Apnea: Spiritual Meaning, Causes & More!
Sleep apnea is a serious sleep disorder that happens when a person stops breathing while sleeping.
Sleep apnea can lead to a number of health problems if it is not treated, such as high blood pressure, stroke, heart failure, diabetes, and heart attacks. If it isn’t treated, it can also lead to problems and accidents at work as well as poor school performance in children and teens.
About 25% of men and almost 10% of women have sleep apnea. Sleep apnea can happen to people of all ages, even babies and kids, but it is most common in people over 50 and those who are overweight.
Symptoms of Apnea
- Snoring
- Feeling tired or sleepy during the day.
- Restlessness while sleeping and waking up often at night.
- When you wake up suddenly, you feel like choking or gasping for air.
- You might wake up with a dry mouth or a sore throat.
- Cognitive problems include the inability to focus, forgetting things, or being irritable.
- Changes in mood (depression or anxiety).
- Night sweats
- Urinating a lot at night.
- Problems with sexual function
- Headaches
Physical Causes of Apnea
Obstructive sleep apnea happens when the airway gets blocked. This usually happens when the soft tissue in the back of the throat falls down while sleeping. Central sleep apnea is usually seen in people who have problems with their central nervous system, like after a stroke or with neuromuscular diseases. It also happens often in people who have heart failure or other types of heart, kidney, or lung disease.
If your apnea isn’t caused by any medical problems, it could be an emotional or spiritual problem.
Spiritual Reason For Apnea
If you have apnea while you’re sleeping, you need to change the way you think and learn to calm down. Do you feel like you’re not alive when you’re resting or not doing anything? If the answer is yes, then learn to differentiate between work and play. It’s easy to feel like you need to do more just to keep up in a world that sometimes seems faster, busier, and more chaotic than ever. However, you need to slow down and become more mindful and present in everyday life. Take out moments for yourself without feeling guilty.
If your apnea happens at work, you might want to ask the same question about your job.
Your Spiritual Blocks for Apnea
Look at our questionnaire list to find your personal spiritual block that keeps you from meeting the needs of your BEING.
Click here to view our questionnaire list.
By answering these questions, you can find the real cause of your physical problem more easily and accurately.
Ayurvedic Reason And Remedy
From an Ayurvedic point of view, sleep apnea happens when Tarpaka Kapha blocks prana Vata.
So the main goal of treatment is to get rid of too much Kapha.
- The first treatment is to take 1/4 teaspoon Pippali with 1 teaspoon honey and 1 teaspoon ghee on an empty stomach in the morning and evening.
- Warm 5 drops of Brahmi ghee or plain ghee and put one drop in each nostril in the morning and before bed.
- Dry, hot air can sometimes make the nose feel like it’s going to close, which can lead to sleep apnea. It would be best to have a warm, humid environment. Use a hot water humidifier if you can.
- With the help of an Ayurvedic doctor, a person with sleep apnea could benefit from panchakarma purification therapy. The procedure includes things like abhyanga (oil massage), virechana (purging therapy), and nasya (giving medicines through the nose). This method is both cleansing and refreshing.