Ayurvedic Sleep

excerpt from Improving Sleep with Ayurveda A good night's sleep: nature's soft nurse, Jay L. Glaser, MD

Charaka Samhita, the oldest of the Sanskrit medical treatises of Ayurveda, the health science of the Vedic civilization, states,

"A man sleeps when, with an exhausted mind, his sensory faculties and organs of action detach from their objects."

The Vedic text states further,

"Sleep brought on by the nature of the night itself is true sleep, called reparative sleep by the wise. Sleep caused by tamas [i.e. the quality of inertia in the mind, brought on by dulling foods, drink, medications and activities] is the root of misconduct and should be treated as a disease."