Inducing Sweet Slumber

As we are well aware, lack of sound sleep can give rise to physical and mental problems. To ensure a good night's rest, you could follow the suggestions given by Jamuna Rangachari in the next few pages

- Jamuna Rangachari

I remember being sleep-deprived during my board exams due to worry. It was my late grandmother who switched off all the lights without listening to my objections about completing my syllabus. She had the wisdom to understand that sleep was equally important for me to fare well in my exams. Scientifically, it is well-known that the repair and rejuvenation of brain cells happen at night when we go through the natural sleep cycle.

My grandmother's advice had a good impact on my well-being and, consequently, my results too. Whenever I neglected this aspect even later in life, it proved to be detrimental to me. So, remembering my grandmother's wisdom, I still switch off the lights at 10 p.m. and go to sleep, ignoring all that is happening around me.

Many causes of insufficient and disturbed sleep can be taken care of by modifying our food habits and lifestyle, with a little help from some techniques that are simple to incorporate into our lives.

Yoga Saraswati Vasudevan, a yoga therapist from Chennai says that yoga, when combined with lifestyle changes, can be of help. She asks people to have a physically active lifestyle in tandem with slowing down their activities towards the evening. A relaxing evening practice with seated and lying postures with a focus on long exhalations during asanas and pranayama will help the body and mind to relax.

As most of us have a sedentary lifestyle, Saraswati asks us to start the day with a rejuvenating morning practice. Dynamic asana sequences with conscious breath regulation, keeping inhalations equal to exhalations, with a few seconds of breath retention after inhalations in postures, clear out tamasic energy.