Insomnia Natural Remedy: Passionflower Tea
“Some investigations of passionflower have been
conducted in humans; in addition, animal and other
studies suggest that the herb has sedative,
anxiolytic, and antispasmodic properties. The German
Commission E, considered an authoritative source of
information on alternative remedies, reported that
passionflower appears to reduce restlessness in
animals. In a 1988 study involving rats that was
published in a German journal of pharmacology,
passionflower was shown to prolong sleep, reduce
motor activity, and protect the rodents from
convulsions”.(Gale Encyclopedia of Alternative
Medicine, 2nd
Edition 2005- Volume 3, p.1556)
Boil a cup water and pour it onto a teaspoon of
passionflower. Let it infuse for 10 minutes, covered.
Strain it and drink it 30 minutes before going to
bed.
If you want more
information on how to solve your sleep
problems simply click on this link.
Technorati
Tags:insomnia,sleep disorder,sleep deprivation,natural sleep aid,sleep tea
-Photo by outlier's eye's-
How To Find The Perfect Napping Spot
You could nap in many
different locations; true, but you need to keep in
mind there are a few criteria to respect that can
make the difference between a great relaxing nap and
a frustrating one where you can’t fall asleep and get
angry and stressed about it. What ever location you
choose, use the list below to make sure it is the
best one, and optimal for proper rest.
You need to be able to lock the door so no one enters
the room and disturbs you
The room needs to be dark or you need to be able to
make it dark easily
The room needs to be quiet and as far as possible
from all noise sources
The room needs to be warm enough
Once you have found the place that meets all these
criteria, you are almost ready to take your nap. But
there are a few more things to check: you need to
turn off all phones, and all electric appliances that
generate noise (such as a computer fan) and you need
to close the curtains and darken the room, without
making it completely dark. Now you can relax and
enjoy your nap.
If you want more
information on how to solve your sleep
problems simply click on this link.
Technorati
Tags:insomnia,sleep disorder,sleep deprivation,napping,napping tips,sleep aids
Sleep Quick Tip #2: Get On A Schedule
A simple thing you can do to fight insomnia and sleep
deprivation naturally is to get on a regular
schedule, or routine if you will. This is one simple
yet powerful tip, but to my amazement, painful and
annoying to most human beings.
Why? Ok, here is the deal: when I mean get on a
schedule, I mean go to sleep and wake up at the same
time every day. Most people think of this as a
painful restriction and want to stay up until 3 once
in a while, and stay in bed on weekends... Fine. Go
ahead, but if you are suffering from insomnia or some
other sort of sleep disorder, simply kick yourself in
the behind, decide on a firm schedule and stick to
it. And this means 7 days a week 365 days a year.
There is nothing easier than to train the human body,
and there is nothing harder than to un-train it. So
yes it will be hard, but once your brain gets used to
the pattern you will begin to see miracles happen!
If you want more
information on how to solve your sleep
problems simply click on this
link.
-Photo by ASurroca-
Sleep Quick Tip #1
Instead keep the alarm clock in another room. Make sure you can still hear it when it rings in the morning. That way when you wake up in the middle of the night there is no way for you to tell what time it is. You therefore decrease the stress reaction and make it easier for your body to stay relaxed making it easier for you to go back to sleep.
Think about it: it really doesn't matter what time it is when you wake up; it won't make a difference whether it is 11 pm, 3 am or 6:30 am. What matters is that you go back to sleep asap and the best way to do that is to remain relaxed.
So remember, get that stinkin' clock out of there and chill out when you wake up.
If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.
-Photo by dhdesign-
Master The Light And You Will Sleep
With the modernization of our society what we have done is that we have disturbed our natural body rhythms, especially our circadian rhythm.
Working inside buildings with low light during the day, decreasing the amount of daylight we receive and being exposed the artificial light at night have completely messed up the way our brains function and created many sleep problems.
The steps to solve that are simple. Here how to Master The Light :
1- Make sure you get more light during the day. Natural light is always better
2- At night, do the opposite: avoid the exposure to bright lights. Dim them down in your home, especially the last few hours before bed.
3- Stay away from computer screens at night. The brightness of the screen will trigger your brain into thinking it is still daylight and you will not properly secrete sleep hormones.
4- The same goes for the TV
5- Light proof your room. Even the faintest light in your bedroom can compromise your sleep. Turn your alarm clock against the wall, put a rolled up towel under the door.
Light is a major sleep regulating factor, yet most people dismiss it. Learn to Master The Light instead of popping pills...here is an idea!
If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.
Napping Myth # 5 - Naps Make You Groggy
Not if you keep it short. Do you
remember when we talked about the sleep cycles and
the different stages? Well they come in handy to
understand why you may wake up groggy from your nap.
Let me explain: as long as you stay in the first
stages of sleep, you will be able to wake up and be
energized. But if you enter the deep stages of sleep
during your nap, then that’s when trouble starts; it
will be much harder for you to get up, and you will
feel as if you were waking up from a 6 month
hibernation period. You will be groggy!
The length of a sleep cycle, if you remember, is
approximately 90 minutes; you certainly don’t want to
nap for that long, nor do you want to enter deep
sleep. So again, time is critical, I highly recommend
a 20 minute nap, 30 minutes tops.
If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.
Napping Myth # 3 - You Have To Have A Bed To Nap
This is probably the biggest
mistake some people make when napping, and it is the
very reason why some of you have problems sleeping at
night. By definition a nap is short, as opposed to a
full night of sleep. O.K., now do you remember when
we talked about bed associations? Let me refresh your
memory; we said that your brain needs to associate
the bed to sleep; there needs to be a special
physiological response occurring in your body as soon
as you think about going to bed and as soon as you
lie in it.
The mistake people make when napping in bed is that
they train their brain to associate the bed with a
short sleeping session (nap), and when comes the time
to sleep at night, their body automatically thinks,
they are going to take a nap and they end up waking
up. Of course this doesn’t happen in a day; it takes
a while for the brain to create the association, but
if repeated enough, you will unknowingly create your
own sleep problem and as you take your daily nap in
bed, you are re-enforcing the erroneous message.
Or even worse; if the bed is already associated with
night time sleep, you may find yourself taking too
long of a nap, which is totally the opposite of what
napping should be. I am not going to tell you all the
places where you can take your nap, because besides
behind the wheel or a few other inappropriate
locations you could virtually nap anywhere, except
for your bed of course. As a general rule, if it’s
comfortable and quiet enough, then it’s somewhere you
can nap.
If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.
Napping Myth # 2 - Napping Is Time Consuming
Well it can be if you don’t know
how to nap. Napping is one of the most efficient way
to recuperate and refresh yourself. As you will see
the best naps are the shortest ones. 15 to 20 minutes
is all you need, and honestly who doesn’t have 20
minutes during the day to spend on their health (yes
napping is a healthy habit).
We all waste time on things that are detrimental to
us or not so productive; so instead of wasting this
precious time, invest it in a nap. Not only is it not
time consuming, but I’d say it’s time saving. Let me
explain; by taking a nap you allow your body to rest,
to take a break from your usual activity and recharge
itself. When you wake up after 15 to 20 minutes, you
will be refreshed and ready to go, and therefore more
efficient in your work, which will allow you to
accomplish more work in a shorter amount of time as
well as a better quality work.
Some countries and individual companies are now
realizing how much more efficient their employees are
when they take a nap through the day so they decided
to encourage napping at work, and some even enforced
it! I recently saw a show on a small company that had
reserved a special room, where all employees would go
once a day take a short nap, and go back to work.
After implementing this, their productivity shot
through the roof and so did employee satisfaction.
Not only is a nap not time consuming, but it improves
your performance and productivity. That’s something
you should tell your boss....
If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.
Napping Myth # 1 - Napping Is Only For Kids
There couldn’t be anything further
from the truth. Granted the urge to nap is stronger
in the younger ones, but this isn’t an age exclusive
activity. We all need to rest at some point during
the day.
Yes the human body is a superb machine that can go
and go some more. But imagine driving your car all
day from 8 to 5 everyday. Is it going to “age”
faster? You bet it is!
The need for napping or at least taking some time to
rest never really disappears from the basic human
needs. So if you thought napping was only for kids,
think again.
If you want more
information on how to solve your sleep
problems simply click on this
link.
How Many Hours Do You Sleep At Night?
That's exactly what I want to know. A poll has been started on this website to get an idea of how many hours people spend sleeping at night.
The results will be published once the poll reaches 2000 answers and I will also write an article explaining how to determine your optimal sleep time and why more is not always better.
So just cast your vote and know where you fit in.
Using 5 HTP to Solve Sleep Deprivation (Part I)
.
This one product really work wonders at
re-establishing proper sleep patterns, and I
have recommended it to many of my patients, all
of whom have been really happy and have seen
dramatic results and improvements.
But why does 5 HTP work so well at helping people regain sleep?
Serotonin, a hormones produced by the human body, is a major sleep regulator. Lack or decreased serotonin will not only cause sleep disturbances or insomnia, but also depression, digestive problems, a lower threshold for pain and even fibromyalgia.
One of the major factor causing a decrease in the body levels of serotonin is stress. Not occasional stress but repetitive, chronic stress as millions of people are experiencing it nowadays due to the increase workloads, financial crisis, etc...
So just think that if you are living a stressful life, you are probably asking too much of your body and depleting from the extremely important serotonin that is the precursor for melatonin.
Therefore the combination of stress reducing activities such as exercise, meditation or breathing exercises combined with a proper supplementation of 5 HTP, is key to restoring proper sleep hormone levels.
Sleeping pills such as benziodiazepines will never address this issue and while you think you may sleep better or more while taking them, the hormonal levels will remain low. This is another reason why resorting to sleep medication makes no sense.
Stay tuned for the second part on this topic as I will explain how to take 5 HTP, what types of reactions can occur in your body and what to do about it. I will also review a few of my favorite brands. In the mean time, if you are anxious to start on 5 HTP and improve your sleep, you can buy it here
.
Stress At Work Is Messing Up Your Sleep
Burgard explains that back in the days, work was a
lot more physically draining and tended to leave
people so exhausted at night that they wouldn't have
any trouble sleeping. But she says that work today is
actually more emotionally and psychologically
stressful which affects the way people are able to
rest and sleep at night.
What she found to be the most stressful to people was
personal conflicts with other co-workers, and what
she calls "work-family conflicts", in other words how
your work is affecting your family life.
She says that sleeping pills won't solve the problem,
and I must say I have to agree with her. The solution
resides into dealing with those conflicts, and
eliminating them or at least reducing them to a
minimum and being able to live a balanced life.
One must also find ways to deal with work stress, by
doing things such as regular exercise, meditation or
breathing and relaxation exercises.
If you want more
information on how to solve your sleep
problems simply click on this
link.
-Photo by gotplaid?-
Keeping A Regular Sleep Schedule
For some of you, what I am about to say may seem like
I want to make your life boring, but believe it or
not you cannot keep doing the same thing over and
over and expect different results. So here is what
you need to do, if you really want to improve the way
you sleep:
You need to have a regular
schedule, EVERY DAY! This means Monday through
Sunday, and even on vacation. You need to go to sleep
at the same time and wake up at the same time every
single day.
So you may ask “But why can’t I
wake up late, if I go to bed late? I am still
sleeping the same amount of time”. Well, true; maybe
you are sleeping the same amount of hours. However,
your body has something called the circadian rhythm
which regulates many body functions, including sleep
patterns; it is like a fixed clock. And every time
you change your sleeping hours, you tell your
internal clock to change and reset to new hours.
Problem is, it doesn’t reset right away; it takes
days (just think about how long it takes to
completely get over jet lag).
So if you constantly change your sleep hours, you are
constantly asking your internal clock to change and
reset to new hours, which it can never do and never
stabilize, which results in you having sleep
problems.
Your circadian rhythm doesn’t really care how many
hours you sleep; what it really cares about is what
time you go to sleep so it can prepare to start
releasing Melatonin and what time you wake up, so it
knows when to start decreasing the Melatonin level.
Does this make sense to you?
So figure out how many hours of sleep are optimal for
you, get on a regular sleep schedule and stick to it.
This in turn will set your internal clock, regulate
proper hormone secretion and optimize your sleep
pattern.
If you want more
information on how to solve your sleep
problems simply click on this
link.
-Photo by laffy4k-
How Long Should A Nap Be?
Sleep mechanics are rather complex, and taking naps, can if done improperly actually make things worse. We have all woken up from naps where we felt completely out of it and it took us more than 10 minutes to regain some sort of consciousness and another 10 to get back to our task at hand. However, we have also all woken up from great naps, full of energy, completely recharged and ready to conquer the world. But exactly why is that?
How can one nap leave you groggy and another one fill you with more energy than you've had in a long time.
Well it all has to do with how long you spend napping. Sleep is divided into different phases, or stages and the further you go into the stages the deeper your get into sleep as your brain waves change. When napping, you have to avoid getting into deep or delta sleep. That is when it will be more difficult to wake up and when you will experience the most grogginess.
The truth is, a nap doesn't need to be long to be beneficial. So, anything between 1 and 30 minutes is what you want to aim for, with 20 minutes being the sweet spot: you get a good rest, great benefits and are sure to avoid getting into Delta sleep.
If you want more information on how to solve your sleep problems simply click on this link.
-Photo by insertinanename-
10 Simple Practical Tips To Improving You Sleep Tonight
It’s 2 am; you turn around in your bed for the 100th time tonight, wondering why on earth you can’t sleep, and how you are ever going to be able to get out of bed in 5 hours to go to work. You are angry. This has been going on for the past 5 years and even though you have tried 4 different sleeping pills, none of them have solved your problem. You’re frustrated, and that makes it even harder for you to go to sleep.
Let’s face it, sleep problems are very common! Read More...
