READING, Pa. — Rev. Sudha Allitt, spoke to students on October 8 about the importance of sleep from a holistic perspective. Allitt is a chaplain at Albright College and an ayurvedic health counselor and has a doctorate in anthropology with a focus in biological archaeology.
“To perceive something as holistic means that we are perceiving it as a whole entity,” Allitt explained in her speech on the philosophy of holism. Holism can also be applied to medical practices. Holistic practitioners look at the whole body to determine the causes of diseases and other medical conditions.
Lack of sleep causes fatigue, and fatigue causes things like stress, irritability, anger, lack of focus and clarity, and sharpness in tone, explained Allitt. It can also cause one to make rash decisions. “Sleep is really important to the overall holistic sense of yourself,” she explained. “You need to be able to get an appropriate amount of sleep – not too much, not too little – so that everything else in the body is supported.”
The Ayurvedic Institute says that ayurveda is considered the oldest healing science. It originated in India more than 5,000 years ago and is often called the “Mother of All Healing.”
The institute’s website explains that the practice places “emphasis on prevention and encourages the maintenance of health through close attention to balance in one’s life, right thinking, diet, lifestyle and the use of herbs.” It also says that being familiar with ayurveda allows one to “understand how to create this balance of body, mind and consciousness according to one’s own individual constitution and how to make lifestyle changes to bring about and maintain this balance.”
“In ayurveda, there are certain functions that the system goes through at certain times of the day,” says Allitt. She explained that one of those functions is the cleansing of blood in the body. This occurs between the hours of 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., which is when the liver goes into high drive and moves the blood through the body to detoxify it, said Allitt.
“This process will not happen at any other time during the day,” stressed Allitt. She says that one absolutely “has to be asleep in order for it to occur. If one is awake, the process will not occur.”
Allitt asked the students how long they thought they could stay up all night before their bodies became overrun by toxins. After a chorus of “we’ll find out” from the students, she explained that everybody is different and has various other habits. Some may be able to tolerate the lack of sleep for a couple years, others less than a year, and some not at all.
“Initially one’s body can compensate for not sleeping during those hours, especially college students since they’re young and healthy,” said Allitt. “Everybody has different compensatory abilities, but the point is that you should be sleeping between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. It is very important.”
The Ayurvedic Institute also explains that little stress and a balanced flow of energy will allow the body’s natural defense system to be stronger in defending against disease.
Deborah Afolabi 