Goodbye insomnia: These 14 tips will help you sleep like a baby
Try taking a warm shower or indulging in some natural oil therapy to sleep soundly.
Insomnia or sleeplessness can be taken care of by following natural remedies. Here’s what the experts say:
* Before going to bed, take a warm shower. It is like an exercise, the hot shower will help you to fall asleep as soon as you hit the bed.
* Dip your feet in lukewarm water in a foot bathtub or bucket to relax your body muscles and tissues. Add one teaspoon of epsom salt commonly known as dead sea salt to it. Foot bath also protects your skin from unwanted bacteria and reduces leg pain. You can also add some essential oil to the water like basil (Tulsi) oil, cedarwood oil, cypress oil, juniper berry oil, lavender oil, rosemary oil and wintergreen oil. Just add one or two drops.
* Lavender, jasmine, neroli, and ylang-ylang are very useful as natural oil therapy for insomnia. The soothing and calm effect of essential oil can prevent you from sleeplessness.
* Do not eat or drink right before going to bed. Eating a late dinner or snacking before going to bed can activate the digestive system and you can suffer from gastric problems or heartburn. It is even more important to avoid eating and drinking right before bed since this can make your symptoms worse and keep you awake.
* Make your sleeping environment comfortable. Temperature, lighting, and noise should be controlled to make the bedroom convenient for sleep.
* Decrease your caffeine intake.
* Do not mull over the bad, stressful events of the day while going to bed. Think happy thoughts or at least try to.
* Alcohol disrupts the sleep cycle and may keep you up throughout the night.
* Avoid long naps during the day as it can make it more difficult for you to sleep at night. If you must rest, take a short power nap.
* Sip warm milk with honey before going to bed.
* Practice cognitive behavioural therapy and manage your stress with daily exercise.
* Stick to a regular sleep schedule. Set your biological clock by sleeping and getting up at the same time every day, including weekends. Get up at your usual time in the morning even if you’re tired. This will help you get back in a regular sleep rhythm.
* Turn off all screens at least an hour before bed. Electronic screens emit a blue light that disrupts your body’s production of melatonin and combats sleepiness. So instead of watching TV or spending time on your phone, tablet, or computer, choose another relaxing activity, such as reading a book or listening to soft music.
* Move bedroom clocks out of view. Anxiously watching the minutes tick by when you can’t sleep – knowing that you’re going to be exhausted when the alarm goes off – is a surefire recipe for insomnia.
– Inputs from Naresh Arora, founder of Chase Aromatherapy Cosmetics, and Nalin Verma, co-founder and director, Euro Chroma Institute of Cosmetology (ECIC).
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