Tag Archives: natural sleep aids

F is for Fabulous Fighters oF Fatigue

Posted on February 29, 2012 | Leave a comment

Fight Fatigue for Natural Health

Tick tock, Tick Tock – gotta stop staring at the clock and get some sleep?  There are some fabulous natural fatigue fighters you can try to put you to sleep like a baby.

As we get older the amount of the hormone Melatonin, made in the pineal gland, and which regulates your biological clock, gets smaller and smaller until we have to reach for a supplement.  You only need a little to help your body know when it’s time to shut your eyes and start to snore!

Kava Kava is a South American herb that is readily available now in health food stores as an extract.  I recommend taking much less than what they say on the label – a few drops (8 – 10) in a small glass of water is enough to give you 8 hour’s sleep.  Kava Kava works miraculously as far as I’m concerned, but you cannot fight it and try to stay awake.  You need to take it an hour before you want to sleep and then get ready to let it do its magic – get into bed, close your eyes, and let it happen.  No distractions, no lights – otherwise, kava kava miraculously will help you stay awake.

Valerian can take the place of Valium and I’d recommend giving it a try. Valerian can be purchased as a pill or in the form of tea or tincture which you dissolve in a little warm water (about a teaspoon) and take before bedtime.

So stay away from harsh pharmaceuticals like Ambien and try some natural remedies for your natural health!  Sweet dreams! ZZZZZZZZZZZ

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Posted in Healthy Senior Women, Mind-Body-Spirit, Natural Health

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F is for Fatigue – Fight it with natural Fixes

Posted on February 28, 2012 | Leave a comment

Fight Fatigue for Natural Health and Beauty

It’s 4 AM and you’re counting sheep and counting flowers on the wall, and you want to sleep cause you know how tired you’ll be in the morning.  What’s a naturally beautiful woman gonna do???

First of all, you’re going to drink more water – but not right before you go to sleep.   The very first sign of fatigue is dehydration when you wake up.  Your body needs a lot of water to keep it going and keep it flowing, so drink water the very first thing when you open your eyes – and keep on drinking it all day.

Make a to do list right before you go to sleep.  That will help you to stay asleep instead of waking up in the middle of the night worrying about what you need to do tomorrow.

Get some exercise during the day.  Research has shown that just a short and brisk ten-minute walk can help reduce fatigue.  A short walk  can amp up your energy levels and keep you going for the rest of the day.

Reduce the amount of sugar in your diet as it will spike your energy and then let you down, making your whole body work harder to keep up the with ups and downs that will exhaust you.  A balanced diet, full of healthy proteins, carbs and fats will keep you going at a steady level, and allow you to calm down and relax and be ready to rest and sleep.

There are some essential oils like lavender  that you can sprinkle on your pillow to make you sleepy.  Or you can make a lavender and chamomile eye pillow to really put you to sleep (see L is for Lavender – Make your own Lavender Dream Pillow).

Stay tuned for some Fabulous Fixes for Fatigue!

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Posted in homemade beauty products, Mind-Body-Spirit, Natural Health

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V is for Valerian, Valium and the Value of Sleep

Posted on January 8, 2012 | Leave a comment

I don’t know about you, but I’ve been having a hard time sleeping lately.  And when I don’t sleep, my whole life seems to go crazy.  I get irritable, I don’t look good, I drag myself around – and who wants any of that?  Not I!  Sleep is vital to our overall well-being and natural health.  It enables the body to rest and recharge and repair itself, and sleep is also needed for important physiological processes such as hormone regulation, which affects immune function and overall health.  And when you’re well rested, you look alive and vital, and therefore you need sleep to maintain your natural beauty.

But even the most health and beauty conscious of us toss and turn occasionally.  And that will never do!  I’m not a big fan of pharmaceutical drugs as you can probably tell, so I don’t use things like Ambien or Valium.  I think the side effects and risks of dependence are far too great a consequence to my natural health.

So when I’m troubled and I can’t sleep, I turn to the natural ways of getting a good night’s sleep – lavender essential oil, warm milk (not too much so you’re not in the bathroom all night), kava kava, melatonin, and valerian.

Melatonin is the hormone secreted by the pineal glad, which regulates the biological clock, but as we age our bodies produce less and less of this.    Instead of the high dose melatonin that was on the market years ago and made you feel like you had a hangover the next day, you can get low dose melatonin and use it to supplement what’s necessary for a good night’s sleep.

Valerian root has been used  for centuries to reduce anxiety and tension, and as an aid for sleeplessness.  Valerian works to relax you and reduce stress, which will help you to sleep better and longer.

Kava kava is a South American herb which, in small doses, is a very effective sleep enhancer when used correctly.  Simply put a few drops of Kava extract into a bit of water and an hour later, be prepared and ready to sleep.   Get into bed, close your eyes and relax, and next thing you know, you will be enjoying the deep and restorative sleep we need for our natural health!

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S is for Sleep – Several more Suggestions for Sound Slumber

Posted on December 20, 2011 | 1 Comment

More steps to sound sleep -

5.  Stop drinking liquids by 6 PM.  I advocate drinking tons of water (see previous post:  D is for Drink Water – How Much is Enough) but unless you want to be spending the night in the bathroom, confine your drinking of any type of liquid to about 4 hours before you go to bed.

6.  Try some natural sleep relief.  Tryptophan is a precursor to serotonin, which induces sleep and tranquility in the brain.  Melatonin is not actually a hormone, but a light regulator and oversees your circadian rhythm – keep it dark at night and you’ll increase your natural production of melatonin.  Valerian, chamomile, hops and kava kava are all herbal remedies for sleeplessness.  Experiment to find what works for you.

7. Get into a routine with your sleep schedule.  Try to go to sleep around the same time every day and wake up at the same time every morning.  Lots of people try to make up for lost sleep on the weekends.  It doesn’t really work well and it doesn’t really make up for what’s lost.  Get your body used to rising and sleeping on a schedule and you could get it used to getting a good night’s sleep all the time!

8.  Watch out for alcohol and caffeine overload.  While a glass of wine or two might make you drowsy and relaxed, too much can disrupt sleep and leave you feeling ragged in the morning.  Coffee – I don’t think we even need to say this again – but coffee, tea and chocolate all have caffeine which will keep you up, up and up.

9.  Get out of bed when you can’t get to sleep.  Remember the bed is only there for sleep and sex, so when you can’t sleep, go somewhere else to read or write or whatever.

10.  Get help.  Adequate sleep is essential for natural health.  If it gets to be too much of a problem, get help from a specialist.  I prefer a holistic healer who will have a lot of good ideas about how to get a good night’s sleep.  Good luck.

Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z Z

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S is for Sleep – Some timely tips for Sound Snoozing

Posted on December 20, 2011 | 4 Comments

Sleep is essential to Natural Health

I love my sleep.  I love to sleep 8 hours at least every night.  I love to hunker down in the blankets and put my head on the pillow and shut the lights and slumber.

Sometimes I can’t get to sleep.  Or sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night (last night!) and struggle to get back to sleeping.  Some people struggle with this problem all the time.  And sleep is essential to your natural health and to your natural beauty.

Here are some sound tips to get you slumbering:

1.  Be prepared to sleep.  In other words, when you go to bed, go to sleep.  Reading and writing and watching TV in bed will trick your mind into thinking the bed’s not just for sleep – it is (and for sex, if that’s in the picture).

2.  Write in your gratitude journal just before you go to bed.  That way, you’ll have pleasant thoughts to lull you to la la land.  Don’t watch the news!  It’s all bad, it’s all the same, it’s not a good thing to do when you want to calm down and fall asleep.

3.  Try meditating.  Calm down your mind.  Close your eyes.  Follow your breath.  Relax.  Breathe. Rest.  Listen to the sounds of silence.  Sleep.

4.  Don’t nap during the day after 3 PM.  Nothing wrong with a little napping here and there for 20 minutes to give you some extra oomph to your day.  But too close to bedtime will keep you up.

See next post – S is for Sleep – Several more Suggestions for Sound Slumber

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