http://www.care2.com/greenliving/sleep-naturally-12-steps-to-a-restful-nights-sleep.html
Sleep Naturally: 12 Steps to a Restful Night’s Sleep
By Rachel Venokur-Clark, Eat.Drink.Better
Most of us have experienced a sleepless night spent tossing and turning, begging sleep to come. A night or two of lost sleep, though not ideal, shouldn’t have any major affect on your health. When one sleepless night turns into several in a row, you may be facing a sleep problem. Several nights of missed sleep can affect your emotional and physical well-being. Insomnia can affect everything from your productivity to your relationships. If you have difficulties falling asleep or staying asleep, without a medical condition to blame, there are many natural ways to begin alleviating this problem without prescription medication
FOOD:
1. In the evening try to eat: bananas, dates, figs, milk, nut butter, turkey, whole grain crackers or yogurt. These are foods high in tryptophan, which can promote sleep.
2. Avoid caffeine from lunchtime on.
3. Have your last meal 2-3 hours before bedtime. If your body has to work hard to digest your food when it should be sleeping, you may have a difficult time staying asleep.
LIFESTYLE:
4. Set a bedtime routine and try to stick with it. Get ready for bed and get into bed at the same time each night. Consistency is the key to success. Finding a routine that works for you and following it will help you reach your sleep goals.
5. Take a hot bath or shower 1-2 hours before bedtime to help your body and mind relax.
6. Do not exercise within 3 hours of wanting to go to sleep.
7. Dim the lights 1 hour before bed
8. Create a sleep atmosphere in your bedroom. Take out all distractions like a computer, television or phone. Make your room as dark a possible to signal your body’s natural daytime/nighttime rhythms. Consider a white noise machine if sounds outside the room distract you.
HERBAL:
9. Camomile tea sipped a ½ hour before bedtime can relieve anxiety and promote a restful sleep. Do not take for more than 2 weeks in a row or if you have hay fever or ragweed allergies.
10. Valerian Root Pills: In order to achieve the full effects, Valerian needs to be taken consistently over a period of about a month.
11. Kava Kava Pills or Oral Spray. This is a fast acting, potent anti-anxiety medication that can promote sleep. You can take approximately 150mg, 30 minutes before sleep.
12. Melatonin Pills: 1.5mg daily taken 30-60minutes before bed. Melatonin occurs naturally in our body and helps to regulate the body’s circadian rhythm, our internal 24-hour time keeping system, that can affect our sleeping cycles.
*Always consult a physician before starting an herbal routine.
Green Options Media is a network of environmentally-focused blogs providing users with the information needed to make sustainable choices. Written by experienced professionals, Green Options Media’s blogs engage visitors with authoritative content, compelling discussions, and actionable advice. We invite anyone with questions, or simply curiosity, to add their voices to the community, and share their approaches to achieving abundance.
Photo Credit: Heather R at Flickr for Creative Commons
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9 comments
add your comment »Try Dream Water. I drink it every night. its a great, natural, 0 calorie way to fall asleep naturally. http://www.drinkdreamwater.com
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Hi guys,
I`ve tried a lot of different things to get myself to sleep. Naturally, of course. There are a lot of tricks and tips out there, but none of them really made a significant change in my sleep pattern.
I was getting more and more tired, not to mention desperate, so I decided to give something else a try. I took out my credit card and bought a life changing sleep disorder crushing product from this website:
www.HowToFallAsleepNaturally.com/.
It didn`t take me long to realize that this was actually what I was searching all along. I strongly recommend this to anyone outhere that is suffering from insomnia. It doesn`t involve taking any drugs, completely natural, and risk free. If it doesn`t work, just send it back. What have you got to lose?
Anyway, I hope this helps.
Best
Mario
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thanks...you...
Kabin
Konteyner
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Soft candlelight is very soothing before going up to bed and burn some essential oils. Bath better than shower with a few drops of essential oil - e.g. lavender or a miniscule drop of tea tree oil in lots of water is very soothing
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Candle light is good for winding down with a little essential oil burning for a short while before sleep - lavander good but a very miniscule drop of tea tree oil in lots of water is lovely too. :-)
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I have had good results with L-tryptophan supplements at bed. Also some good results with herbs such as Kava, valerian, oats seeds, and skull cap taken at bed. It is good to switch things around from time to time as your body can build tolerance to any supplement you take and they loose their effectiveness.
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I meditate before bed to clear my mind. Usually I have a hard time falling asleep because I have a million things in my head. Meditation works for me.
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Taking a melatonin supplement for too long can cause your body to stop producing it on its own, and eventually can cause your body to forget how to produce it in the first place. There is currently no way to fix this, and if it happens to you, your insomnia will be much, much worse.
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why is this inappropriate?
Taking a melatonin supplement for too long can cause your body to stop producing it on its own, and eventually can cause your body to forget how to produce it in the first place. There is currently no way to fix this, and if it happens to you, your insomnia will be much, much worse.
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