening in our brain as we sleep, has rekindled admiration for the incredible intelligence that guides the healthy functioning of our mind and body.
Night & Day Reset
From 10pm to 2am is when the lymphatic system in the brain is most active. Lymphatics are made of glial cells, and during this short window of time, these cells shrink down to 40% of their normal size. This opens up the channels throughout the brain, allowing brain fluid to flush out debris around the nerve cells at 20 times the natural flow. Think of it as a daily shower for your brain!
We call this sleep hygiene.
Taking 2 tablets of Digest Tone at bedtime is a great way to support this natural cleanse as we sleep.
Also having a light, tasty evening meal by 6.30pm (ideally 2-3 hours before bed) reduces the load on your lymphatics from food sitting in the system undigested. Your Agni or digestive power mirrors the power of the sun and digestive power decreases as the sun goes down. Therefore, dense food taken at night is only partially digested and the by-product of incomplete digestion sits within the system and creates mucus in the sinuses. Over time this clogs the lymphatics too.
Ayurvedically, 10pm is the best time to go to bed because 9:30-10:30pm is the time when Kapha gives way to Pitta. Kapha is the dosha associated with slow, steady and calming qualities, and whatever activity you undertake during Kapha’s 6-10pm reign will be influenced by these qualities. Going to bed by 10pm allows the body’s rhythms to slow so that you can experience deeper sleep naturally.
For difficulties going to sleep
If you’ve ever experienced the agonizing dilemma where you’re tired but find it difficult to fall asleep, then chances are you have a Vata imbalance that is making itself felt as you try to drift off to sleep.
- For difficulties going to sleep, take two tablets of Blissful Sleep with 1-2 tablets of Stress Relief to help reduce the impact of stress cortisol and to fortify you for the next day.
For difficulties waking in the night
Being active past 10pm will cause Pitta imbalance and paradoxically, a sleeping problem where you wake in the night around midnight or 1am and find it difficult to get back to sleep.
- For difficulties waking in the night take two tablets of Deep Rest with one tablet of Brahmi 30 minutes before bed.
Also, the liver becomes active around 11pm, meaning it’s the time of body detoxification, including cell repair. This period is when recent memories from the day’s experiences are transmitted from the lower part of the brain (hippocampus) to the top of the brain (cerebral cortex) for permanent storage. It’s incredible that we owe our long-term memories to restful sleep!
- To help balance the effects of summer while also supporting memory, energy and physical stamina, I suggest you take Premium Amla Berry 2 tablets prior breakfast and evening meals.
Wishing you the bliss of balance.
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Linda Sinden has been a practising Maharishi Ayurveda Consultant since 1990 and is a regular contributor to our weekly Insights. She has a practice in Auckland, New Zealand and also provides phone or Skype sessions for those who need assistance, but don’t have a consultant in their vicinity. Email: lindasinden@orbislife.co.nz Skype: Linda.Sinden |
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