4. Eliminate or restrict severely the intake of stimulants such as caffeine or alcohol.
5. Wear comfortable clothing to bed — organic cotton is highly recommended .
6. Avoid hot, spicy foods at dinner.
7. Do not bring work-related material into the bedroom.
8. Keep your bedroom dark or very dimly lit.
9. A gentle massage of hands, feet and neck before bed can aid relaxation.
10. In bed, take long, deep, easy breaths, letting your mind and body relax.
If you are having trouble getting to sleep, wake up during the night or would just like more settled… deep sleep, read the next blog “Can’t Sleep? What did you eat?”
* Note: While these tips can give great results, they are really just ‘symptomatic’ remedies.
If you have a chronic sleep problem, it is important to treat the underlying cause. This is usually more to do with poor daily routine issues, excessive mental stress, nervous system imbalances, overactivity at night etc.
Always look to correct these first and foremost.
1. Reduce Nighttime Stimulants:
Avoid hot, very spicy foods at dinner (Indian, mexican etc).
We all know about avoiding coffee, but also avoid other high caffeine things – high caffeine tea, chocolate, cola drinks etc. Also, avoid things that over-excite your mind/nervous system – bright lights, working on the computer (disastrous) and high action TV etc.
* A little TV, where it is humorous or relaxing etc can be okay to unwind.
2. Foot Massage
The soles of your feet directly nourish the nerves related to your head/brain and therefore affect sleep. Massage the soles of your feet with warm oil (sesame oil best), as one of the best ‘pre-bed nervous system nourishers’ to help get a good nights sleep. Massage each foot for 2-3 minutes and either wash the oil off or wear a pair of old socks to bed.
* This is brilliant for babies that don’t sleep well.
3. Aromatherapy:
As mentioned recently, aromas are a great way to promote settled sleep as they keep working ‘while you are sleeping. Using an aroma diffuser is best. Put it on at least one hour before going to bed. Go for warm, sweet blends – the names usually point you in the right direction, e.g ‘calming’, ‘settled sleep’ etc. Otherwise look for things like lavender, chamomile, sweet orange, valerian etc.
