A STUDY OF DOSHA DOMINANCE DURING SLEEP – A REVIEW

Abstract

Aim: To study the Dosha dominance in different stages of sleep. Background: According to Ayurveda night has 3 periods of Dosha dominances kapha, pitta and vata in sequence. Physiologically sleep is divided into 2 stages - Non rapid eyeball movement (NREM) & Rapid eyeball movement (REM). Depth of sleep is more in the first part of sleep which is of NREM type & REM type duration increases at end part of sleep at the expense of stage 4 of NREM. In between the NREM & REM types alternate each other. Materials: The Dosha dominance during day, night, age & food is clearly mentioned by Vagbhatacharya. Also other Ayurvedic classics are searched for other relations of Dosha with sleep and their diurnal variations. Result: Period of longer duration & depth, physiological changes & Electroencephalogram (EEG) changes in NREM sleep are coinciding with Kapha Dosha dominance & that of REM sleep coincides with Vata Dosha dominance. Conclusion: The NREM sleep is correlated with Kapha Dosha & REM sleep is correlated with the Vata Dosha physiologically.