Why is it important to sleep early and how can you practice it in your daily lives?

Robert A. Heinlein once said, “Happiness consists of getting enough sleep. Just that, nothing more.”

As an individual who has disciplined the art of going to sleep early, I can vouch that there is no better way to put a pause on a well-spent day than getting a good night sleep. A few years back, the only reason I would go to sleep early was so that I could get up the next day on time. It took me months to change from going to sleep on time out of compulsion to out of my own will.

Now, I no longer have to twist and turn in the night it has become a lifestyle for me. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that I never stay awake late at night, I mean I do enjoy watching movies late at night or having some fun time with my friends but I have developed enough determination over time that I don’t make this occasion all-nighter into a habit.

There are certain habits that I have inculcated in my night-time routine, but before we learn how to practice it in our daily lives, we must know why it is important to sleep early:

• We get better quality of sleep- According to Ayurveda and western science, we receive the best quality of sleep before midnight. It is because of the quality of Non-Rem, which is, deep, dreamless sleep is better earlier in the night. And the more we sleep after midnight, the more Rem, which is, sleep full of dreams we receive, which makes it more difficult for our body to rest and replenish.
• Healthier immune system- We all know that according to Ayurveda, there are three pillars for a healthy body- food(Ahara), healthy sexual drive(Brahmacharya), and proper sleep(Nidra).
  Ayurveda believes that sleep is the time where our body recovers and rejuvenates from all the stress and the damages that are accumulated throughout the day. This is also the time when our body produces Ojas, which is vitality. Ojas acts as a coordinator between our mind, body and soul. It helps our body in coping with the day-to-day strain, which in turns improves our immune system.

  Ayurveda also believes that, If we do not get the adequate amount of sleep, it interferes with our Vata Dosha. This leads to weakening of our tissues, and we become more prone to injuries. While too much sleep interferes with our Kapha dosha, which produces tissues that makes us feel more lethargic and stagnant the next morning.

• Better weight management- It is known that proper sleep helps in preventing excessive weight gain. Experts around the world have claimed that insufficient sleep affects the hormonal level of our body and the ability of our body to manage the level of blood sugar.
  Lack of sleep will also affect the metabolism of our body. We will wake up feeling more tired and thus will resist from hitting the gym or an early morning jog, which in turn will reflect upon our waistline.
• You wake up feeling more happy and positive- Imagine the amount of stress that we feel every day. Now, imagine all of this stress piling up inside of us, and then we start our day carrying the stress of yesterday on our shoulders. How can one expect to wake up feeling happy and positive?
  Now, we have already established how a good night’s sleep helps our body in coping with day-to-day stress. If we go to sleep every night on time, our body is working on healing the damage. This means that we wake up feeling more relaxed and less aggravated, which in turn will be visible in our daily activities.
• You feel more energetic- Let us all just think about the sleeping pattern we have been following. Do we wake up feeling exhausted or energetic? Do we crave to go back to sleep or look forward to a new day? If our answer is the former one, then we all know in our heart that the sleeping pattern we have become accustomed to is not the right one for us.
  According to research, while we are asleep different therapeutic functions are released, such as hormone growth, tissue repair and muscle growth. Good quality sleep provides our body with a chance to restore all the energy that has been consumed throughout the day.
• Better quality skin- When we look in the mirror after we have woken up, we can notice that our skin feels a lot better. It looks more rejuvenated, hydrated and alive. This is because good quality sleep has a huge impact on our skin.

  Poor or inadequate skin, in turn, weakens our skin ability to repair itself at night and also stimulates the ageing process. So, remember that sleep is one of the most vital rituals for healthy and beautiful skin.

• Helps with anxiety and depression- A proper sleep has a lot linked with our mental health. A lot of scientific and medical researches also backs this claim. According to “the Goodbody website”, a research was conducted by the University of Pennsylvania in which it was claimed that, “Subjects who were limited to 4.5 hours of sleep per night for one week, reported feeling more stressed, angry, sad and mentally exhausted”.
  There was also research performed for people who suffer from insomnia, in which it was stated that people who have insomnia have five times more chances of developing depression and twenty times more chances of having a panic disorder.

I know a lot of people who have complained about adapting to the ritual of sleeping early. Because it is not easy, you cannot just be lying on your bed with your eyes closed and expect yourself to go to sleep. But this is when a proper night time routine comes to rescue. There are a lot of healthy habits and different ways that can help you in getting a good night sleep.

Let us have a look at some of these:

• Keep your phone aside- I know that it is not as easy as it is to write. But we all will agree, that scrolling recklessly through social media, consumes a lot of our time. And, sometimes what we see or read can leave a detrimental effect on our minds which in turn will make it impossible for us to get a night of proper sleep.

  To overcome this, we all should inculcate the habit of keeping our phone aside by 8:30 or maximum 9:00.p.m. I know it is not going to be easy at the beginning, we will have the temptation of touching our phone again, just for one last time. But, whenever we’re feeling this way, try to remember why we are doing this and remember it is for our betterment, for our health.
  Remember it requires a lot of power to resist but also remember that we are more powerful than our wants

• Maintain a journal- We all will agree that whenever we are trying to sleep there is this train of imprudent thoughts that travels through our minds making it very difficult for us to focus on sleeping.This is because we go through a lot, there are so many different ranges of thoughts and emotions that we experience, but sometimes in the rush of moving forward, we forget to confront them. We pretend to ignore those feelings and try to move past it. Instead of sitting with them and addressing it.For a night of proper sleep, it is of utmost importance to attend to all of those thoughts and feelings that are rushing through our body. Remember to always keep a diary and a pen by your bed. And every night while you are in your bed, close your eyes and take a deep breath. Then think about all those things that you have encountered throughout the day. All the emotions that you have felt; good or bad, negative or positive. See, which part of the body is being affected by it. Remember to touch all of those dark areas which you are ashamed of and then slowly release it all in the diary. Once we start communicating with ourselves regularly, we will start to feel a lot calmer and in content with ourselves.
• Make it a habit to read- It is said that reading before we go to sleep takes us away from all of our worries. It makes us feel a lot more relaxed and thus helps us in getting a peaceful sleep. According to an article in the “sleep doctor” by Dr Michael Breus, it is recommended to read fiction rather than non-fiction before you go to bed. As fiction takes us to imaginative land and does not require us to use a lot of brains as opposed to non-fiction which emphasizes introspection and a lot of self-reflection. But again, it is a personal choice. He also advises all of us to not read anything that is emotionally unsettling. It is a conscious effort to decide on the choice of a book we want to read, but all of us will agree that we will all want to go to sleep thinking about happy thoughts and not about something that will keep our eyes wide open.
• Engage in light and early dinners- To get proper sleep at night, it is essential to have light and early dinners. Because if we eat too late or something too heavy, our body is focused on digesting the food we have consumed instead of getting proper rest. According to Ayurveda, we should ideally wrap up our dinners by 8.p.m because as the sun starts to go down, the competence of our body to digest the food also reduces. This is why many of us wake up feeling tired or exhausted instead of rejuvenated even after 8 hours of sleep.
• Regular exercising- It has been proved by the experts that exercising at least 4 hours before going to bed or early in the morning makes us feel tired before bed-time which will help you in getting proper sleep.
• Take a warm bath- This is one of the most effective practices amongst most of the youths and adults. Research has shown that people who indulge in a warm bath at least an hour or two before bed-time, experience better quality of sleep at night. It is to be believed that our body temperature starts to decrease in the evening. What happens is that when we have a warm bath in the evening, we are radiating heat out of our body. And, the lower the temperature of our body, the more deeply we sleep. So, it is very much recommended to have a nice warm bath before bed. We can always use some nice soothing candles or really pleasant smelling bath products depending on our choice.
• Taking long deep breaths- This is something I have learned from an Ayurvedic practitioner, Radhika Shetty. There is so much tension that our bodies experience throughout the day. In the night, try to relax by taking a few deep breaths and slowly releasing all of the tension which is affecting any part of our body. This helps us in feeling calmer and eased out. We even feel a lot clearer and aligned with our thoughts before we try and sleep.
• Take a moment out for expressing gratitude- Since my childhood, my mother has always taught me to begin my day with gratitude and end it with gratitude. In the night, just close your eyes and just feel thankful for everything. For your family, for your health, for the people you work with and whatever it is that you have achieved till now. You can, even chant a mantra or say a prayer. This is such a beautiful habit to inculcate in our everyday lives. Once we start to be more thankful, we will experience that we will wake up feeling more happy, positive and grateful.

Last note:
Trust me, none of this is very difficult. And, you don’t straight away have to go to bed by 10.p.m. Remember, it is important to start slow. Start by going to bed 20 minutes earlier than your usual time and then increase it gradually. Eventually, you will notice that sleeping early will become a part of you, and you will no longer have to force yourself for it. But, also remember to be patient and grateful for how far along you have come with your experience.