Her name is Bhoota-Dhatri. A good night’s sleep. Bhoota refers to the panchamahabhootas, the five elements that make up the physical body. And, dhatri means a mother: a mother who ensures our well-being by regulating the panchamahabhootas; vitiation of which is the root cause of all diseases.
Two commonly known facts
- A good night’s sleep is the time for repair in the body.
- The brain that weighs less than 2% of the body weight uses 20% of available energy, generating a lot of metabolic waste.
Every night, the cleanse happens when we go through multiple cycles of the 4 stages of sleep lasting anywhere between 90 to 120 minutes. In the fourth and last stage, in particular, known as delta sleep, the metabolic waste (ama) of the whole day is removed. Studies say that any loss of sleep at this stage leads to waste buildup in the brain leading to degenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
In one of the latest practices in the Anushtaana community, Dr. Sadhanashree set us the goal of helping the body to heal itself through a refreshing and rejuvenating good night’s sleep.
The preparatory phase
As with any practice in the community, we took a stock of where we stood in reference to the practice. It was not surprising to find that a majority of the sleep-well enthusiasts still used screens after 9 pm and many of us were “night-time procrastinators”. Therefore, we first understood the motivations to sleep early and well. They were all variants of having the ability to have some time for work/peace before the family wakes up, or having the satisfaction and rejuvenation from a good night’s sleep. The following prerequisites were then established, while also acknowledging that a well-spent meaningful day as the most essential condition for a deeper, healing slumber.
Prerequisites for a good night’s sleep
1. A quiet, dark, well-ventilated room with clean sheets.
2. Early dinner. Meal 2-3 hours before bed time. Indigestion causes disturbed sleep.
3. To avoid the night-entertainment- indulgence, schedule “Me-time” during the day.
4. No electronics one hour before bed time. Preferably, turn off by 9pm.
5. A relaxing wind-down routine for the night without electronics like music (a radio with SD card), books (non-screen), doodling, story telling, drawing, writing, family games, meditation, etc.
6. A 5-minute padabhyanga (foot massage) with the right oils, just before lying down. No walking about, no drinking water and no electronics after the massage.
7. Developing the ability to call it a day. Let go of all your worries (factors beyond your control), to-do lists and conversation replays when you start winding down.
In this 21 day practice with over 200 members, we discussed and slowly incorporated all the prerequisites and started sleeping better. As our discussions meandered through the sleep-related space, we also deeply realized how a good night’s sleep is the result of a relaxed mind; one that is achieved only by leading a dharmic life (alignment of thoughts, feelings and actions with the highest guiding principles of our life). As each practice was learnt patiently and correctly in the group, a request for padabhyanga video naturally led Dr. Sadhana to make it our next challenge.
14 day Padabhyanga challenge for deeper relaxation
Dr. Pragya kick-started the session with a detailed video of a foot massage that completely relaxed the nerves. Owing to the connection between the feet and the eyes, many patrons reported not just better and deeper sleep, they also experienced a decrease in eye-secretions! For me, I’m not sure I ever want to go back to pre foot-massage days anymore. The tiredness in my legs are gone. I have been waking up more fresh than ever, ready to take on my duties of the day!
✨ Here is a question for you: Do you know the species of dinosaurs that others did not want to bunk with?
Dino-snores. They were just too loud! 🙂
Anusthaana is a sacred space for learning and practicing authentic ayurvedic wellness practices, one habit at a time. This wellness initiative started in public interest is currently led by ayurvedic doctors Dr. Sadhanshree, M.D and Dr. Pragya, M.D. If you are curious, do drop by and check them out here.
Keep calm and Sleep well! Shubharathri!
