20 Apr Natural Therapies for a Good Night’s Sleep
Before your head sinks into the pillow at bedtime, there are some very simple things you can do to prepare mind and body for a night of deeply restful sleep. The evening hours are a time when the busyness of your day should begin to wind down. It’s important to create a bedtime ritual that will help tame the thoughts that may still be racing through your mind and which can prevent you from falling or staying asleep throughout the night. In addition to the lifestyle tips for better sleep that are described in this month’s feature article, try adding some of the following naturopathic and holistic approaches to your evening routine.
- Enjoy a warm bath including Epsom salts and/or lavender oil.
- Listen to the relaxing sounds of ocean waves, classical music, or chimes. There are specialized acoustic recordings that are orchestrated to affect specific brain wave patterns for relaxation or sleep. Call our office for a complimentary download of MP3 file.
- A guided recording of progressive muscle relaxation, deep breathing exercises, restorative yoga poses, can help the body create the ‘relaxation response’.
- Herbs and other botanical or aromatherapy treatments are useful for calming down after a stressful day. In addition to the herbs discussed in this month’s newsletter, you might want to ask your physician about teas, tinctures or capsule preparations of valerian, skullcap, passionflower, or lemon balm and kava kava.
- Try meditation, beginning with just 10 minutes a day. Meditation has numerous health benefits and recent studies show it can significantly affect quality of sleep.
- I also like to recommend some homeopathic medicine for sleep. Quietude is a great combination of homeopathic medicines that helped many of my patients to avoid sleeping pills. Just dissolve 1-2 tabs after the dinner and before bedtime to get faster onset and uninterrupted sleep. If you wake up in the middle of the night take another dose.
- Melatonin is sleeping hormone helping us to fall asleep and staying asleep. Almost of all of us drop the production of it after 40 years of age which also corresponds with the process of aging. Starting a supplementation of good quality of melatonin at 3mg at night time can be a great help before running for a pharmaceutical prescriptions.
Get a good night sleep or call our office for a free copy of the sleeping meditation recording. Stay Healthy Wealthy & Wise.
Elena Klimenko, MD
Integrative Medicine Specialist
References
American Academy of Sleep Medicine. “Meditation May Be An Effective Treatment For Insomnia.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 15 June 2009. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090609072719.htm
Corliss, J. Mindfulness meditation helps fight insomnia, improves sleep. Harvard Health Newsletter. 18 February, 2015. http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/mindfulness-meditation-helps-fight-insomnia-improves-sleep-201502187726
Murray, M. “Insomnia” as cited in Pizzorno, Joseph E. (2013). Textbook of Natural Medicine. St. Louis, MO Elsevier. (chapter 182).
Mars, B. & Fiedler, C. (2015). The Home Reference to Holistic Health & Healing. Beverly, MA: Fair Winds Press. (pp. 29-29, 45, 193, 200).
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