There is a strong Association of sleep with vitamin D levels in our body.
Clean intestines also have a major role in getting a normal sleep.
Psychological or emotional upsets hinder sleep; so everyday issues have to be resolved, to get a good night sleep.
After Sunset avoid heavy exercise, taxing mental work, conflicts, fights, emotionally charged screen events, bright lights, loud music; for that matter, anything which stimulates our brain.
Dim lights are preferred after 7 pm; as melatonin secretion is blocked by bright lights; melatonin, which helps the brain in the sleep process.
If someone has a problem in initiation of sleep, i.e. he cannot go to sleep in the first place, it is vaat excess With Indian integrated medicine it can be easily treated. First get vitamin D tested; if low, a large dose of vitamin D is given, then take care of intestinal cleaning. This can be done very effectively by following Ayurvedic diet for vaat and detox from naturopathy. Once the person comes out of vaat, psychological counselling is started, as in vaat state the brain does not function normally . In this, the subconscious is cleaned, all the disturbing thoughts are tackled. This can be done by finding proper solutions, if no solutions, then asking him to write them out on a piece of paper and tear it off or narrate it to a psychologist or vent it out in any other way of his choice.
In the second set of patients, initiation of sleep is good but he gets up in the middle of night and then he is unable to continue with the sleep. This is the excess pitt state of Ayurveda. After vitamin D testing, a low dose of Vitamin D is started on a daily basis. Then all the lifestyle modifications for pitt reduction are done, along with psychological counselling from day one, as the brain is sharp in pitt state. Response to the therapy is excellent.
Getting a good night sleep for at least 6 to 8 hours is essential for repairing the body to bring it back to normal. Many systems improve like – digestion, excretion, immunity, hormone production, slowing of ageing process, reduction in inflammation, fast healing and good emotional balance.
Keeping your feet warm 15 minutes before sleep; putting on soothing music, mala-jap and naam-smaran and pitch-dark, cool and comfortable place to sleep, are the time tested rituals to solve the sleep issues.
Having over-fermented food for early and light dinner; warm milk with ghee, saffron, and nutmeg, just before sleep, are the pearls of ancient Indian knowledge.
For dire emergencies, medicines from Allopathy are very useful but if given for a long time, the body adopts to this new system and then we cannot sleep without taking the medicine and it becomes a lifetime process. The medicines alter the physiology of body and then it becomes extremely difficult to come back to normal physiology.
A 40 years lady was taking sleeping pills for the last 5 years, it took me one and half years to give her a sleep without pills.
A 12 years school going boy came with the history of inability to sleep for many days. Plane water enema and a stoss dose of vitamin D gave him a sound sleep, the same night.
Medicines have their own side effects, so they are best kept for emergencies. For the long run, we need a natural system which brings back body physiology to normal and we get a natural sleep as everybody does.
A video on research done on association of vitamin D and sleep will soon follow.
