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Natural cures for Insomnia Natural cures for insomnia include natural supplements, herbal remedies for insomnia, acupuncture for insomnia, meditation and deep breathing, stretching exercises, dietary guidelines, stress management techniques, aromatherapy, and self massage techniques, plus more. The most effective way to find a cure for insomnia is too correctly diagnose the underlying cause of insomnia, and then direct your insomnia treatment plan at fixing your specific reason for having trouble sleeping. How many times have you gone to bed at night, only to get 2-5 hours of sleep? If you answer two or more times a week, you like many others are experiencing a disturbance in your sleeping pattern. This might seem like a minor nuisance to start with, but as you continue to get only 2-5 hours of sleep, you will begin to feel more and more fatigued. Insomnia causes all sorts of mental and physical disturbances like low energy, back tension, difficulty concentrating, poor memory recall, and a loss of passion for life in general. Sleep is the Foundation of Life Sleep is the ultimate Yin state. Still, quiet, calm and restful. This is the time when your Kidneys and adrenals recharge and nourish your body, mind, and spirit. This is your para-sympathetic nervous system at work. Too much work and stress revs up your sympathetic nervous system , speeding up your adrenaline expenditures, and locking you in over-drive mode. When you've been going, going, going all day, week, or month, you would think that you could go right to sleep and stay sound asleep all night. The problem is that when we excite the sympathetic nervous system to such an extent, we have a harder time slowing down. Remember that the sympathetic nervous system is also referred to as 'fight or flight', so if your nervous system feels threatened, it might have a harder time falling asleep or staying asleep for very long. We need to bring ourselves away from the hustle and bustle of our busy work day when we get home in the evening. Although there is more to do at home, we can take a break for five or ten minutes and just sit in silence in a dark room. Here is a list of several different ways combat insomnia and get a good night's rest:
Make this your routine: Everyday when you come home, 1. Find a shady seat outside or sit in a dark room inside your house. 2. Sit comfortably with your eyes closed gently and touch your tongue to the roof of your mouth. This connects the Conception and Governing Acupuncture meridians. 3. Breathe through your nose deeply into your lower abdomen and lower back. You might feeling a pulling sensation from your lower abdomen drawing your breath down. If you don't, thats alright. Just keep breathing slowly and deeply. 4. You can just do the above three steps for 5 to 10 minutes and that would be a great help in slowing down your nervous system and putting you into a more calm and soothed frame of mind. You may also choose to add a little mindful concentration on certain points in your body to further the nourishing aspects of this exercise. 5. You can start by inhaling and focusing on your Third Eye, the point between your eyebrows. As you exhale, move your focus down through your mouth into your throat. 6. Inhale into your Throat Chakra, the small dip where your throat meets your sternum. Exhale down into your Heart Chakra, the point between your nipples. 7. Inhale into your Heart Chakra and exhale down to your Solar Plexus, the point midway between your belly button and the lowest point of your sternum, also called the xyphoid process. Inhale into your Solar Plexus (Central Nutrition point to help digestion) and then exhale down, through your belly button to a point about 3 inches below your belly button. 8. This point is called your 'Lower Dan Tian' in Qigong and other Taoist practices. This is where your life energy is stored, according to ancient Chinese Taoist texts. If you remain focused on this point as you breathe in and out, you will nourish and fortify your energy reserves. Your 'Lower Dan Tian is like a resevoir of Qi. This is your Kidney Qi. 9. Inhale one last time into your 'Lower Dan Tian' and now exhale down, through your genitals, into your inner thighs. Inhale into your inner thighs and exhale down through your inner knee into the medial or inner side of your lower leg. 10. Breathe into the point in the dip between your inner ankle and your achilles tendon, behind your inner ankle. This point is the 'Source point' of the Kidney meridian which serves to tonify the Kidney meridian and recharge the adrenal glands. This point is very important for recovering from adrenal burnout and subduing the frantic sympathetic nervous system. 11. Inhale one last time into this point behind your inner ankle, and then exhale down into the soles of your feet. Breathe deeply and slowly as you keep your focus on the soles of your feet. Relax the stiffness in your feet and try to feel your connection with Mother Earth through them. You have energetic roots that go down from your feet into to the Earth, connecting you to the Motherly and nourishing Yin energy which gets so depleted with our busy schedules. It is of utmost importance to send our consciousness down into our feet and even further down into the Earth. 12. This meditation helps to descend the energy down into our legs and feet, recharging the Kidney meridian and calming our adrenal glands back into the para-sympathetic or 'Rest and Relaxation' mode. You should feel calmer, safer, and more at ease at the close of this meditation. You can spend as much time as you like on each point, prolonging the duration of the meditation, just as long as you make sure to finish in the soles of your feet and connect with Mother Earth. In order to strengthen our bond to the Earth, it is highly recommended to walk barefoot for at least 30 minutes a day, especially in the evening to help draw the energy down out of our heads. Too many thoughts and worries It can be hard nowadays to just calm and settle the mind, what with all that needs to be taken care of. We have to be on the ball in order to make sure our bills get paid, chores get done, etc. How are we supposed to just turn our minds off when it's time to go to sleep? Sometimes we need help from the outside. Ask your partner to massage your feet when it gets close to bedtime. It is amazing how powerful a good foot massage can be at relaxing the entire body and mind. It draws the energy and the mind into the feet, causing everything to descend into the earth and out of the head. If you live alone, you can massage your own feet. Rubbing and stimulating the Kidney 1 acupuncture point in the sole of your foot. You can also rub your feet together. Try taking the heel of one foot and using it to massage the sole of your other foot. Rub back and forth 36 times. Now repeat with your other heel 36 times. Other things that you can try include: 1. Massage your third eye point with lavender essential oil. 2. Drink chamomile tea before going to bed. 3. Stop watching television two hours before going to bed. 4. Take a soothing herbal bath in the evening with Lavender and Rosemary. 5. Turn off all of the electricity in your house two hours before going to bed. 6. Don't drink caffeine after 12 o'clock noon. 7. Don't drink caffeine. Instead try more natural energy boosters such as Eleuthero (Siberian Ginseng), Cordyceps, or American Ginseng. Be careful with Korean Ginseng because it is really warming and over-stimulating. 8. Write in your journal for half an hour, all of the thoughts that pop up in your head. Every little word, whether it is sensible or not. Think of it as cleaning out your mental closet. After you write everything down, throw the paper in the fireplace or just throw it away in the trash as an energetic cleansing of the thoughts that steal your life energy. 9. Collect shells and stones and make a small pouch to put them inside. Place this under your pillow. You can also use hematite, magnetite, fluorite or silver. You can also add lavender and Chamomile flowers to your pillow. 10. Acupuncture and Chinese herbs are excellent therapies for calming the mind and helping you sleep at night. 'Suan Zao Ren wan' is a good general formula for insomnia, however always consult with a professional Acupuncturist or Chinese Herbalist before just taking an herbal formula. Your diagnostic pattern must be determined before herbs or other treatment should be administered. 11. Soak in a hot bath with lavender oil and bath salts. Massage the soles of your feet while you soak. You can also massage your lower back and legs, as long as you work down towards your feet. 12. Listen to soothing music in the evening. Turn off your electric lights. Instead light some candles and burn some Aloeswood incense. This is an ancient Chinese fragrance used during meditation. It is also a medicinal Chinese herb, designed to descend your energy down out of your head. 13. Do some stretching: Sit down on your bed with your legs straight in front of you and reach for your toes with your head and arms. Breathe through your nose long and deep breaths, relaxing into the stretch without over-extending yourself. This stretch benefits the back, legs, spine and calms the nervous system. Now interlace your fingers behind your head and curl your head towards the front of your thighs, stretching the back and spine. Keep your chin tucked into your chest as you roll your spinal vertebra one by as you straighten back up. Now, with your hands still interlaced, stretch your hands straight up above your head as you inhale deeply. Exhale and your arms return to about eye-level. Inhale as you stretch your interlaced hands up and to the left. Pushing and straightening your arms, stretching your whole left side of your upper body. Exhale, return your hands and your upper body back to the middle. Repeat to the right side now, inhale as you push your hands. Exhale as you relax. Now stretch your hands straight overhead one last time, inhale deeply. Exhale and bend forward towards your toes again, reaching your hands to grasp your feet. To conclude, lay straight back down so that you are lying flat on the floor, completely relaxed. Inhale deeply, so that your lower abdomen expands up with each inhale, and settles back down with each exhale. Lie here breathing deeply, putting your mind's focus on the soles of your feet. Eventually you should fall asleep.
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