Millions of Americans of all ages are affected by sleep problems, many with severe, chronic sleep deprivation. A round-the-clock activity-driven society has meant that many individuals habitually defer sleep to get other things done. “I’ll catch up later,” is, however, easier said than done. Recent research indicates that pervasive sleep deprivation can lead to more serious health problems than just a dull clouded feeling the next morning – including obesity, high blood pressure and diminished resistance to infections. While there is substantial awareness about the need for proper nutrition and exercise, many people tend to shrug off lack of sleep as not being of much consequence, and, as a result, go through life with both mind and body always performing at less than optimal levels.

Try this delicious vata balancing recipe. This goes well with Cucumber Raita and a vegetable side dish.

Ingredients:

• 6 large or 8 small red potatoes
• 2 large carrots (2 cups grated)
• 1 ˝ tablespoons sunflower oil
• 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 1 to 1 ˝ teaspoons sea salt (to taste, the lesser amount for kapha)
• 2/3 cup green onions, finely chopped
• ˝ cup fresh coriander leaves, finely chopped (optional)

Put water in a large pot to boil for the potatoes. Wash the potatoes well and leave on their skins. Put them in the water to boil until tender, about ˝ hour. While they are cooking, wash and finely grate the carrots. Wash and finely chop the green onions. Put the oil in a large skillet and add the mustard seeds. When they pop, add the grated carrot and cook just long enough to wilt them slightly. Stir in the curry powder and salt. When the potatoes are done, drain them and let them cool enough to handle them. Mash them well, with a fork or your hands, and stir or mash in the rest of the ingredient, including the uncooked green onion and coriander leaves. Form the mixture into patties and cook on a skillet, browning them 1 to 2 minutes on each side. Serve hot. If you are trying to reduce kapha or if you have high ama (toxicity), use a non-stick pan and no oil. Makes sixteen 4-inch patties.

Aromatherapy uses essential oils made from flowers, plants, trees, and grasses to relay fragrances through the olfactory sense to the brain, in order to bring healing energy to mind and body. Ayurveda teaches that smells are directly related to doshic balance and imbalance, and that certain aromas are heating, cooling, or neutral.

Dr. David Frawley said, "Flowers are a recent part of nature to evolve. They parallel the evolution of mammals and reflect the entrance of the soul into the creation. Many have evolved under human cultivation. Hence, they carry a greater power of the soul within them and aid in its unfoldment."

Fall is the time of Vata (space and air). Vata is light, dry, mobile and cold, and is balanced by oils that are wet, heavy, calming and warming. Essential oils that sooth vata are sweet and spicy aromas such as sandalwood, cinnamon and orange. Tulsi (Holy Basil), rose, and lavender are also beneficial.

Essential oils are blended in Ayurveda according to their properties. A good vata reducing blend would be 2 parts orange, 7 parts cinnamon and 1 parts sandalwood. This blend would have an overall tonifying and calming effect on the nervous system which would thereby calm vata's worrying mind.