Ayurveda, the timeless science of life, provides holistic and time-tested methods to improve the quality of your sleep. If you often wake up feeling tired despite clocking 8 or more hours in bed, these Ayurvedic practices can help. By calming the mind and body, these practices are designed to guide you into a state of deep, restorative sleep, leaving you truly refreshed and rejuvenated.
When you sleep, your body focuses on repair—not digestion. Eating late or heavy meals diverts energy from restoration and may leave you feeling sluggish the next morning. Ayurveda recommends:
- Timing: Eat between 5:00 PM and 7:00 PM, and finish your meal at least two hours before bed.
- Light Dinner: Choose easily digestible foods like soups, cooked vegetables, or rice. Avoid meat in the evening; it's best consumed at lunch when your digestive fire is strongest.
Unprocessed emotions and events can disrupt your sleep, weighing on your mind and body. Daily thought processing helps harmonise the mind and body, clearing mental clutter before bed. Here’s how to do it:
This soothing drink calms the mind and nourishes the body, helping to heal damaged cells and induce restful sleep. Try this Ayurvedic recipe:
- 1 cup warm milk (non-homogenized or plant-based)
- ¼ tsp each of cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger powder
- 2 threads of saffron
- ½ tsp ghee
- 1 tsp raw sugar or honey (optional)
A gentle oil massage calms the nervous system, grounding your energy before sleep. Warm cold-pressed black sesame oil and massage:
- Your head (crown, temples, and third eye)
- Your hands
- The soles of your feet
This practice helps relax the body and signals your system to unwind.
Ayurveda emphasises the importance of being asleep by 10:00 PM. The window between 10:00 PM and 2:00 AM is a period of heightened metabolic action in the body, focused on repair and detoxification. Missing this period leads to incomplete restoration, leaving you fatigued.
For a deeper understanding of your sleep challenges, consulting with an Ayurvedic practitioner can uncover imbalances and provide personalised guidance. With consistent practice, these regimes will help you drift into blissful sleep and wake up feeling truly refreshed.
Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant and Yoga Teacher based in Korumburra, Victoria, Australia