The Perfect Sleep has become a unicorn in today’s hectic world. Erratic routines have made it even more of a distant idea. How do you sleep? Do you sleep well? Or do you practice the dance form called ‘Tossing & Turning”? How are your mornings? Do you get up easily and in a good mood? Or do you struggle to get up and feel ugly?
As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death ~ Leonardo Da Vinci
Good sleep is an important aspect of life. The quality of your sleep can even determine the quality of your life. Sleeping well means a well-rested body and mind. Moreover, bad sleep can adversely affect your brain functions, your hormonal balance and subsequently your quality of activities. Studies have shown that, sleep deprivation can increase the risk of getting diseases and even create fluctuations in weight.
In sleep, unconsciously you can incubate either positive things or negative things, pleasantness or unpleasantness. It happens during the waking hours as well, but it is more efficient during sleep. You might have noticed, if you have a tendency to go to bed in a certain state of mind and emotion, you tend to wake up in the morning in the same state. Sometimes it is possible that the state you find yourself in after waking up, might be more intense. It holds true for both pleasant and unpleasant states.
In most cases, you cannot remember why you are feeling so nasty. Your irritation seems to be without any particular reason. This is not just about psychological imbalances, but it can lead to major physiological problems over a period of time. If you experience this, it is important that you eliminate these things from your life. If you suffer from poor sleep or insomnia, then you can follow these tips to harmonize your sleep and turn your mornings beautiful.
Wake up feeling refreshed and energetic, raring to take on a new day!
TIPS TO SLEEP WELL
1. Don't go to Sleep immediately after Meal
There should be a time-gap between your meal time and your sleep time. You should avoid going to bed immediately after a meal. It becomes even more important if you are eating meat and other kinds of heavy food. If you have had meat, you need to give at least 3 to 5 hours before you go to bed. This will allow enough time for the digestion process to be over.
1o hours before you go to bed, avoid chocolates, hot beverages, energy drinks, smoking and soft drinks. These are nervous stimulants and can add extra energy to your system. They can keep you from falling asleep. It requires around 8 to 10 hours for your body to flush out the chemical stimulants like caffeine and nicotine.
Before you go to bed, have a glass of water.
2. Take a Shower before Sleep
One of the simplest thing that you can do to improve your sleep, is to take a shower before bed. Depending on the weather, you can have a cold or a lukewarm shower. But, avoid a hot shower at night time.
A shower can make you feel alert and you might think that you won’t be able to sleep. You might have to go to bed 15 to 30 minutes later, but you will sleep better.
Shower is not just about surface cleaning, it takes away a lot of other things. You might have noticed how you feel lighter after a shower, not just in body but you feel lighter in mind as well. It feels like your mind has been uncluttered, as if a burden has been lifted from your shoulders. It is always a good idea to take a shower when you are feeling tensed or anxious or depressed.
3. Light a Lamp
Light an organic oil lamp with a cotton wick, in a corner of your bedroom. Any organic oil can be used such as Rice Bran Oil, Linseed Oil, Sesame Oil, Mustard Oil or even Olive Oil.
Additionally, you can play a chant or a hymn or a soothing music or anything that makes you feel relaxed and calm.
If you do some nightly Yogic Practices or some form of meditation, you can do the same before going to bed.
Here is a simple yet powerful practice, that is available for free - Isha Kriya
4. Don't Sleep with your head towards the North
In India, generally, you might have been told that you should not sleep with your head placed towards the North.
If you put your head to the North while sleeping in a horizontal position, then slowly the blood is pulled towards the brain. When there is an increased circulation of blood in the brain, you won’t have a peaceful sleep. The blood capillaries in the brain are paper thin. A minute change in pressure can have an effect on the brain and the glands. An extra push is exerted because of the magnetic pull. This only happens when you are in a horizontal position. So, to avoid this you should not place your head towards the North. This is true for the ones living in the Northern Hemisphere. If you are in the Southern Hemisphere, you should not put your head to the South.
This is still a subject of debate, as there has been hardly any scientific research done in this direction. If you are interested in delving further into this, here is a resource for you -
Effects of Electromagnetic Forces of Earth on Human Biological System
5. Best Sleeping Position
The sleeping posture can have an impact on your health and how you feel. If you want to look younger and feel younger, sleep on your back. This position causes fewer creases and wrinkles because there is no pressing on your face. For women, this posture allows you to keep the breast supported which prevents them from sagging.
Besides the cosmetic benefits, sleeping on your back is good because it allows the entire system to be in a state of relaxation. In this posture, the internal organs face the least amount of compressive force.
In Yoga, this very same posture is used to relax any accumulated tension from the other yogic postures. This posture or Āsana is done at the end of a yoga practice in which you lie flat on your back with the heels kept apart, slightly more than the width of your hip. The arms are kept a few inches away from your body, with the palms facing upward. It is called the Śavāsana meaning “lying down on the back like a corpse”.
You need not follow it to the minutest detail when you are about to sleep. But, it is good if you can keep your hands on your sides instead of on your chest or stomach.
6. Remind yourself of your Mortality
Now, this might seem like a depressing thing to do. But, reminding yourself of your mortality can bring in some much needed perspective to your life. It is to be kept in mind that, it is not about inducing fear of death.
It is about being aware that you are a mortal. A person who is aware of this facet every moment of life, will strive to do only what is sensible.
Keep this in your mind that you are truly a mortal. Not in just words, but it has to become a realization. Yes, it is possible that you could fall dead right now. No matter how young you are, you can fall dead any moment. Before you go to bed, sit on the bed and think of it as your deathbed. You just have moments to live; this is your moment of truth. Now, just look back on your day. Was it worthwhile? Just do this one simple practice.
You don’t know how and when you might die? But, enjoy being alive every day. Thinking of it as your last moment, look back on the day and reflect on your actions and activities. Were they worthwhile? If you continue to do this, you will start to do only those things that matter to you the most. Your mind will have no time to indulge in things that are not important. You will not get involved in frivolous pursuits and superficial activities. When your mind slowly starts to let go off certain things, you will feel lighter over time. As a result, you will sleep better. This is an effective yet simple practice that you can do to lead a worthwhile life.
7. Keep all Things Aside
In the last 3-5 minutes before you go to sleep, do the following mental exercise.
Keep aside everything that you have gathered – the body, the content of the mind, material possessions from the expensive to the biggest to the smallest and your relationships.
Sleep.
If you sleep in this condition, you will wake up with much more light and energy; with much more possibilities that you imagined possible. Just sleep as life. When you sleep you don’t have to be a man or a woman or this or that. Keep everything down. Keep all your identities aside. Simply be. This can be your Sleeping Sādhanā.
Sādhanā - disciplined and dedicated practice or learning in spirituality or Yoga; a tool for inner transformation
Avoid staring into the screen of your smartphone or laptop, just before going to sleep.
8. Avoid the use of an Alarm
What kind of sounds you come awake to will determine the context of the day and to an extent, your future. It is not good to come awake with a startle.
The level of your vibrancy is determined by the type of food that you consume and the kind of thoughts and emotions that you process within yourself. Correspondingly, your energy levels determine how much sleep you need.
If you feel that you need a certain amount of sleep, then you must accommodate that period of time between when you sleep and when you want to wake up. This will enable you to come awake naturally, without any external help of an alarm. Let’s say you need 8 hours of sleep. You know the amount of sleep you require. If you want to wake up at 7 AM in the morning, then you must go to bed few minutes before 11 PM. When you have rested well, your body will come awake at the right time.
If you’re doubtful as to if you will wake up in time or not, then you can have a chant or a hymn as your alarm tone, instead of some loud sound or music.
9. Get up & out of bed on your Right Side
Physiologically, heart is an integral aspect of you. It is the pumping station for your blood circulation. It is pumping life throughout your body. If this one thing stops, you will cease to be alive. The heart is located just behind your breastbone and slightly towards the left.
In India, you might have been told that when you wake up, you must roll to your right side and get up.
When you are in a state of relaxation, the metabolic activity is low. As you spring into action, there is a sudden surge of activity within your body. One of the major organs that gets affected by this upsurge, is your heart. In order to soften the effect on your heart, you were told to roll to your right and get up. In India, these things were woven into your life through the culture, which are eroding away due to lack of proper transmission.
Also, you might have been told that you must rub your palms together after you wake up in the morning. Then, place them upon your eyes. And that if you do this, you will see God.
It is not about getting a glimpse of some divinity. Your palm is a hub of nerve endings; nerves that are connected to almost each and every other part of your body. When you rub your palms against each other, it stimulates the heavy concentration of nerve endings. This in turn, activates your entire system. If you are feeling sleepy, just try this out. You will become more wakeful. Every morning, before you move your body, get it awake by rubbing your palms. Then, place the palms upon your eyes to transfer the warmth generated by the rubbing action. Instantly, a whole range of nerves connected with your eyes and the other senses will come awake.
Before you make any movements, your body and your brain should be active. You should not be in a half–awake-half-asleep state. You should feel rejuvenated. That is the idea. So, you do this before you roll over to your right and get up.
10. Wake up with a Smile
Today, if all of us go to bed, by tomorrow morning nearly a tenth of a million people won’t wake up. This is a rough estimate as to the number of people around the world that die in their sleep due to natural causes.
There is no guarantee that you will wake up tomorrow. Suppose you wake up, then check if you are really awake or you are dead. It is a very simple step for your spiritual process. If you find yourself alive and well, then it needs a little celebration. Give yourself a smile. You don’t have to smile at somebody. It is not an insignificant thing. Here you are, still alive – one big smile.
Then, if 100,000 people died, at least two to four million people lost somebody who is dear to them. Go and check those three to five people who matter to you. All of them alive today, that is another reason for a smile!
Suppose, at this point of time a gun is put to your head, what will you think and feel? Will it be a feeling of relief? No, you will be terrified. At this point, you will feel that you have never truly lived your life. That is how precious it is to be alive! If that is how precious it is for you to be alive, then does not being alive deserve a smile?
Overnight, so many people did not manage to see a new day, but you and your loved ones did. That deserves a smile.
DID YOU KNOW?Humans are the only mammal that can postpone sleep. This exercise of the will is an indication that human is capable of transcending its physical nature. This freedom of will can be applied in a concerted manner to strive for higher dimensions of existence.
~ Originally Posted at chaiwaladda.in ~