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=== Concept of Nidra (sleep) ===
=== Concept of Nidra (sleep) ===
=== Sleep physiology ===
==== Physiological mechanism of sleep ====
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An individual falls asleep when his mind including the sensory and motor organs get exhausted, and they dissociate themselves from their objects. [35]
An individual falls asleep when his mind including the sensory and motor organs get exhausted, and they dissociate themselves from their objects. [35]
=== Benefits of sleep ===
==== Benefits of sleep ====
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In human beings, happiness and misery, nourishment and emaciation, strength and weakness, fertility and infertility, knowledge and ignorance, and life and death depend upon proper (and improper sleep). Untimely, excessive sleep and sleep deprivation take away both happiness and longevity from a person. Similarly, proper sleep brings about happiness and longevity in human beings just as real knowledge brings about spiritual power in yogis [36-38]
In human beings, happiness and misery, nourishment and emaciation, strength and weakness, fertility and infertility, knowledge and ignorance, and life and death depend upon proper (and improper sleep). Untimely, excessive sleep and sleep deprivation take away both happiness and longevity from a person. Similarly, proper sleep brings about happiness and longevity in human beings just as real knowledge brings about spiritual power in yogis [36-38]
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=== Indications of daytime sleep ===
==== Indications of daytime sleep ====
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Sleeping during the day is advocated for those who are exhausted on account of singing, reading, alcoholic drinking, sexual intercourse, elimination therapy, carrying heavy weight, walking long distances, suffering from phthisis, wasting, thirst, diarrhea, colic pain, dyspnea, hiccup, insanity, or are too old, too young, weak and emaciated. It is also recommended for those who are injured by fall and assault or exhausted by travel-related stress, vigil, anger, grief, and fear. By this, equilibrium of ''dhatus'' and strength is maintained, and ''kapha'' nourishes the body parts and ensures longevity. In the summer season, nights become shorter, and ''vata'' gets provoked in the body in ''adanakala'' (seasons of low body strength, such as summer and rains) due to absorption of fluid. Therefore, during this period daytime sleeping is advocated for all [39-43]
Sleeping during the day is advocated for those who are exhausted on account of singing, reading, alcoholic drinking, sexual intercourse, elimination therapy, carrying heavy weight, walking long distances, suffering from phthisis, wasting, thirst, diarrhea, colic pain, dyspnea, hiccup, insanity, or are too old, too young, weak and emaciated. It is also recommended for those who are injured by fall and assault or exhausted by travel-related stress, vigil, anger, grief, and fear. By this, equilibrium of ''dhatus'' and strength is maintained, and ''kapha'' nourishes the body parts and ensures longevity. In the summer season, nights become shorter, and ''vata'' gets provoked in the body in ''adanakala'' (seasons of low body strength, such as summer and rains) due to absorption of fluid. Therefore, during this period daytime sleeping is advocated for all [39-43]
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=== Consequences of improper daytime sleep ===
==== Consequences of improper daytime sleep ====
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Sleeping during daytime is contraindicated in the seasons other than summer because it causes vitiation of ''kapha'' and ''pitta''. Persons having excessive fat, those who are addicted to fatty substances, having plenty of ''kapha'', suffering from vitiated ''kapha'' related disorders, and those afflicted by latent poisons should never sleep during daytime. If one violated the given advice of sleeping during the day, he would subject himself to ''halimaka'' (advance stage of jaundice), headache, cold, heaviness of body parts, malaise, loss of digestive power, ''hridyopalepa'' (a feeling as if phlegm adhered to the heart), edema, anorexia, nausea, rhinitis, hemicranias, urticarial patches, pustules, boils, itching, drowsiness, coughing, disorders of the throat, impairment of memory and intelligence, obstruction of the body channels, fever, incapability of sensory and motor systems and enhancement of the toxic effects of poisons. So, one should keep in view the merits and demerits of sleep in various seasons and situations to stay happy and live long [44-49]
Sleeping during daytime is contraindicated in the seasons other than summer because it causes vitiation of ''kapha'' and ''pitta''. Persons having excessive fat, those who are addicted to fatty substances, having plenty of ''kapha'', suffering from vitiated ''kapha'' related disorders, and those afflicted by latent poisons should never sleep during daytime. If one violated the given advice of sleeping during the day, he would subject himself to ''halimaka'' (advance stage of jaundice), headache, cold, heaviness of body parts, malaise, loss of digestive power, ''hridyopalepa'' (a feeling as if phlegm adhered to the heart), edema, anorexia, nausea, rhinitis, hemicranias, urticarial patches, pustules, boils, itching, drowsiness, coughing, disorders of the throat, impairment of memory and intelligence, obstruction of the body channels, fever, incapability of sensory and motor systems and enhancement of the toxic effects of poisons. So, one should keep in view the merits and demerits of sleep in various seasons and situations to stay happy and live long [44-49]
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=== Qualities of day and night sleep ===
==== Qualities of day and night sleep ====
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Insomnia or staying up late at night causes roughness in the body and sleeping during the day causes ''snigdhata'' (unctuousness). However, napping in sitting posture does not cause either roughness nor unctuousness [50]
Insomnia or staying up late at night causes roughness in the body and sleeping during the day causes ''snigdhata'' (unctuousness). However, napping in sitting posture does not cause either roughness nor unctuousness [50]
=== The importance of diet and sleep among the obese and the (excessively) lean ===
==== The importance of diet and sleep among the obese and the (excessively) lean ====
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As wholesome diet is essential for the maintenance of the body, sleep is essential for happiness. Therefore, obesity and leanness are specifically caused by improper sleep and diet. [51]
As wholesome diet is essential for the maintenance of the body, sleep is essential for happiness. Therefore, obesity and leanness are specifically caused by improper sleep and diet. [51]
=== Sleep-promoting measures ===
==== Sleep-promoting measures ====
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If for some reason one suffers from sleeplessness, he can be cured by applying measures such as- body massages, unction, bath, (intake of) soup made up of meat of domestic, marshy and/or aquatic animals, ''shali'' rice with curd, milk, fat, wine, mental pleasure, pleasant smell and sound, application of soothing ointment to eyes, head and face, comfortable bed and home, and getting habituated to sleeping at a particular time. [52-54]
If for some reason one suffers from sleeplessness, he can be cured by applying measures such as- body massages, unction, bath, (intake of) soup made up of meat of domestic, marshy and/or aquatic animals, ''shali'' rice with curd, milk, fat, wine, mental pleasure, pleasant smell and sound, application of soothing ointment to eyes, head and face, comfortable bed and home, and getting habituated to sleeping at a particular time. [52-54]
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=== Causes of sleeplessness ===
==== Causes of insomnia ====
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Elimination of ''doshas'' from the body and the head through purgation and emesis, predominance of ''sattva'' and suppression of ''tamas'', emotions such as fear, anxiety, and anger, habits and activities such as smoking, physical exercise, bloodletting, fasting, and environmental settings such as uncomfortable bed go a long way in overcoming excessive sleepiness/hypersomnolence.
Elimination of ''doshas'' from the body and the head through purgation and emesis, predominance of ''sattva'' and suppression of ''tamas'', emotions such as fear, anxiety, and anger, habits and activities such as smoking, physical exercise, bloodletting, fasting, and environmental settings such as uncomfortable bed go a long way in overcoming excessive sleepiness/hypersomnolence.
The above-mentioned factors, along with overwork, old age, ''vatika'' diseases, ''vatika'' constitution and aggravation of ''vata'' itself, are known to cause sleeplessness even in a normal individual. Some are insomniac even by nature [55-57]
The above-mentioned factors, along with overwork, old age, ''vatika'' diseases, ''vatika'' constitution and aggravation of ''vata'' itself, are known to cause sleeplessness even in a normal individual. Some are insomniac even by nature. [55-57]
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=== Origins and types of sleep ===
==== Origins and types of sleep ====
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