5 Ayurvedic Shifts to Help You Switch Off
You’ve had a long day. There’s been so much going on, and you’ve been waiting for that moment when everything is done, when you can finally sit down and relax.
But… you still can’t.
You’re exhausted, but your body just won’t switch off.
You can’t sleep. You can’t unwind.
And you start wondering: Why is this so hard?
That’s what we’re going to explore today:
Why your nervous system can stay stuck in stress mode.
How Ayurveda views this wired-but-tired feeling.
And what you can do — practically and gently — to find your way back to rest.
🎧Listen now: “5 Ayurvedic Shifts to Help You Switch Off”
A Physiological Shift — Not Just a Mindset
It’s so important to understand that relaxation is not a mindset.
It’s actually a physiological shift.
We work with two branches of the nervous system:
The sympathetic (that gets us going, manages stress)
And the parasympathetic (that allows us to relax and digest)
They naturally balance each other.
But sometimes, they don’t catch up with where we are now.
You’ve probably been in that situation where your day has been long and high-strung, and even though it’s over, your body hasn’t realised it yet.
That’s when we’re stuck in sympathetic mode, or in English, “fight or flight response”
And to say, I don’t think the sympathetic system deserves a bad reputation. There’s also a form of helpful stress — called eustress — that motivates us, gets us moving, and helps us meet challenges. The problem is when stress becomes chronic or constant.
And our system? It doesn’t distinguish between an actual emergency and a stressful to-do list. So it keeps us wired, and we don’t know how to switch out.
What It Looks Like When You're Stuck in Stress Mode
Here are some signs:
Thoughts keep coming. You’re lying down, watching something… but still feel you should be doing something.
Maybe you get up again. Maybe your shoulders are still tense.
You feel tired but also wired. Not able to rest or sleep.
Your digestion might be unsettled, even if you’re eating well.
Hormonal shifts may be showing up, around your cycle, perimenopause or menopause.
So stress not “just in your head.” It’s your whole body, your whole system.
How Does Ayurveda See Stress?
Let’s take a look at the Ayurvedic view now.
One of the first things to know is: Ayurveda never sees anything as an isolated event.
We don’t just say, “I need to relax tonight” or “Tomorrow I’ll start fresh.”
Ayurveda sees the whole day as preparation for the next step.
The morning prepares the day. The day sets you up for the evening. The evening prepares you for the night and sleep. And that then leads into the next day.
So, if your day was high-paced and stressful, it will continue into the evening unless you’ve built in little spaces to drop out of that stress.
The nervous system doesn’t shift unless you give it a reason to.
Which means relaxation starts long before you sit on the sofa. It starts with how we live the whole day.
The Gunas: How Ayurveda Describes Mental Restlessness
The gunas are the mental qualities.
According to Ayurveda, our mind is made of air and ether. It’s very light, very fast, and without boundaries.
That’s why it can feel scattered, lots in space, so to speak. And that’s why we need structure.
Three universal qualities influence the mind:
Sattva – calm, clarity, peace, balance
Rajas – activity, movement, stimulation
Tamas – heaviness, inertia, dullness
Each one has a role.
Sattva is and brings everything into balance.
Rajas is the natural quality of the day and helps us get things done, but too much can make us feel impatient, judgmental and critical.
Tamas helps us sleep. It is dominant at night. But during the day, it makes us feel inert and stuck.
But when they get too dominant — or we get stuck in them — that’s where the above imbalances show up.
🌿 Sattva is the umbrella we aim for.
When sattva is active, the other gunas just do their job.
We can influence these gunas through food, rhythm, and lifestyle. We’ll come back to that shortly.
Although the gunas are independent qualities in their own right, you might notice a certain similarity with the next principle, the doshas.
The Doshas Under Stress — And How to Unwind
Let’s look at how Vata, Pitta, and Kapha respond to stress differently. And that means we will unwind or struggle to unwind in our own unique way.
You might already know your own constitution, or maybe you've noticed how different people in your family react to stress. Let’s go through them.
🌬️ Vata – Air and Ether
Vata gets overstimulated easily. There's a sense of jumpiness, a nervous energy.
Thoughts come quickly and in all directions. There’s worry, restlessness, and a general feeling of being unsettled. Sleep becomes light or broken.
🔥 Pitta – Fire and Water
Pitta is more driven. It wants to get things done.
The stress response here is intensity — irritability, impatience, and mental burnout.
Pitta tends to resist rest. And if it goes to bed too late, it often gets that “second wind” after 10 PM and ends up staying up far too long.
🌱 Kapha – Earth and Water
Kapha is naturally more grounded, but under stress, it tends to withdraw.
It might feel emotionally flat or stuck. There’s a heaviness and a tendency to procrastinate.
It’s harder to get going, especially in the morning, and the mental fog can feel very real.
Tools to Balance Each Dosha
You don’t need a complex plan, you just need to know which direction to lean in. Ayurveda always says: like increases like, opposites bring balance.
Let’s look at what helps each dosha unwind:
To balance Vata’s worries and restlessness
Abhyanga (oil massage) — with warm sesame oil, in the morning or evening
Journaling or free writing — to get the swirling thoughts onto paper
Early bedtime — even just lying down with something calming to read
Soothing tea or spiced milk
Grounding practices — breathwork, blankets, warm baths
To cool Pitta’s irritability and fed-up
Switch off screens early — to reduce light input through the eyes
Cool the feet with coconut oil
Choose calming, not stimulating content in the evening
Wear breathable fabrics — cotton, linen, or silk
Cooling herbs like Brahmi, rose, and fennel
Get Kapha’s heaviness and slowness
Start the day early — before 6:00 AM if possible
Get moving in the morning — some energising yoga or breathwork
Avoid sleeping in or napping during the day
Stimulate the senses — uplifting music, aromatherapy, light spicy teas
Remember, these aren’t rules. They’re tools. And you don’t have to do all of them.
Just choose the one you experience repeatedly, and try one balancing aspect for a couple of weeks.
So when you think about it, what do you recognise the most in yourself and how you respond to stress?
We have looked at the way we can individually experience stress and help balance it. But there is another, an overarching way, independent of the doshas.
Dinacharya: Daily Routine as Medicine
In Ayurveda, this rhythm of the day is called Dinacharya.
And it’s one of the most powerful — and often overlooked — forms of medicine.
Why?
Because the mind is made of air and space, its natural qualities are vastness, speed, and no structure.
When we add structure, even gently, we bring stability.
Morning sets the tone
Lunchtime is for nourishment and digestion
Evening is for slowing down
Night is for repair and deep rest
Even if your routine isn’t perfect the consistency alone starts to soothe the nervous system.
How Food and Rituals Influence Your Ability to Relax
Let’s circle back to the Gunas and look at them from a different angle, the Food angle. In last week’s episode, we talked about the relationship between food and stress or more precisely, snacking and stress, so you know that food plays an important role.
Ayurveda teaches that food has qualities, and those qualities affect the mind.
Sattvic food: Light, fresh, seasonal, warm, easy to digest. This promotes clarity.
Rajasic food: Spicy, sour, salty, or stimulating. It increases speed and reactivity.
Tamasic food: Heavy, stale, processed. It dulls the mind and body.
So if your goal is relaxation, food matters.
Caffeine, for example, might feel like a treat, but it stimulates the nervous system and dries the tissues. It’s not helping you unwind. Equally unhelpful are highly processed food, because of its tamasic qualities, or spicy food. Eating a spicy curry when you are stressed might taste lovely and filling and nourishing, but it still nourishes the rajasic quality.
Instead, choose:
Warm, home-cooked meals
Whole grains like rice, oats, or wheat
Cooked vegetables
Ghee or sesame oil in moderation
And avoid eating heavy meals late at night — a light dinner by 6 pm is ideal. That gives your body time to digest before sleep.
Evening Wind-Down Rituals
You don’t need a 10-step nighttime routine. Just one or two consistent signals can teach your body:
“The day is done. It’s safe to relax.”
Here are some suggestions:
Journaling, free writing or list-making — to stop the “must remember” thoughts, empties the busy mind and helps you dig deep if you need to work through something.
Gentle Yoga — legs up the wall, twists on the bed, or supported bridge
Alternate nostril breathing — to balance both sides of the brain, ideal after long hours on the computer.
Foot soak in warm water — especially for cold hands and feet through the cooler months.
Rosewater pads on the eyes — a beautiful cooling practice for the eyes and the brain; this is my non-negotiable at bedtime.
Spiced milk — warm dairy or plant milk with cinnamon, cardamom, a pinch of nutmeg, Brahmi, or fennel seeds. Also, this features most evenings in my routine.
These practices, done consistently for two or three weeks, start to retrain the body.
They tell the nervous system: You can let go now.
Final Thoughts: Try One Shift This Week
When you’ve been stuck in go-mode for too long your body needs help finding its way out.
Try One Shift This Week
In this post, we explored 5 Ayurvedic shifts to help you switch off:
Remember, your nervous system needs physical cues, not just positive thinking.
The gunas influence your mental state and respond to rhythm, food, and inputs.
Your dosha shapes how you respond to stress and how you unwind.
Gentle daily routines create structure and stability for your mind.
The food you eat — and the rituals you follow — can guide your system toward rest.
And a consistent evening routine can act like a gentle bridge, helping your body cross from stress into rest.
This might feel like a lot. But remember: You don’t need to do everything simultaneously. Choose one small shift and stay with it for a couple of weeks.
That’s where the transformation begins.
