Lifestyle and Restoration
Bed before 10pm
It’s not about how many hours you sleep, it’s about when you sleep.
The crucial time to be asleep at night, according to Ayurveda, is between 10pm-2am.
The principle of go to sleep with the sun, wake up with the sun, and eat in alignment with the sun, has been demonstrated in Ayurveda for many years.
Plants, animals and humans adapt their biological rhythm so that it is synchronised with the earth’s revolutions. The circadian rhythms of nature anticipates and adapts our physiology to the different phases of the day. Our biological clock, which is influenced by light and dark cycles, helps to regulate sleep patterns, digestion, hormone release, blood pressure, and body temperature.[1]
Let’s take a look at what goes on at night when we are asleep (or should be asleep).
Most of us understand sleep is important and that it is a pillar of health, but perhaps are unsure of how to attain the most restorative sleep.
“You start treating your body right and your immune system is better.”
Aaron Bruno
What happens between 10pm-2am at night
Around 10pm-2am is considered the fire or “pitta” time in Ayurveda. The fire element governs metabolic transformations.
This is the time of the night where:
- The liver detoxifies and regenerates.
- The digestive system regulates and escorts toxins to the bowels to be eliminated the following morning.
- Your body absorbs the micro-nutrients from food.
- Melatonin is secreted at maximum quantities.
- Melatonin sweeps oxidative stress (that ages us) out through cerebrospinal fluid, down into the circulatory system, for the liver and kidneys to process and eliminate out of the body.[2]
The processes that occur primarily between 10pm-2am at night allows the immune system to restore itself.
Catch is, you should be asleep at this time!
References:
1. https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2017/press-release/
2. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12640-012-9337-4