Counting Sheep?? Please Don't!!!
We all without exception, share common functions. If someone had to ask us what would we need in order to live? What would our answer be? Breath, drink, eat… all of these are correct, but now please add to that list SLEEP, we need it to stay alive.
Funny enough and knowing how important sleep is, a great percentage of us have terrible, not to say agonising sleep disorders, and what is even worse we often neglect it.
As soon as we close our eyes we basically give our body its ticket to wonderland! It may sound an over exaggerating fact, but it isn’t. Getting your 8 hours of beauty sleep doesn’t come for nothing! It is during the night that our body lowers its energy levels and goes through a repairing process, the soft tissue and muscles are revitalized, and even our mind gets time to “digest” every information, memories and things we have learned during the day. It is a font of rejuvenation!!
The deprivation of sleep for one day does not represent a threat to our lives, but surely affects our mood, physical well-being and generally our cognitive function. Now if we extend this deprivation, consequences could be fatal, causing extremely negative alterations such as hallucinations, lack of mental clarity, can help to gain weight, anxiety, depression, fatigue, diseases and even death.
As with everything in life, we don’t all need the same amount of sleep. Studies agree that 8 hours is what our body needs in order to “rejuvenate”, but for some people that number can be changed into 6 and even into 10 (if you are part of those that otherwise cannot function!). Whichever group you are part of, just remember it is imperative to treat a sleep disorder when there is one, or you just might have to say goodbye to your quality of life.
The good news is there are a few basics things we can do to help ourselves correct a sleep pattern.
- Make sure your bed & pillow are confortable.
- Eliminate caffeine, heavy meals, exercise, drugs/alcohol, especially before going to bed, as these increases the chances of you being too “excited” to even want to fall asleep.
- Bear in mind that some medication (decongestants for example), can also diminish your ability to relax.
- Establish a “routine” as it is beneficial for your body’s internal clock!
AROMATHERAPY
For a pleasant sleep there are some oils that can really make a difference:
_Lavender
- Chamomile
- Bergamot
- Sandalwood
- Mandarin
To benefit even more from these scents, use them together if you can. Mix them with a carrier oil (this is what you use to mix other oils into) and use it as a diffuser on your pillow, or massage your temples with it.
A supplement that includes melatonin, 5-HTP, valerian, hops, lemon balm, chamomile and jujube can also be beneficial for those sleepless nights!
Our main goal here is to avoid the sleeping pills because as any other medication they also have side effects, and funny enough one of them is a SLEEP DISORDER!!!
So stop counting sheep and have a peaceful sleep!