Ayurvedic Medicine
According to Ayurvedic physicians, sleep disorders arise from imbalances in what is known as vata, the aspect of a person’s constitution that is responsible for regulating the body’s circulation and the breath. Vata imbalances are said to create feelings of heightened anxiety, irritability, and fear, making relaxation and rest more difficult, and thus interfering with one’s ability to sleep.
To correct vata imbalances, Ayurvedic physicians apply coconut, mustard, or sesame oil to their patients’ heads and feet, as well as employing restful meditation and visualization techniques. The use of aromatic fragrances from chamomile, jasmine, rose, and/or sandalwood are also used to promote deep relaxation and restful sleep.
As always the fastest most effective way to receive tailored advice to your own situation, you should visit a local licensed practitioner. Find your closest Ayurvedic practitioners
here
Traditional Chinese Medicine
According to TCM theory, most sleep disorders are due to problems or weakness in the kidneys. TCM practitioners focus on improving kidney function and energy levels using acupuncture in combination with Chinese herbs, such as the herbal combination liu wei di huang wan, which can be purchased from any Chinese herbal apothecary.
Another traditional Chinese remedy for treating insomnia is to soak your feet in hot water before you go to bed. Then, after you dry your feet, cover them with cotton socks that are loose fitting, followed by larger wool socks. This helps to increase circulation to your extremities, inducing feelings of relaxation and drowsiness.
An alternative to the above technique is to place a hot water bottle at the foot of your bed, near your feet. For best results, place the bottle on a pillow so that the heat it gives off will strikes the mid-soles of your feet.
To receive bespoke advice based upon your own situation you should visit a local licensed practitioner. Find your closest Traditional Chinese Medicine practitioners
here
Aromatherapy
Essential oils for insomnia:
- Bergamot
- Chamomile
- clary sage
- frankincense
- jasmine
- Lavender
- Marjoram
- Rose
- Sandalwood
- Ylang Ylang
Use 4 drops of essential oil per 25ml of carrier oil and add to bathwater or use as a massage blend.
To ensure positive results, always check that the essential oil is a 100% pure plant distillation and that it comes from a reputable source.
AROMATHERAPY INSOMNIA TREATMENT
ZZZZ Formula by Kathi Keville , director of the American Herb Association
15 drops bergamot oil
10 drops lavender oil
10 drops sandalwood oil
3 drops frankincense (expensive, so optional)
2 drops ylang ylang oil
4 ounces vegetable oil
Combine the ingredients and use as a massage oil or put 2 teaspoons in your bath. If you are feeling then add 2 drops of your choice of an expensive essential oil such as jasmine or rose. Without the vegetable oil, this recipe is suitable for use in an aromatherapy diffuser, simmering pan of water, or potpourri cooker. Treat yourself every night before bed as a surefire way to drift sweetly off to the Land of Nod.
Or make a “dilly pillow.” This is a small herb-filled pillow of lavender, hops, melissa, chamomile, and dill. European children used to regularly sleep with these pillows, while adults often slept on pillows stuffed simply with dried hops. Unlike most herbs, hops actually get better with age, since exposure to air increases its sedative effects. So you don’t have to worry about it losing potency if you keep it in a pillowcase!
Homeopathic Medicine
The following homeopathic remedies can also be helpful, especially for acute sleeping problems (chronic sleep problems may require the assistance of a trained, classical Homeopath).
- Aconite: for sleep problems that are accompanied by restlessness and/or nightmares, or which are made worse after times of emotional shock or panic.
- Arsenicum album: for problems that cause you to wake up between midnight and 2 a.m., feeling restless and apprehensive and/or accompanied by dreams of danger or disaster.
- Belladonna: for people who have trouble sleeping due to being overly sensitive to external stimuli and/or who are angry, overly excited, or unable to easily fall asleep.
- Chamomilla: for when you are unable to sleep because you feel wide awake and irritable.
- Coculus: for when you feel too giddy or tired to fall asleep.
- Coffea: for sleep problems caused by a racing mind.
- Ignatia: for insomnia accompanied by frequent yawns and/or caused by emotional upset, and for sleep accompanied by nightmares.
- Lycopodium: for people with overactive minds who are unable to let go of the day’s affairs and/or people who are heavy dreamers who awaken each time their dreams end.
- Muriaticum acidum: for insomnia by grief, extreme emotional sensitivity, and/or intolerance to sunlight.
- Natrum muriaticum: for sleep problems caused by anxiety, upsetting dreams, and/or illness caused by emotional upset, and for people who are bothered by heat and sudden noise.
- Nux vomica: for sleep problems to due to mental strain, overeating, alcohol consumption, withdrawal from alcohol or sleeping pills, and for people who awaken in the middle of the night and then are unable to fall back asleep until around the time that they need to get up to start their day; this remedy is also useful for people who suffer from nightmares that leave them feeling irritable during the day.
- Opium: for sleep problems caused by sensations that your bed is too hot or due to overly sharp senses that make you unable to sleep due to external stimuli.
- Pulsatilla: for sleep problems that are characterized by first feeling too hot and then too cold, leaving you feeling restless; also useful for sleep problems caused by nightmares following a meal of rich food.
- Rhus. Toxicodendron: for sleep problems accompanied by feelings of discomfort or pain, restlessness, and irritability, as well as a need to pace about.
For best results, take the above remedies in a dose of 30C approximately one hour before you go to bed. Find your closest Homeopath
here
Herbs
Useful herbs for promoting healthy sleep include:
- chamomile
- hops
- licorice root
- lime blossom
- linden root
- passionflower
- siberian ginseng
- skullcap
- valerian root
All of them can be taken as tea. Kava-Kava supplements can also be helpful.
An herbal bath before retiring can ease tense muscles and promote relaxation. An easy way to do this is to place loose chamomile, lavender, and/or linden flowers in a muslin bag; then place it in your bathtub as it fills with hot water.
Other
Juice Therapy
Combine the juice of carrots, celery, romaine lettuce, and spinach and drink before going to bed.
Flower Essences
Flower essence remedies are made from the specially prepared “potentized” essence of the petals and heads of flowers. Each essence is made from a particular type of flower and preserved in alcohol to prevent spoilage. Flower essence remedies are nontoxic, non-addictive, and utilize the mood-altering properties of the plants to harmonize and balance emotional sensitivities. The remedies act as catalysts to alleviate underlying conditions. Flower essence remedies are gentle, yet powerful and are compatible with most other therapies.
The following are recommended for cases of insomnia:
- Oak – for difficulty resting when exhausted
- Rock Rose – for night terrors, nightmares
- Rescue Remedy Night is a unique combination of the flower essences of Rock Rose, Impatiens, Clematis, Star of Bethlehem, Cherry Plum and White Chestnut.
These flower essences combine to help you switch off and enjoy a natural nights sleep.
Reflexology
Reflexology helps you clear away the stress and turmoil of everyday life and so aids healthy, restful sleep. Your body will respond with gradually increasing mental and physical clarity as you experience the careful manipulation of specific reflex points on the foot. An experienced reflexologist can help relieve insomnia using techniques based on ancient knowledge of these reflex points. Find your closest Reflexology practitioner
here.
Bedtime Rituals
Often the reason people have difficulties sleeping is because they approach sleep in a habitual, unconscious manner, simply going to bed without any conscious attention to what they are doing. By creating bedtime rituals, you can become more conscious about your approach to sleep and help yourself to induce feelings of relaxation that will make falling asleep easier. Here are some easy to implement self-care approaches you can use for this purpose.
1.To let go of bothersome worries that might otherwise keep you awake, make it a habit to meditate before you go to bed, focusing on your breathing. As you meditate, breathe gently and deeply in and out from your abdomen. This is a very effective way to create what is known as the “relaxation response.”
2.Get in the habit of taking a relaxing warm bath before you got to bed. To enhance your bath’s relaxing effects, add half a cup of baking soda or Epsom salts in the water, along with a few drops of eucalyptus oil or mustard powder.
3.To further encourage your ability to let go of the day’s concerns, consider keeping a daily journal.
4.Avoid stressful activities prior to going to sleep, such as bill-paying or balancing your checkbook. Also avoid any interactions with others that might produce feelings of stress.
5.If you have a spouse or partner, consider giving each other a massage to relieve muscle tension.
Biofeedback Training
Biofeedback Training can help you to quickly become more aware of and gain greater conscious control over bodily responses that normally occur unconsciously and automatically, such as our breath and heart rate. Learning to control such functions through Biofeedback Training makes it easier to induce feelings of relaxation. The end result is less stress that makes it easier to fall and remain asleep.
A more advanced form of Biofeedback Training, known as Neurofeedback Therapy, employs the use of pulsing sound frequencies that are listened to through headphones. Neurofeedback Therapy has been shown to be very effective for actually improving a person’s brain wave activity, making it easier to enter into a relaxed “alpha” state that is not only more conducive for producing healthy sleep, but can also heighten creativity and dramatically reduce stress. Neurofeedback Therapy is especially useful for people who have a difficult time producing alpha brain waves and who are habitually “stuck” in a “beta” state that is characterized by a need to be doing and achieving things without being able to relax.
Dealing with Electromagnetic Pollution and Geopathic Stress
To help protect yourself from the harmful effects of electromagnetic pollution and geopathic stress, sleep in a bed that has a frame made of wood and does not contain long metal parts. Also make sure that your mattress and box spring are free of metal coils, as metal is a conductor of electromagnetic currents.
In addition, be sure that your bed is positioned at least six feet away from any and all electrical devices, including your bedroom clock. For added benefit, unplug all other devices in your bedroom, such as a computer, radio, or television. Also avoid the use of electric blankets and electric heating pads, as well as waterbeds.
To further minimize your risk of being exposed to geopathic stress, avoid sleeping in rooms positioned over fuel tanks, garages, or steel girders, and consider the use of a geomagnetometer to help you determine whether your bedroom is located near or above land affected by geopathic stress points.
Feng Shui
Feng shui is an aspect of traditional Chinese medicine theory concerned with maximizing the ability of homes and other environments to receive the full benefits of the Earth’s positive, natural energies, especially the flow of vital energy known as Qi. According to feng shui theory, the following guidelines are important for ensuring a restful night’s sleep:
1.Be sure your bed is positioned diagonally across from your bedroom entrance.
2.If you can’t position your bed diagonally across from your room’s entrance, place a mirror opposite to the entrance and place wind chimes between your bed and the doorway.
3.If your bed is positioned across from a room corner, place a shelf behind it with plants or candles to prevent the flow of Qi from stagnating.
4.If possible, have your bed face the sunrise.
5.Do not sleep next to or beneath a window, as this can dissipate your own supply of Qi as you sleep at night.
6.To ensure healthy bedroom Qi, keep your bedroom window open to allow a fresh supply of air and sunlight.
7.Do not have your bed facing sharp edges from dressers, bookcases, or other furniture.
8.Screen bedroom desks and bathrooms with a mirror or other type of divider to prevent the flow of Qi from being disrupted.
Journaling
By regularly writing down your thoughts, beliefs, and emotions in a journal, you can help yourself to better understand the underlying issues in your life that can be contributing to your sleep disruption. Research has also shown that the daily practice of journaling can help to improve physical health symptoms.
Natural Hormone Therapy
Natural hormone therapy, also know as bio-identical hormone therapy, can be especially valuable for treating sleep disorders caused by hormonal imbalances, especially during or after menopause for women, and for middle age and beyond for men. Practitioners of natural hormone therapy screen their patients’ hormone levels and then create natural hormone replacement formulas that are biologically identical to the hormones naturally created by your body. These formulas, which can be applied topically and are absorbed through the skin, include estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. Adrenal hormones may also be used.
Another useful hormone for sleep disorders is
melatonin, which is available as an oral supplement. Melatonin has been extensively researched as a natural sleep aid, and has been found to be extremely safe for short-term use. It has been found to be capable of improving not only insomnia, but also other sleep disorders such as advanced and delayed sleep phase disorders and REM behavior disorder. It has also been shown to improve restful, deep sleep and to promote sleep within half an hour after it is ingested.
Note: Melatonin should not be used for long periods of time without the supervision of a health practitioner trained in its use. In addition, initial dosages should be small, typically between one-half to two milligrams taken before bedtime. If you find you need to increase your dose, do so in small increments (no more than an additional one milligram). Once you start to experience the benefits of melatonin, it is also advisable that you stop using it for at least two weeks, so that your body doesn’t stop producing its own amounts of melatonin.
Lifestyle Changes
The following simple lifestyle changes can help you to more easily fall and remain asleep and are especially useful for treating insomnia.
Once you get in bed, avoid looking at your clock: Doing this will minimize the risk of worrying about how long it is taking you to fall asleep. Worry exacerbates insomnia and other sleep problems.
If you can’t fall asleep, get out of bed: Insomnia is actually improved if, instead of remaining awake in bed, you get up and out of the bedroom to sit somewhere else until you start to feel sleepy. Listening to relaxing music or reading a book can help you relax. Once you start to feel drowsy, return to your bed. Repeat this process as often as is necessary.
Don’t read or watch television in bed: Engaging in such activities in bed breaks the association your mind needs to have between being in bed and sleeping.
Exercise regularly: Regular exercise throughout the week makes restful sleep more possible. Ideally, you should exercise for 30 minutes at least three times each week. Avoid doing so too close to your bedtime, however, as this can actually make sleep more difficult. Qigong exercises are encouraged to both increase energy levels and promote relaxation.
Get in the habit of going to bed each night at the same time: Going to bed at the same time each night helps to program your mind that the hour you retire is meant for sleep. If you can do this for at least 21 nights in a row, a strong association between sleep and the time you retire will be formed in your mind, making restful sleep easier and more habitual.
Avoid spending time in bed when you do not want to sleep: Your bed should be for sleeping only. For other activities, such as reading and watching television, sit in a chair or couch, ideally in another room besides your bedroom.
Light Therapy: Full-spectrum and bright-light therapies that mimic natural sunlight can help improve sleep disorders. Ideally, you should ensure that you receive three to four hours of full-spectrum or bright-light exposure each day.
Also be sure to spend at least 15 to 30 minutes each day outside in natural sunlight, especially during the morning (7 to 9 a.m.). Research has shown that exposure to sunlight during this time helps to maintain proper function of your body’s circadian rhythms and biological clock.
Nutritional Supplements: The following nutritional supplements can all be helpful for treating sleep disorders: B-complex vitamins, vitamin B6, vitamin B12, vitamin E, calcium, chromium, copper (taken away from zinc), iron (if you also suffer from anemia; otherwise you should receive all of your body’s iron needs from foods such as eggs, meat, nuts, seeds, and dark green, leafy vegetables); magnesium, and the amino acids phosphatidyl-serine and L-tryptophan.
Treating Sleep Apnea
The following guidelines can help to reduce, and even completely reverse, symptoms of sleep apnea:
1.Consider the use of a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device, which is a mask that forces air in through your nose, helping to keep your mouth open.
2.Lose weight if you are overweight or obese. Doing so will not only improve your overall health, it will also reduce the amount of fat in the tissues of your throat, making it easier for air to flow in and out of your body.
3.Sew a tennis ball into the top of the back of your pyjamas. This will keep you from sleeping on your back, thus reducing the risk of sleep apnea attacks.
4.If you smoke, stop, and also avoid second hand smoke. Cigarettes cause swelling of the throat and sinuses. (For ways to stop smoking, see Addictions.)
5.Avoid the use of alcohol, as well as medications such as antihistamines, sleeping pills and tranquilizers, all of which can cause your throat muscles to collapse.
6.Use nasal tape, which is available at your local drugstore, to keep your nasal passages open, allowing for the intake of more air.
7.Make sure your home, and especially your bedroom, is free of dust, mould, and other allergy triggers that can cause nasal congestion.
8.Sleep with your head elevated to help your sinuses drain and to improve breathing.
9.Before going to bed, be sure to clear your nasal passages by using a nasal irrigation device such as a Water Pik. You can also mix a pinch of salt to water and apply the mixture to each nostril with an eye dropper.
10.Make it a habit to go to bed at the same time each night to create healthy sleep habits.
11.Consider the use of a customized dental splint, which will hold your tongue in place to prevent obstructed breathing.
Alternative Professional Care
The following therapies can also help to prevent and reverse sleep disorders: Acupuncture, Chiropractic, Craniosacral Therapy, Detoxification Therapy, Guided Imagery, Magnetic Therapy, Mind/Body Medicine, Orthomolecular Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine, Naturopathic Medicine, Qigong and Tai Chi. (See
Glossary for descriptions of these Alternative Therapies.)
