Home Remedies for Insomnia

Many influences contribute to insomnia or the inability to sleep. Nervous tension, anxiety and illness are factors that may keep us awake at night but it is more likely that the problem lies with an uncomfortable bed or a room that is too hot or too cold or an intrusive light shining into the bedroom. Indigestion can cause you to wake several hours after dropping off whilst tension, depression or kidney problems may waken you in the early hours of the morning, after which sleep may elude you. Not being able to fall asleep easily or waking during the night or too early upsets the complex sleep patterns which the body is accustomed to and leaves you tired, irritable and unable to concentrate. Do not take sleeping tablets for they will complicate matters further. Herbal sleeping tablets however are non-addictive and may be used to help regulate sleep patterns in an emergency.

Improve your diet which may need an additional supplement of vitamin B or calcium and cut out obvious stimulants such as coffee, tea and cigarettes, particularly at night-time. Do not watch television programmes late at night which may overexcite either the imagination or the brain – it is far better to take a good book to bed with you or one that is so mindlessly boring that you fall asleep trying to concentrate. On the whole I find this better than counting sheep. Other people find that concentrating on something mundane, such as tomorrow’s menu, item for item, spoon by spoon in order of use, skipping nothing until in their mind the meal is on the table will send them to sleep. Others recite the longest poem they can recall. Most sufferers of night-time waking agree that nothing is to be gained by tossing and turning and cursing their misfortune and that the best cure is calm acceptance, a warm drink and a good book.

Physical Suggestions to Promote Sleep

John Wesley advocated a cold bath before retiring which makes you wonder what thoughts he feared might keep him awake at night! A warm bath is far more pleasant if it is scented with one of the following essential oils chamomile, sandalwood, lavender, rosemary, Melissa, meadowsweet, orange, neroli, rose. All of these will calm a rest less spirit. Another somniferous idea is to hold a bath bag containing 3 parts chamomile, 2 parts each meadowsweet and lime flowers and 1 part grated valerian root beneath the hot tap whilst the water is running.

A warm footbath is a comforting way of persuading the blood to rush from the head which many people believe is the best condition for sleep, although others swear the opposite and that the foot of the bed should be raised. I believe that a soothing herbal footbath does help you to sleep and my favorite is a mixture of lavender, rosemary and crushed juniper berries tied into a cotton handkerchief. More stalwart characters might prefer a mustard footbath.

Babies and young children who have difficulty sleeping or who suffer from nightmares might be soothed with the addition to their warm bath water of a strong tea made with chamomile, lime flowers or lemon balm.

After a bath or footbath gently massage the whole body or feet with 3 drops of one of the essential oils suggested above missed into a small cup of a base oil (such as a light vegetable oil). Not only will this promote sleep but it will also improve the condition of the skin.

The natives of parts of Italy were reputed to sleep with cloves of garlic between their toes or to rub their feet with garlic oil to ensure a sound night’s sleep but I suspect their sleeplessness might have had more to do with their dread of vampires than an unquiet mind. Anointing the body with copious amounts of basil oil assured a dreamless sleep and one free from nightmares but unless you make your own basil oil use instead a few drops of essential oil of basil in olive oil. Washing the head in dill water and placing bunches of dill upon the pillow was another method for curing insomnia and eating dill or drinking dill water relieves indigestion which may be the cause of sleeplessness in the first place.

Where to place the bed seems to figure prominently in old wives tales turning it so that the head faces true north seems to be the favored position and it is one adopted by many sensible and otherwise logical people. Less so the theory that your shoes should be placed upside down with the toes facing the head of the bed. Sleeping on your back is advocated to avoid nightmares but the sound of your snoring will keep everyone else awake. Deep-breathing exercises before you get into bed are a popular regimen, the preferred method being to breathe in through the mouth and exhale through the nose – a discipline which forces relaxation.

Old-fashioned remedies which have been well brought up to date are eating passion flowers, ground bones or pollen. Many primitive peoples set great store by a good night’s sleep being convinced that were it otherwise their souls would leave their bodies and be lost to the night, never to return. Today if we wake feeling like zombies we may look for help in the form of passiflora, calcium, honey or pollen. Many people of my grandmother’s generation swore by extract of oats as a method of calming an overactive mind but believed in their hearts that if you had done your day’s work well, sleep would come easily.

Bedtime Drinks - Home Remedies for Insomnia

Do not drink copiously before retiring to bed, otherwise you will inevitably be awoken during the night.

* Oranges Orange flower water taken on a lump of sugar or in a little warm sweetened water is the most old-fashioned remedy for a multitude of anxiety based problems. All gentlewomen kept a small flask on their bedside tables – a far better habit than some modern bed side bottles. Orange leaf tea or the juice of 2 oranges in a little hot water sweetened with honey are both pleasant night-time drinks which will remedy mild insomnia. One of the best home remedies for insomnia.

* Milk or buttermilk Drink either of these hot with a pinch of cinnamon and honey.

* Hops Infuse 3 tablespoons in 1 cup of boiling water. A hop pillow is a great sleep inducer and so is an old-fashioned and delightful ‘dream pillow’ filled with woodruff, lady’s bedstraw and meadow sweet which has the sweet, clean smell of sun-dried hay. It is no wonder that folklore tells the tale that Mary gave birth to Jesus on a pallet of bedstraw hence its name.

* Lemon balm, melilot, mint or lime These all make calming, soporific infusions.

* A stronger herbal Take 1 tablespoon each of dried or 1 handful of fresh red clover heads, shredded lettuce and hops. Place in 600 ml 91 pint) of cold water, heat gently until boiling and boil for two minutes. Simmer for a further two then remove from the heat. Infuse for three hours. Strain and bottle. Well sealed it will keep in a cool dark place for up to four days. Take a small glassful at night to help you sleep. One of the useful home remedies for Insomnia.

* Catnip, lemon balm or chamomile Small children and babies who have difficulty in getting to sleep or who frequently wake with nightmares can be given a gentle and harmless tea made from one of these.

* Lettuce What an ambiguous remedy this is! A tea made with chopped lettuce leaves infused for 20 minutes in 1.5 cups of boiling water is reputed to bring sleep and so is eating the leaves but lettuce is also considered to be a diuretic is also considered to be a diuretic and by some to be an aphrodisiac. Maybe one drops exhausted by all the activities resulting from a night time draught. One of the popular home remedies for insomnia.

We all battle sleeplessness once in while. Problems at work, a fight with your spouse, or simply a subtle shift in your body’s "clock" will occasionally lead to sleepless nights. For some people, however, getting to sleep is an endless battle. Doctors estimate that half of all adults will suffer from sleep problems. And when you got older, falling asleep may get even harder.

Everyone needs a different amount of sleep. Some people get five hours a night and wake up full of energy. Others are exhausted if they get less than nine or ten hours. What this means is that insomnia is a very personal thing. As a general rule, if you’re suddenly getting less sleep than usual and are paying the price the next morning, you probably have insomnia and need to do something about it.

Here’s what doctors recommend.

Clear your head before you go to bed. Doctors estimate that about half of insomnia is caused by mental and emotional stress. This makes sense, as anyone who’s tossed and turned the night before (or after) a stressful day can attest. You can’t eliminate stress, but you can turn down the volume before you hit the hay. Sleep experts advise using the last half-hour of your day to wind down and clear your mind. Don’t pore over your daily planner or scribble notes for tomorrow. Just relax. Spend a few minutes on the porch listening to the sounds of the night. Read for a bit, or give a little time to your hobby. Emptying the stress from your mind, even temporarily, will help prevent it from keeping you awake later on.

Pour a glass of milk. A glass of warm milk has long been a remedy for sleepless nights, and now there’s good evidence to show it works. Milk – along with cheese – contains an amino acid that’s called tryptophan. The body converts tryptophan to serotonin – natural chemicals that helps the body regulate its sleep cycles. Having a little milk before bed – it can be warm or cold – will give your brain the message that it’s time to be shutting down for the night.

Ask your doctor about melatonin. Another natural chemical that can help you sleep is melatonin. Produced by the brain, melatonin helps set your internal clock, so your body knows when it’s time to wake up and when to start getting sleepy. As you get older, the brain starts producing less melatonin – which is why doctors sometimes recommend that people with insomnia take melatonin supplements. Even small amounts – between one half and one milligram – may help you sleep better. You can get melatonin at natural food stores, pharmacies, and even some grocery stores.

Pour a cup of herbal tea. Alternative practitioners believe that teas made from chamomile (babunah), valerian (jalakan), or passion flower can be very helpful for calming you down and helping you get to sleep more quickly. Don’t drink black tea at bedtime, however, because it contains caffeine.

Speaking of coffee, don’t drink three cups after dinner and expect to sleep well that night. Caffeine is a powerful stimulant. Even what you’re used to it, drinking coffee at night can lengthen the time it takes to fall asleep and will also make the sleep you do get less restful.

Have a soothing soak. Few things are more relaxing than a long soak in a warm bath. Many people, in fact, start receiving overtures from the sandman even before they’re out of the rub.

Make your days active. Research has shown that people who exercise during the day sleep a lot better than folks who are more sedentary. It’s important, however, to get your exercise no later than the early evening. Exercise stimulates the brain your body, and doing it at night can make you too energized to fall asleep easily.

Say goodnight to nightcaps. Even though alcohol can help you fall asleep more quickly, it disturbs the overall quality of your sleep. That’s why people who drink at night are often tired the next day, even when they’ve gotten plenty of sleep.