Restful Sleep

Unlike most sleep experts who advise people with sleeping difficulties to consider a variety of strategies including drugs, Chopra relies on the moderation and balance that is the cornerstone of the ancient Indian Ayurvedic approach to health.  Chopra suggests that, to enjoy restful sleep, we need to understand more about the nature of the mind and the body, the connections between them and the cycles of nature that are related to sleep patterns.

Unlike many sleep specialists, he recommends staying in bed, with one's eyes closed, rather than getting up to read or watch television on those exasperating nights when sleep just doesn't come. He also advocates keeping sleeping logs, gentle daily exercise and discovering and nurturing one's Ayurvedic body type. The latter, understandably exotic to an audience accustomed to Western medicine, is based on three body types-vata, pitta, and kapha-and finding the inner harmony necessary for one's body type. Although not all insomniacs will go along with the Ayurvedic way of thinking, this approach does provide thought-provoking reading.

Author: Deepak Chopra, M.D. Paperback: 136 pages.