Where’s your Zzzz...?

Let’s start with three sleep facts:

1. We sleep almost 1/3rd of our life. Right, but do we? (see point no. 2)
2. We are the only mammals that consciously, voluntarily, and willingly avoid and delay sleep. Now check point no.1 again and add “must” after the first word. Read again.
3. When we sleep less, we eat more. The appetite-regulating hormone is suppressed when we stay awake past sleep time, making us hungry, reaching out for the midnight, last-night, post-meal snack. (What! Let me just go back to sleep, like yesterday!)

We know we need sleep. We know that the lack of sleep, and lack of good sleep affects our mood, energy levels, and focus. Still, we somehow coax ourselves into believing that sleep is unimportant and somehow we can skip this rest phase. Okay, you may already know what you read above...but did you also know that there are distinct sleep types—Ayurvedic sleep constitutions—Vata Sleep, Pitta Sleep and Kapha Sleep. Have you experienced any of these (described below)?

Here are some of the pointers:

• Vata Type Sleep: If you have a hard time falling asleep, staying asleep, getting up in the morning, you have a vata sleep. Also, if you dreams are vivid, plentiful, and mostly involve running, climbing, flying, you have vata dreams. If your challenges are: waking up in the middle of the night, difficultly falling back asleep, cold feet, teeth grinding, sleep talking, most probably you have vata sleep vikruti. If you like the temperature in the room to be a bit warmer, love to keep your socks on, add a weighted blanket, you have vata sleep requirements.
• Pitta Type Sleep: If you cannot stop thinking, planning, assessing your day, fretting over things that are yet pending, you are simply facing pitta-kind-pre-sleep dilemma. Also, if you simply cannot take that tiny light peeping in from the curtain/blinders or from under the door, you are facing a pitta-kind sleep challenge. If you like the room, pillow, blanket, and sheet to be on the cooler side and somehow find your one foot out of the blanket in the middle of the night, you have pitta sleep requirements. Do you also go from horizontal to vertical upon waking up in a jiffy? Yup, that is pitta sleep type.
• Kapha Sleep Type: Well, if you fall asleep easily, stay asleep deep but wake up groggy and want to sleep in a bit more, hit the snooze often or miss hearing the alarm, you are definitely a kapha sleep constitution. Also, if you like the blanket, cushion, mattress, and pillow to be softer, plush, a bit more comfortable, you have kapha sleep requirements. And, if you tend to oversleep, definitely need 8+ hours of “zzz” to feel rested, you have the kapha sleep.

Irrespective of the Ayurvedic sleep constitution, there are some things we must all experience:

• the quality sleep that nourishes
• the sleep that comes easy and stays throughout night
• waking up rested

All this is a part of sleep hygiene and prioritizing rest, sleep, pause, and nourishment. We can choose the kind of rest/Shavasana practice that suits our dosha. We can choose practices that help us recoup from sleep debt. We can all benefit from understanding, practicing, and sharing about shavasana.

Read more self care tips in SOMA 100 Heritage Recipes for Self Care in hard copy or eBook.

PREPARE FOR SLEEP WITH THESE THREE SHAPRACTICES

Relax your Senses

Deep Tissue Relaxation

Guided Relaxation

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