Sleep is as essential to survival as food and water. Your body needs long periods of sleep to repair tissues and organs, produce and release hormones, grow muscle and for clear skin.

But let’s be honest…quality sleep can be hard to come by for a lot of women.

While insomnia can be due to a number of things like hormonal imbalance, stress or exposure to blue light, there are some dietary habits you can try out to help you drift off easier like this ayurvedic sleep tonic.

Before we talk about how this tonic can aid sleep, let’s delve into a little overview of Ayurveda.

Ayurveda 101

Over in The Clear Skin Solution, I recommend a number of ayurvedic practices for my clients, including: meditation, breathing practices, tongue scraping, oil pulling, morning hydration and ensuring proper bowel movements.

Ayurveda is a type of holistic medicine that originated in India more than five thousand years ago. It’s considered the oldest healing system in the world and means the “science of life.” 

Ayurveda focuses on prevention and promoting balance between your body, mind and spirit. In order to achieve this balance, you must harmonize the three doshas.

What’s a dosha? According to ayurvedic medicine, each of us has a unique constitution that consists of differing proportions of the three constitutional “types” or “doshas” known as vata, pitta, and kapha. Each dosha represents how certain people should eat, exercise, sleep, and what their emotional strengths and weaknesses could be.

Let’s briefly break down the doshas:

Vata

The elements that define the vata dosha are air and space. This dosha controls breathing, blinking, heart function and muscle contraction. When this constitution is in balance, vata is linked to creativity and flexibility. If it’s not in balance, vata can lead to anxiety and fear.

Eat: sweet fruits, cooked vegetables, cooked grains, nuts and mild/warming spices 

Avoid: dry fruits, dry grains (rice cakes), raw vegetables, cabbage family, beans

Pitta

The elements associated with pitta are fire and water. It’s thought to govern digestion, absorption, metabolism and body temperature. If it’s in balance, pitta leads to intelligence and understanding. But an imbalance in pitta promotes anger, hatred and jealousy.

Eat: sweet fruits, bitter vegetables (greens), turmeric and beans

Avoid: sour fruits, pungent vegetables (onions), nuts, hot spices and oils

Kapha

The kapha dosha is linked to the elements of earth and water. This dosha maintains the immune system and provides the body with water by moisturizing the skin and lubricating joints. In balance, kapha is shown as love, calmness and forgiveness. An imbalance, though, leads to attachment, envy and greed.

Eat: dry and astringent fruits (ex. apples or raisins), raw vegetables, hot spices and spicy herbal teas (ex. ginger)

Avoid: sweet fruits, nuts, dairy and oils

Knowing which constitutional type you are can help guide your decisions on food and lifestyle. Take the quiz here to find out.

Traditional Ayurvedic Sleep Tonic

As you can see, ayurvedic medicine involves a lot of holistic practices that can help with a ton of physical conditions, including sleep.

If you need some help in the sleep department, this traditional ayurvedic sleep tonic may be what you need. The classic combination of ashwagandha root, milk and honey taken before bed can promote that good night’s rest you’re desperate for. 

Here’s the reason why: ashwagandha root.

Ashwagandha is considered an adaptogen, meaning it helps the body adapt to daily stressors better and balances hormones. And balanced hormones = restful sleep and clear skin.

Sleep-Acne Connection

“Katie…How do hormones, sleep and my skin relate?”

Great question!

When you sleep, cortisol (your stress hormone) lowers. But if you’re sleep-deprived, cortisol increases and causes stress on the body. 

Elevated cortisol levels means more inflammation and more sebum production. An excess in sebum can result in clogged pores and then additional breakouts. A lack of sleep may also decrease your moisture levels, which lend to redness, dryness and acne.

The ashwagandha in this tonic may help you get better sleep by lowering stress, which in turn, promotes clear skin.

So enjoy this traditional ayurvedic sleep tonic an hour before bed and you’ll be catching Zzz’s in no time.