How many hours you should sleep?
When days are busier than usual, we treat sleep as the first thing to sacrifice. One more episode, one more scroll, one more email, and suddenly it’s well past midnight.
Sleep like a legend
Everything we know about sleeping well — from Ayurveda to the lab.
Herbal sleep support rooted in Ayurveda, written up honestly — clinical evidence, classical texts, and the nightly rituals that actually work.
- 2 articles
Herb library
One page per herb. No jargon.
Routines
The 10 p.m. protocol, step by step.
- Last caffeine by 2 p.m.Half-life is 5–6 hours; a 5 p.m. chai is still in you at midnight.
- Dinner two hours before bedLighter, earlier, warmer. Digestion and deep sleep compete.
- Lights down, screens away at 9:30Blue light is real; the doom-scroll is worse.
- One capsule, 30–45 min before bedHow Nidravan fits into the protocol, and when to skip it.
Science digest
This month’s studies, in three lines each.
Ashwagandha root extract and sleep quality in adults with insomnia
300 mg twice daily for 10 weeks improved sleep onset latency and quality versus placebo.
Valeriana wallichii and GABA-mediated sedation
Tagara extract shortened time-to-sleep in animal models without next-day impairment.
Evening cortisol and early-morning awakening
Higher 10 p.m. cortisol predicted 3–4 a.m. wake-ups across 1,200 adults.
Ask the doctor
Reader questions, answered weekly.
Send yours on WhatsApp — the most useful ones get a full article.
Is ashwagandha safe to take every night?
For most healthy adults, yes — trials ran 6–10 weeks continuously without dependence. Take a week off every two to three months, and check with your physician if you are on thyroid or BP medication.
Can I take Nidravan with melatonin?
You can, but you usually don’t need to. Nidravan works on the stress side; melatonin on the timing side. Try one at a time for a week before combining.
Why do I wake up at 3 a.m.?
Most often it is an early cortisol rise triggered by evening stress or late caffeine. Ashwagandha and Jatamansi in the evening, and no caffeine after 2 p.m., fixes it for most readers.
Is Tagara habit-forming?
No. Unlike sedatives, Indian valerian supports GABA signalling without receptor down-regulation, so there is no rebound insomnia when you stop.
How long before I notice a difference?
Faster sleep onset in 3–4 nights; deeper, more continuous sleep by night 7–10. Give any herb a full week.
The Sleep Times
One letter a month. Worth waking up for.
A habit worth keeping, one herb explained, one study decoded — and ₹100 off your first bottle of Nidravan.
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