Lack of sleep

I have been asked from a few people if I know of any herbal sleep remedies that can help with their lack of sleep. I’m by no means a physician, so if your problems is serious and not something that you can fix with some healthy lifestyle changes, you need to consult a specialist. However, for the regular folks like us, who are fighting with everyday work or family related stress, with problems that you are worried about or working on, that keep you awake at night, there are several herbal remedies available that you can use, quite safely too.

• My favorite herb for insomnia is chamomile. It calms the nerves, soothes the stomach and generally helps with the well-being.
• Valerian, is a very well researched herbal sleep remedy. It is one herb that has been researched and published quite a lot, so there are plenty of information on it. You can find it in capsules at your local pharmacy, just follow the package directions. You can also combine it with other herbs. It is all natural, all healing and all-sedative (what you want!) and non-addictive at all.
• I’m sure you have already heard of kava. This is the national drink of the Fiji ilsnads. It soothens the nerves and helps with the sleep. Some people also use it to enhance their dreams. Note of caution, don’t use it combined with alcohol and if you have problems with your liver, stay away from it as well.

These natural herbs will be definitely enough to help you fall asleep. Try each of them in turn and see which is the one that suits your organism better.
Besides these natural sleeping aids, there are some tips I recommend that you follow, to get the best benefits:

• If you have a tv in your bedroom, take it out.  You do not need distractions in your bedroom besides sleep and…well you know
• Try to read a few pages of a book (a nice book on philosophy or politics or sociology - if you’re not into these at all - should help quite well. You’ll be amazed how sleep inducing a nice boring book can be (I learned all about it while studying in college a few years back)
• Make sure it’s not too hot in the room. During sleep the body temperature will drop, which triggers sleep
• Avoid eating heavy meals before sleep. Also don’t drink alcohol right before going to bed
• Drink herbal teas (as I mentioned above, a nice cup of chamomile tea will do wonders)
• Drink a cup of warm milk, it is said that warm milk induces sleep
• Of course, this is a no-brainer: avoid coffee just before retiring to the bed
• Listen to a meditation tape or CD (guided meditation works fine), there are some meditations specially for helping you fall asleep. I will find some and post them just at the bottom of this article for easy finding
• Don’t go too early to sleep, but also avoid going too late. Going 2 am to sleep will not make you fall asleep immediately. The sleep is already out of your eyes. Everybody has their best time to go to sleep. For example, for me the best time is anything between 11 pm and 1 am. If I go earlier than that, or sometimes during weekends I go a bit later, I turn and turn in the bed and can’t find my place, can’t find my spot, my mind is too active, I just can’t sleep. So try to find your ‘falling asleep times’ and keep at it if possible regularly

And now as promised, some sleep inducing meditation tapes that you can get yourself from Amazon and dream your night away

Trust me, they help, I have these as well, and I am always in the lookout for new ones. You can listen to them even if you don’t have a sleep problem. You will find that sometimes, if you are a person who has nightmares, the meditations will help remove them from your dreams as well and just simply give you a wonderful, relaxed night.

Sleep Easy: Guided Meditation for Deep Rest by Mary Maddux and Richard Maddux

Sleep Solutions - Guided Meditations for Restful Sleep by Roberta Shapiro

Yoga Nidra Meditation CD: Extreme Relaxation of Conscious Deep Sleep by Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati

3 Responses to “Herbal Sleep Remedies - Herbs that Help with your Lack of Sleep”