Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could reach optimal health solely by focusing on your nutrition and by living a balanced lifestyle? That is the goal of Ayurveda, an intricate system of healing developed in India which began as long as 6,000 years ago and is widely practiced today.
Published in Your Health Magazine by Jan Tucker
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could reach optimal health solely by focusing on your nutrition and by living a balanced lifestyle? That is the goal of Ayurveda, an intricate system of healing developed in India which began as long as 6,000 years ago and is widely practiced today.
A well-known tenet of Ayurveda explains this science in a nutshell: “With proper diet, medicine is of no need. Without proper diet, medicine is of no use.”
Vasant Lad, MASc, professor and director of the Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, is considered one of the foremost U.S. experts of Ayurveda. He also studied Western medicine and surgery. Lad has written or co-authored at least 14 highly regarded Ayurveda books. Much of the information provided here is from his writings.
Establish a Prescribed Daily Routine
Balance is an important concept. Lad emphasizes that a daily routine is very important to help you maintain your overall health and ensure that your body, mind and consciousness function on a higher level.
Following a specific Ayurvedic routine will place you in harmony with the rhythms of nature. Your biological clock will be in tune and your body organs and functions will operate optimally.
This means that, along with getting the proper nutrition, if you sleep, wake, eat and eliminate on a regular daily schedule, you can begin to solve many of your health problems. This is partially because, as Lad explains, each organ in your body has a very definite time of maximum functioning.
For example, the lungs operate at their peak in the morning, the stomach at midday, the liver in the afternoon and the colon and kidneys in the late afternoon.
In addition to the biological clock, you have a daily cycle called the doshic clock. Doshas are the three main psycho-physiological functional principles of the body (vata, pitta and kapha). A very simplistic explanation follows.
Eastern thought tells us that the earth consists of the five elements of air, fire, water, earth and ether. Ayurveda groups these elements into three types of energy represented in humans by three doshas:
- Vata (air and ether). Vata is the energy of movement, which directs nerve impulses, circulation, respiration and elimination.
- Pitta (fire and water). Pitta is the energy of transformation, digestion or metabolism (it includes transformation of foods into nutrients as well as metabolism in the organ and tissue systems).
- Kapha (water and earth). Kapha is the energy of lubrication and structure, responsible for growth and protection (e.g., the stomach’s mucous lining, the cerebral-spinal fluid that protects the brain and spinal column).
These doshas can accumulate in the body and place a person out of balance. Someone with excess pitta, for example, is fiery—physically, they might have red or blotchy skin and/or thinning hair. They tend to be psychologically prone to frustration, anger, irritability and impatience. A diet containing too much spicy food, skipping meals, getting too much sun or heat and emotional trauma can increase pitta. Each dosha has its distinguishing characteristics.
By following the recommended Ayurvedic daily routine1, you will balance both your biological and doshic clocks. This will keep you healthier, help your body to digest and assimilate food properly, and help you to achieve the positive qualities of self-esteem, discipline, peace and happiness.
Your regular waking and sleeping times are important parts of the daily routine. The first step in the routine is to awaken early in the morning, and specific times are recommended for each dosha type. Bedtime is equally important. It becomes obvious that regular and regulated sleep is an important part of the daily routine.
Remedies for Insomnia
Insomnia causes or complicates many other problems. It can be related to constipation, stress and depression. Too much stress or being too tired can cause insomnia, and tiredness easily leads to greater stress. Insomnia can be a symptom of depression and can also increase your depression.
Ayurvedic remedies for insomnia include the familiar glass of warm milk or chamomile tea to bring peaceful sleep. To make the milk even more effective, try adding one of these:
- Up to 1/8 teaspoon of nutmeg.
- Ground up blanched almonds plus pinches of nutmeg and cardamom.
- One cup milk, ¼ cup water and 1 clove of fresh, chopped garlic, boiled down to 1 cup of liquid.
Eating 10 to 20 cherries a day may help relieve mental fatigue and stress, which can contribute to insomnia.
A simple ritual is also recommended to promote sound sleep: Drink one cup of tomato juice with two teaspoons of raw sugar and two pinches of nutmeg between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m. each day. Then eat dinner between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m.
Eating too much sweet increases the need for sleep and can make you sluggish.
Your stomach should be completely empty before you sleep (whether or not you have insomnia). You can accomplish this by remaining awake for three hours or longer after a meal.
Of course digestion is not complete after the food leaves your stomach. Sleeping on your left side can help improve your digestion and may also prove to be a better position if you have sleep apnea, particularly if you are overweight.
A hot bath or shower or yoga meditation before bed can improve your sleep. Meditation calms you and reduces anxieties that can surface during sleep. Lad suggests sitting on your bed and focusing on the area between your eyebrows (the third eye).
Then simply focus on your breath, calmly watching it with your mind as the breath goes in and out, or you can do the So-Hum meditation. For about five minutes, or until you are very calm, silently repeat “So” with every inhalation and “Hum” with every exhalation. Then gently lie on your back in bed while continuing this breathing meditation. This will result in a sound sleep.
I don’t know about you, but just learning about these gentle Ayurvedic remedies and practices gives me a calm, peaceful feeling. They are so natural!
Herbal Remedies for Insomnia
Ayurveda provides some powerful natural remedies in the form of supplements to assist directly with sleep problems as well as aiding sleep indirectly by de-stressing and detoxifying. MAPI is the manufacturer.
Their Blissful Sleep tablets aid in falling to sleep more quickly and getting better rest. Deep Rest enables you to return to sleep more easily when awakened. Stress Free Mind supports resistance to mental stress and fatigue. Worry Free calms the mind and emotions and supports deeper sleep.