Health Tips - Your Health: Guidelines from Ayurveda - VIII
As for other facets of the daily routine, the founder rishis of Ayurveda have also paid significant attention to the activities before sleep to enable healthy and hearty sustenance of life. We had discussed most of this (ratricarya) in the previous issue including eye-care before going to bed. Here we highlight some more health tips especially those pertaining to sleep.
Cleanliness of nightdress or the clothes worn while going to the bed is also emphasized in Ayurveda. One should preferably avoid wearing the same clothes, which one has been wearing during the day. The clothes on the body should be loose while sleeping.
The bed should be neat and tidy; the sheets covering the body and the bed should also be clean.
According to the adepts of Ayurveda, the mattresses and bed-sheets should be made up of cotton. Use of foam, sponge, nylon etc for long is harmful. As far as possible, one should develop the habit of sleeping on a thin mattress; only a mat with bed-sheet should be enough in the summer. Cots having straight wooden planks are preferred to maintain the natural vigor of the body (especially the spinal cord) as compared to those having the base made up of plastic fibers, jute or metal etc.
The Ayurvedic scriptures also advise not to use the bed sheets or body-covers used by others (including family members) unless these have been washed and dried properly. Beds and even the cots should not be shared; this is essential to restrain the spread of infections. Sleeping on separate mats put on the floor is best if one can't afford separate cots for each family member.
The bedroom should have sufficient cross-ventilation. Windows and ventilators should be kept open while sleeping (for airflow), with arrangements of mesh etc, to prevent mosquitoes and other insects) while sleeping.
This is not only necessary to avoid suffocation but also to minimize the chances of infections of common cold, flue etc.
The following shloka of Sushrut Samhita is of particular relevance in todays circumstances when the world is threatened by varieties of contagious diseases.
Prasangat Gatra Sansparshanti shwasatsahabhojam | Sahashayya Sataccapi Vastramalyanulepanam || Kustham Jwarasya shothashrca Netrabhisyanda Eva Ca | Auparsargika Rogashca Sankramanti Narantaram ||
Meaning:
Sexual relationship, other kinds of bodily contacts, inhaling others exhaled breath, exchange of body-fluids, sleeping on the same bed, sitting neck to neck, eating together from a common plate, or eating somebodys leftovers, sharing clothes, ornaments, unguents (soap, lotions etc) spread leprosy, infectious (viral, etc) fevers and other diseases, conjunctivitis, common cold, etc from person to person. Sleep is referred as bhutadhatri (which takes care and nurtures all creatures) in the Ayurvedic scriptures. Rishi Charak writes
Ratriswabhava Prabhava Mata Ya, Tam Bhutadhatrim Pravadanti Nidram ||
Meaning: The sleep of night is a natural (gift), which is rightly termed by the sages as bhutadhatri. In the views of Chakrapani
Bhutani Pranino Dadhati, Pusnati Iti Bhutadhatri |
Meaning: Sleeping in the night is essential and most beneficial. As a dhatri (wet nurse, aayaa or governess) looks after an infant, sleep also nourishes all creatures. It is therefore called bhutadhatri. According to Chand Kuashik
Chittam Prasadayati Laghavamadadati Pratyangamujjavalayati Pratibhavishesam | Dosanudasyati Karoti cha Dhatu Samyam Anandamarpayati Yogavishesagamyam ||
Meaning:
Good sleep induces happiness in the mind, relaxation in the body and rejuvenation in its every component; it also enhances mental talents and intellect. It helps eliminate the defects and weaknesses and ensures harmonious balancing between healthy functions of the body; sound sleep also offers the joy that one would experience by doing certain kinds of yoga exercises. But who is the one to get this natural bliss of good sleep? Charak Samhita provides the answer:
Brahmcaryarate Gramyasukha Nispaha Cetasa | Nidrasantosataptasya Swam Kalam Nativartate ||
Meaning:
One who reads good books and attempts acquiring knowledge (and mental enlightenment), who does not indulge in sensual pleasures and accumulation of material possession, whose mind is contented, his/her sleep remains punctual in its proper timings and duration. "Padma Puran" also states that one who has disciplined his sense organs and who sleeps at the right time will enjoy good sleep and get up at the right time in the early morning with fresh energy. One should have deep sleep during the night. As far as possible, one should avoid sleeping in the daytime; the time of lying down on the bed during the day should be kept to the minimum. Ayurveda describes the sleep of night as pitta-nashak (which eliminates the dosa of pitta the problems of acidity, excess of heat or lack of specific fluids in the body, abnormality in metabolism, etc).
The sleep during the daytime is termed as kapha-sangrahak (which aggravates the kapha dosa the problems of breathing, cold and cough, drowsiness, etc). With adoption of the present day habits of sleeping late in the night and getting up late in the morning, sleeping after lunch in the afternoon etc, the cases of problems pertaining to pitta and kapha have indeed increased in the modern times.
The Ayurvedic sages of Vedic Age emphasized the importance of sleeping in the second and third phases (out of the four phases since sunset to sunrise) of night.
The evening (lying in the first phase of night) time should be used for reading and contemplating on the teachings of vedic scriptures and/or devotional prayers etc. The last phase which lies at the junction of night and morning called Brahm-Muhurt (the four hours period beginning 2-3 hours before dawn) is best for spiritual practices of mantra japa, meditation and other sadhanas. The period for sleep (approximately between 9p.m. to 3:30a.m.) is referred as mahanisa in the scriptures and is said to be the most suitable time for healthful sleep. All the body-functions of a person who sleeps only during this specified period remain in good order and energized and so do all his other faculties. Even simple food works like ideal nutritious diet for such a person and he enjoys and relishes a purposeful and vigorous life. Along with sleep, Ayurveda mentions a great deal about dreams also. In fact, analysis of dreams used to be an important method of comprehensive diagnostics in this ancient science of healthy life.
What the "Charak Samhita" states at one place implies that one who does not get sound sleep sees varieties of dreams through the agile subconscious mind. Experiencing too many or too frequent dreams is a sign of unbalanced or perturbed state of the mind-body system. According to Ayurvedic theory, dreaming abruptly during sleep disturbs the sleep and prevents proper relaxation of the body and also deprives the mind of rest and relaxation. Hard working laborers or those who practice substantial physical exercise and go to the bed in a relaxed mood get good sleep; their body and mind are infused with new energy and joy when they get up in the morning.
The Ayurvedic scriptures describe seven categories of dreams of which five correspond to the dreams that are meaningless and mere reflections of disturbed sleep and non-pacified emotions, mental excitations, tensions or simply the agility of the (subconscious) mind. The dreams of diseased, agonized, stressed, insane, and sensually excited or erogenous persons fall in this category. Only two categories of dreams are said to of notable importance these include precognitive dreams and spiritually enlightening dreams.
The Vedic literature contains rare and precious knowledge of the science of sleep and dream, from which Ayurveda derives several of its methods and measures of characterization of natural constitution and diagnosis/prognosis of the existing ailments as well as prediction of future (likely) diseases. We shall elucidate some of these aspects through articles on dreams from time to time. With this article we have glanced through the routine of the entire day (twenty-four hours) as per the Ayurveda-guidelines on health.
The next set of articles in this series will bring new information on Ayurvedic herbal medicines especially based on the research findings at the scientific laboratories of Brahmvarchas, Shantikunj, Hardwar.
( To be continued in the next issue).
Cleanliness of nightdress or the clothes worn while going to the bed is also emphasized in Ayurveda. One should preferably avoid wearing the same clothes, which one has been wearing during the day. The clothes on the body should be loose while sleeping.
The bed should be neat and tidy; the sheets covering the body and the bed should also be clean.
According to the adepts of Ayurveda, the mattresses and bed-sheets should be made up of cotton. Use of foam, sponge, nylon etc for long is harmful. As far as possible, one should develop the habit of sleeping on a thin mattress; only a mat with bed-sheet should be enough in the summer. Cots having straight wooden planks are preferred to maintain the natural vigor of the body (especially the spinal cord) as compared to those having the base made up of plastic fibers, jute or metal etc.
The Ayurvedic scriptures also advise not to use the bed sheets or body-covers used by others (including family members) unless these have been washed and dried properly. Beds and even the cots should not be shared; this is essential to restrain the spread of infections. Sleeping on separate mats put on the floor is best if one can't afford separate cots for each family member.
The bedroom should have sufficient cross-ventilation. Windows and ventilators should be kept open while sleeping (for airflow), with arrangements of mesh etc, to prevent mosquitoes and other insects) while sleeping.
This is not only necessary to avoid suffocation but also to minimize the chances of infections of common cold, flue etc.
The following shloka of Sushrut Samhita is of particular relevance in todays circumstances when the world is threatened by varieties of contagious diseases.
Prasangat Gatra Sansparshanti shwasatsahabhojam | Sahashayya Sataccapi Vastramalyanulepanam || Kustham Jwarasya shothashrca Netrabhisyanda Eva Ca | Auparsargika Rogashca Sankramanti Narantaram ||
Meaning:
Sexual relationship, other kinds of bodily contacts, inhaling others exhaled breath, exchange of body-fluids, sleeping on the same bed, sitting neck to neck, eating together from a common plate, or eating somebodys leftovers, sharing clothes, ornaments, unguents (soap, lotions etc) spread leprosy, infectious (viral, etc) fevers and other diseases, conjunctivitis, common cold, etc from person to person. Sleep is referred as bhutadhatri (which takes care and nurtures all creatures) in the Ayurvedic scriptures. Rishi Charak writes
Ratriswabhava Prabhava Mata Ya, Tam Bhutadhatrim Pravadanti Nidram ||
Meaning: The sleep of night is a natural (gift), which is rightly termed by the sages as bhutadhatri. In the views of Chakrapani
Bhutani Pranino Dadhati, Pusnati Iti Bhutadhatri |
Meaning: Sleeping in the night is essential and most beneficial. As a dhatri (wet nurse, aayaa or governess) looks after an infant, sleep also nourishes all creatures. It is therefore called bhutadhatri. According to Chand Kuashik
Chittam Prasadayati Laghavamadadati Pratyangamujjavalayati Pratibhavishesam | Dosanudasyati Karoti cha Dhatu Samyam Anandamarpayati Yogavishesagamyam ||
Meaning:
Good sleep induces happiness in the mind, relaxation in the body and rejuvenation in its every component; it also enhances mental talents and intellect. It helps eliminate the defects and weaknesses and ensures harmonious balancing between healthy functions of the body; sound sleep also offers the joy that one would experience by doing certain kinds of yoga exercises. But who is the one to get this natural bliss of good sleep? Charak Samhita provides the answer:
Brahmcaryarate Gramyasukha Nispaha Cetasa | Nidrasantosataptasya Swam Kalam Nativartate ||
Meaning:
One who reads good books and attempts acquiring knowledge (and mental enlightenment), who does not indulge in sensual pleasures and accumulation of material possession, whose mind is contented, his/her sleep remains punctual in its proper timings and duration. "Padma Puran" also states that one who has disciplined his sense organs and who sleeps at the right time will enjoy good sleep and get up at the right time in the early morning with fresh energy. One should have deep sleep during the night. As far as possible, one should avoid sleeping in the daytime; the time of lying down on the bed during the day should be kept to the minimum. Ayurveda describes the sleep of night as pitta-nashak (which eliminates the dosa of pitta the problems of acidity, excess of heat or lack of specific fluids in the body, abnormality in metabolism, etc).
The sleep during the daytime is termed as kapha-sangrahak (which aggravates the kapha dosa the problems of breathing, cold and cough, drowsiness, etc). With adoption of the present day habits of sleeping late in the night and getting up late in the morning, sleeping after lunch in the afternoon etc, the cases of problems pertaining to pitta and kapha have indeed increased in the modern times.
The Ayurvedic sages of Vedic Age emphasized the importance of sleeping in the second and third phases (out of the four phases since sunset to sunrise) of night.
The evening (lying in the first phase of night) time should be used for reading and contemplating on the teachings of vedic scriptures and/or devotional prayers etc. The last phase which lies at the junction of night and morning called Brahm-Muhurt (the four hours period beginning 2-3 hours before dawn) is best for spiritual practices of mantra japa, meditation and other sadhanas. The period for sleep (approximately between 9p.m. to 3:30a.m.) is referred as mahanisa in the scriptures and is said to be the most suitable time for healthful sleep. All the body-functions of a person who sleeps only during this specified period remain in good order and energized and so do all his other faculties. Even simple food works like ideal nutritious diet for such a person and he enjoys and relishes a purposeful and vigorous life. Along with sleep, Ayurveda mentions a great deal about dreams also. In fact, analysis of dreams used to be an important method of comprehensive diagnostics in this ancient science of healthy life.
What the "Charak Samhita" states at one place implies that one who does not get sound sleep sees varieties of dreams through the agile subconscious mind. Experiencing too many or too frequent dreams is a sign of unbalanced or perturbed state of the mind-body system. According to Ayurvedic theory, dreaming abruptly during sleep disturbs the sleep and prevents proper relaxation of the body and also deprives the mind of rest and relaxation. Hard working laborers or those who practice substantial physical exercise and go to the bed in a relaxed mood get good sleep; their body and mind are infused with new energy and joy when they get up in the morning.
The Ayurvedic scriptures describe seven categories of dreams of which five correspond to the dreams that are meaningless and mere reflections of disturbed sleep and non-pacified emotions, mental excitations, tensions or simply the agility of the (subconscious) mind. The dreams of diseased, agonized, stressed, insane, and sensually excited or erogenous persons fall in this category. Only two categories of dreams are said to of notable importance these include precognitive dreams and spiritually enlightening dreams.
The Vedic literature contains rare and precious knowledge of the science of sleep and dream, from which Ayurveda derives several of its methods and measures of characterization of natural constitution and diagnosis/prognosis of the existing ailments as well as prediction of future (likely) diseases. We shall elucidate some of these aspects through articles on dreams from time to time. With this article we have glanced through the routine of the entire day (twenty-four hours) as per the Ayurveda-guidelines on health.
The next set of articles in this series will bring new information on Ayurvedic herbal medicines especially based on the research findings at the scientific laboratories of Brahmvarchas, Shantikunj, Hardwar.
( To be continued in the next issue).
Page Titles
- Shakti Sadhana
- From Chief Editor’s Desk:Special Significance of Navaratri Sadhana this Year
- Healing by Music Therapy - Ragas
- The Occult Science of Upasana
- BRAHMAVARCHAS SHODH SANSTHAN - A Research Institute committed to the Scientific Exposition of Spirituality -
- Vastu Shastra: An Established Science V: Some Guidelines on Arrangements in the Kitchen
- Dhyan and its Benefits
- Peace Pilgrims Guidelines to Individual and Collective Peace
- Kalpavrksa of Human Life on Earth
- Guru: The True Protector
- Health Tips - Your Health: Guidelines from Ayurveda - VIII
- Navaratri Sadhana : The Bestower of Celestial Boons
- Second Round of Pilgrimage and Projection of the Field of Work
- The Foundational Emblems of Indian Culture: Shikha and Sutra - Part 1 - Amritvani
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