Resting during sleep is essential to recover from the day's exhaustion. Daytime is for work, while nighttime is for rest and relaxation. Avoid bringing work-related thoughts into your sleep time. Just like food, sleep is crucial for the body's well-being. It plays a significant role in maintaining both your physical and mental health. While you sleep, your body undergoes repair and maintenance processes to prepare you for the following day's tasks. A good night's sleep ensures that you wake up feeling refreshed and revitalized.
How much sleep do you need?
Sleep needs vary from person to person, but for the average adult, 7 hours should suffice. Consistently getting less than that can lead to health issues. What matters most is not the quantity of sleep, but the quality. Yogis, for example, can function well in just four hours because of the depth of their rest. Trying to stay awake at night is counterproductive; depriving yourself of needed sleep can make the body lethargic and hinder concentration during waking hours, as Maharshi Aurobindo pointed out. There's a misconception that working excessively leads to growth, so many stay up late working. However, it's the quality, not the quantity, of work that truly matters for progress. Prolonged work often results in mediocre output and can contribute to lifestyle diseases like hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes. The increase in such diseases, despite medical advancements, shows that our lifestyles are out of sync with nature. Therefore, prioritize your sleep to maintain a strong immune system and overall health. Lack of sleep weakens immunity, making you more susceptible to illnesses and causing symptoms like fatigue, headaches, eyestrain, body aches, and digestive issues.
Some important tips about sleeping.
Don’t go to bed immediately after eating food. Even coffee 4/5 hours before your bedtime will disturb your sleep.
It is good going to bed early and rise early.
Some physical activity/ movement/ gymming/ swimming/ yoga is essential for a sound sleep. We all know how deep is the sleep of a labourer who works manually the whole day. Or we can remember our own experience when we were tired physically, how deep was our sleep. If you can, take a light walk after your dinner, may be only for 10/15 minutes, but it will improve quality of your sleep and also bowl movement.
Sleeping place should be airy, pure and clean. Your bedroom, as such, should be perfectly clean (no clutter) and painted in light natural colours. Your room temperature should be soothing, not too hot nor too cool.
One should read holy books or scriptures before sleeping. Or you can read some motivating and mood uplifting books and literature. Switch off your TV, phones half an hour before going to bed.
Keeping your head in the east or south direction. One should lie down on the left side of the bed with knee over knee. While lying down, one should inhale through the right nostril, as it is the warm current of the body that induces sleep faster. You should lie down with whole body completely loose and relaxed as if it is a cotton rag. Use clean mattress and sheets. Preferably, sleep on a coarse bed. Don’t cover your face while sleeping and never sleep with socks on.
Remember God or your chosen deity while lying down on the bed.
Healthline suggests following on sleep.
Why am I tired during the day?
If you’re tired but can’t sleep once the sun sets, it could be a sign of delayed sleep phase disorder. If not that, it could be something else or a combination of things.
Below are some reasons you might constantly be tired, especially during the day.
1. Napping
Naps aren’t inherently bad. In fact, napping has several health benefits. However, the wrong nap strategy can keep you up when you should get deeper sleep. ResearchTrusted Source suggests that long naps and napping later in the afternoon can cause you to take longer to fall asleep at night, sleep poorly, and wake up more during the night.
Winter recommends keeping naps 20–30 minutes long, and napping at the same time every day so your body can anticipate it.
2. Anxiety
A racing mind isn’t conducive to peaceful sleep. Anxiety also leads to increased arousal and alertness, which can delay sleep even further.
3. Depression
As per a review from a reliable source in 2019, as many as 90 percent of individuals diagnosed with depression also express concerns regarding the quality of their sleep. Various sleep disorders such as insomnia, narcolepsy, sleep disordered breathing, and restless legs syndrome were identified. The connection between sleep problems and depression is intricate, potentially disrupting circadian rhythms. Factors like inflammation, alterations in brain chemistry, genetic predispositions, and others could influence the association between sleep and depression.
4. Caffeine
Perhaps it's time to reconsider consuming that afternoon latte or energy drink. Caffeine typically stays in your system for around 5 hours. Therefore, it's not surprising that studies show that even 200 milligrams (mg) of caffeine — equivalent to about 16 ounces of brewed coffee — consumed 16 hours before bedtime could disrupt your sleep. According to a 2013 research, having 400 mg of caffeine 6 hours or fewer before going to bed could significantly affect your sleep quality. Winter advises stopping caffeine intake 4–6 hours before you plan to sleep.
5. Screen time
Avoid using your smartphone! The blue light coming from phones, tablets, laptops, and TV screens can reduce the production of melatonin in the evening and reduce the feeling of sleepiness. Winter suggests stopping the use of any devices 2 hours before going to bed. You might also want to think about wearing blue-light blocking glasses in the evening.
6. Other sleep disorders
Aside from delayed sleep phase syndrome, other disorders such as sleep apnea and restless legs syndrome can also result in feeling sleepy but not tired at night. Sleep apnea involves repeated pauses or shallow breathing, while restless legs syndrome causes discomfort in the legs, prompting the urge to move them. Both conditions can interfere with nighttime sleep, leading to daytime sleepiness.
7. Diet
The relationship between diet and sleep remains somewhat uncertain. According to a 2019 studyTrusted Source, researchers investigated the impact of diet on excessive daytime sleepiness. Their findings revealed that substituting 5 percent of one's daily caloric intake from protein with equivalent amounts of saturated fats or carbohydrates heightened the likelihood of daytime sleepiness. Conversely, replacing saturated fats with unsaturated fats, protein, or carbohydrates decreased the risk of excessive daytime sleepiness. The researchers suggested that dietary modifications could potentially benefit individuals with sleep disorders. Additionally, a 2016 review showed that high-fat diets were linked to reduced REM sleep, increased deep sleep, and heightened arousal during sleep. Conversely, high-carbohydrate consumption was associated with increased REM sleep, decreased deep sleep, and quicker sleep onset.
Saturated fats, protein, or carbs reduced the risk of excessive daytime sleepiness. They conclude that dietary changes may help people with sleep disorders.
The authors of the study emphasize the need for further research to find out whether a specific eating pattern enhances or hinders both nighttime sleep quality and daytime energy levels.
Yogic Technique for deep relaxation - Savasana
Technique
Position yourself lying down with your hands slightly away from your body, palms facing upwards in a slightly curled position, feet spaced 12-18 inches apart on the mat, and ensure your shoulders and neck are completely relaxed.
Make sure that during the entire duration your body remains immobile, unmoved - that is the crux of the practice.
Close your eyes.
Take attention to your toes, then progressively moving up to ankles, calf muscle, knees, thighs, groin, hands and arms, stomach, chest, neck, chin, nose, eyes, forehead and skull. Do it slowly and in a relaxed manner, feeling that the particular portion where your attention is getting slowly, slowly relaxed.
When you are done, turn to your right and with the support of your hand, get up and when you feel you can open your eyes.
Benefits
It is a deeply relaxing and rejuvenating asana.
Makes your breathing calm, deep and rhythmic.
Blood pressure, heart rate slows down.
Supplies energy to all the deficient parts, organs of the body.
Heals frayed nerves.
Strengthens para sympathetic nervous system.
Make the mind cool, calm and relaxed.
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