If there is anything other than food and a healthy living that sustains us, it is sleep. Sleep is the basic necessity of our lives. It is the battery that keeps our body clock working. Nowadays our lives are fast-paced with competitions to meet and targets to reach where stress takes a toll on our body. A good night s sleep would be enough to feel rejuvenated, you think? Well, you think it right but what if it is the sleep that causes the problem? What if your sleep is imbalanced?

According to Ayurveda, there are 3 different types of sleep imbalance, arising from Vata, pitta and Kapha dosha.
Vata: Sleep becomes imbalanced when your mind stays awake despite you being tired. Your mind is occupied with thoughts and worries which do not let you fall asleep.
Pitta: It is the dosha which is one of the most common disorder found in the elderly people where you have a perfect sleep but wake up in the dawn or wee hours and are unable to go back to sleep resulting in the tossing and turning in the bed and ultimately giving up.
Kapha: When you sleep well for a long time but yet you wake up feeling tired and fatigued instead of being fresh, is when Kapha dosha occurs.

Ayurvedic tips for a good sleep
There are many people around us who go through at least one of these three imbalances in sleep. Ayurveda has come up with several easy and natural tips to have a good sleep. There 4 great tips among many, following which you will get a quick result.

Oil Massage: Oil is said to soothe our nerves if massaged properly. Warm oil works best on the scalp and on the soles of our feet. Any oil, from jojoba to jasmine, almond to coconut with a few drops of lavender oil could be used for massage. Applying this daily will soothe one's nerves and induce a good sleep.
Warm milk: Drinking a glassful of warm milk 10 minutes before going to sleep will help in having an uninterrupted sleep.
Routine bedtime: Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise . Note the use of the word  healthy  in this nursery rhyme. We have been taught this since our childhood days, only if we could follow. Sleeping on time plays an important role here because inadequate sleep due to long working hours often cause sleeping disorders.
Morning Exercise: After waking up early in the morning, Ayurveda suggests exercising as early morning exercise will help you fall asleep at night easily. You must not indulge in an exercise later in the day because it would make you more active instead of inducing sleep.
Leading a healthy lifestyle is what we all look forward to and that is why sleeping on time and doing the right things like following these simple tips from Ayurveda will lead us to a healthier living.

4 Great Ayurvedic Tips That Promote Good Sleep!

Sleep is a vital component of the human construct. This is the time when the body restores  itself. While too little sleep can be dangerous for the body, new research has shown that too much sleep has its pitfalls too. Oversleeping is an indication of certain health risk. It also indicates few medical conditions that a person might have. Here is more on the risks of oversleeping:

Difficult to get pregnant: A study conducted by a Korean research team in the year 2013 found that out of a sample size of 650 women who were undergoing in-vitro fertilization, the ones who got pregnant had 7-8 hours of daily sleep. The study also suggested that sleep can affect menstrual cycles, circadian rhythms, and hormone secretion. While research is yet to find out a direct co-relation between sleep and infertility, a number of researchers are trying to break the jinx.
Risk of diabetes: A Quebec study conducted in 2013 clearly showed that a person who sleeps for more than eight hours in a day is more risk prone to suffer from type 2 diabetes and reduced glucose tolerance. On a six-period time frame, people who sleep for more than 7-8 hours, are more likely to suffer from diabetes related complication, even if they keep body mass under control.
Mental health and depression: Depression is a major symptom of oversleeping. While people with depression tend to suffer from insomnia, an estimated 15 percent patients suffering from depression tend to oversleep. Compared to regular sleepers, the ones who oversleep tend to suffer from anxiety symptoms and persistent depression. A recent study has revealed that sleeping too much can increase the chances of genetic heritability. Another study revealed that people who sleep for more than 10 hours can result in mental illness. Another research conducted at the John Hopkins Medical School revealed that an irregularity of the body s sleeping clock can lead to temporary mental depression.
Increased inflammation: Oversleeping can increase the risk of certain diseases such as the Alzheimer s disease, cardiovascular disease etc. A study conducted by a group of researchers revealed that women who slept for more than eight hours are likely to suffer from 44 percent higher C-reactive protein. Another study reported that C-reactive increased by more than 8 percent for every hour of additional sleep an individual takes.
More pain: While sleep and rest are often associated with healing, oversleeping can, at times, exacerbate symptoms. Spending too much time in bed can aggravate back and shoulder pain. Oversleeping is also associated with a higher frequency of headaches. Oversleeping often triggers one-sided migraine and increases the level of stress in a person.

Sleeping More Than 8 Hours - How It Can Put Your Health At Risk?

Sleep apnea is a sleeping disorder in which you experience frequent breathing pauses while sleeping. In case of some, the pauses may last for just a few seconds, while for others, it may continue for a few minutes. Sleep apnea is generally chronic in nature. There are three types of sleep apnea, namely Central, Obstructive and Complex sleep apnea. Central sleep apnea occurs if the brain fails to transmit signals to the muscles responsible for your breathing functions. Obstructive sleep apnea occurs due to relaxation of your throat muscles. Complex sleep apnea refers to a combined condition of both central and obstructive sleep apnea.

Some of the possible causes of sleep apnea are as follows: 
1. Blockage of airway during sleep can cause sleep apnea
2. Putting on weight can cause obstructive sleep apnea
3. In some cases, large tonsil tissues can lead to obstructive sleep apnea in small children
4. Intake of certain medicines like Oxycontin or MS Contin can cause central sleep apnea
5. Male people are more prone to sleep apnea
6. Smoking is also a potent trigger for sleep apnea
7. At times, high blood pressure can induce sleep apnea
8. Suffering from sinus can also lead to sleep apnea
9. Large neck size (more than 16 inches) may cause sleep apnea
In case of some people, sleep apnea might be an inherited condition.

The most common symptoms of sleep apnea are mentioned below:
a. Sometimes, obstructive sleep apnea is accompanied by choking or snorting sounds.
b. You may encounter breathing trouble while sleeping, leading to a disruption of your sleep.
c. Maximum times, sleep apnea is accompanied by snoring.
d. Sleep apnea leads to a dry mouth, which can disturb your sleep.
e. You may feel dizzy during daytime.

Causes and Symptoms of Sleep Apnea

What is the best time to sleep?
This is one of those questions which bother many and sundry. Considering the different sleep schedules which different people might develop as a result of their work or other reasons, the correct answer is roughly around 10 p. M. It is good to follow a proper sleeping schedule so that you go to bed and wake up at the same time almost every single day. The body's internal clock or the circadian rhythm is linked to the cycle of the sun. Technically, it is better to wake up with the sun as it has a number of benefits for the human body.

The quality of sleep is known to be influenced by how late you retire for the night. The quality of rem (rapid eye movement) sleep tends to decrease if you go to sleep late. There is another type of sleep which is known as non rem sleep; this is a deeper state of sleep. The non rem sleep helps in revitalizing the body and leaves you energized once you wake up. Sleeping late at night is linked to higher levels of rem sleep, which might not be very beneficial for your physical or mental health.

If you go to bed late at night, you will experience more of the lighter rem sleep. This may lead to fatigue and restlessness the following day. It is also been shown that going to bed late and sleeping less than the usual eight hours is linked with problems in blood sugar levels and decline in cognitive function. It also raises your risks of high blood pressure.

Exposure to radiation from your cellphones or the glare from your computer screen before going to sleep may also affect the quantity and quality of your sleep. Make sure you eat a light dinner consisting of salads. Eating a heavy dinner before going to bed may cause digestive problems, thus impairing your sleep. Also make sure to exercise on a regular basis as it releases various hormones in the body that help in improving your overall wellbeing.

Just What Is the Best Time to Go to Sleep?

So your folks have always been advising, Early to bed, early to rise, makes a person healthy, wealthy and wise? But, it is so not you. You realise that waking up early has its perks but cannot bring yourself to do it? You must have categorised yourself as nocturnal and left things at that.

Fact is, getting up early morning not only makes you more productive it also makes you less stressful. It is better to start your day on a calm note than rushing to get ready and leave for work. Give your body time to get out of sleep before you begin your daily grind. 

1) Sleep is first: Deadline is an excuse. Make it a point to sleep at an assigned hour and waking up at a particular time.
2) Break the cycle: You sleep late, you wake up late and the cycle continues. Break this by forcing yourself to sleep at a particular time. Use simple ways such as having a warm glass of milk before bed, exercising, etc to make yourself fall asleep.
3) Be patient: It is ok to fail. The trick is to keep trying. Your body is used to a certain sleeping pattern and it will take a few days before it can accept a new one.
4) Start small: Take baby steps. On the first day, sleep 15 minutes earlier than your regular time and wake up 15 minutes earlier. Increment it till you reach your goal time. 

Struggling to become a morning person?   Here are 4 tips to ditch your  Snooze  button.

Sleep-Wake Disorder is a very uncommon syndrome which causes irregular sleeping patterns without any real schedule.

Causes
Persons with brain malfunctioning and those who do not have a regular routine during the day experience such disorders. People with changing work shifts often experience such disorder. Also, travellers who often move from one country to another with different time zones may also have these symptoms.
There's no cure for this disorder, but treatments, including hormones, medicine, and light therapy, can help get you closer to a normal sleeping pattern.

Symptoms

Symptoms may include any of the following:

Sleeping or napping more than usual during the day
Trouble falling asleep and staying asleep at night
Waking up often during the night
Exams and Tests
A person must have at least three abnormal sleep-wake episodes during a 24-hour period to be diagnosed with this problem. The time between each such episode varies from 1 to 4 hours. The doctor may advise you to go ahead with a device called actigraph in case the diagnosis is unclear. The device looks like a wristwatch, and it can tell when a person is sleeping or awake.

Treatment
Though there is no simple cure for irregular sleep-wake syndrome, however, several therapies and lifestyle changes may help a person return to a normal sleep-wake cycle. These include:

A regular daytime schedule of activities and mealtimes need to be fixed.
You should not stay in bed during the day for long.
Use bright light therapy in the morning like those from computer screens and television. The period of exposure should also be increased. Exposure to blue light should be minimized at night.
You should take melatonin at bedtime. This is a hormone that controls the sleep-wake cycle. By taking doses at the right times, you might be able to shift your body clock earlier or later.
Make sure to make the room dark, quiet, and as comfortable as possible at night.
Also one should try to minimize the amount of noise in the sleep environment.
Add more structure to the patient s day by scheduling social interaction, exercise, and other activities.
Your doctor may prescribe drug to control the timing of the sleep-wake cycle.
Finally, you should take proper care of yourself. Make positive changes in your lifestyle. You can even ask your boss to make your work schedule a bit flexible.

The ultimate goal of these lifestyle changes is to help the person sleep longer at night and make him feel active and awake during the day. Most people have sleep disturbances on occasion. But you need to see your doctor if such sleep disorders occur regularly.


Sleep Wake Disorder - Irregular Sleeping Patterns

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