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Mental Health
Relax Yourself: Here’re Natural Home Remedies For Good Sleep
Tucked inside your blanket, tired from all day’s work schedule and still staring at the ceiling? Well, if you are having trouble sleeping tonight or such sleepless nights have become common, you might already be experiencing shortness of body energy. Do not worry as we are not telling you to jump to any medication or other conclusion but giving you a step as home remedies for good sleep.
If sleep disorders or difficulties in sleep have become a part of routine, you might already be trying various remedies. However, remember that if you are facing other health issues like depression, stress, anxiety or hyperthyroidism then they can become reasons for insomnia. But if such issues do not persist then sleep problems can cause diabetes, high blood pressure, overthinking and consequent depression.
Keeping your mental health and physical wellness combined in mind, here are some natural ways to fall asleep and treat insomnia at home.
Natural Remedies To Help You Sleep
1. Home Light Exposure Technique
It might sound surprising but light exposure is an effective treatment plan to correct a troubled sleep cycle. Light therapy helps your body in understanding when to sleep and get up. Exposure increases the melatonin production in the body which also acts as a hormone maintaining sleep cycle.
However, when you are taking light therapy at home, the timing of its consumption becomes very important. For example, adults above 55 in Europe consumed light for 2 hours before hitting bed. At the same time, if you are someone who wakes up earlier than usual then light exposure could be made in late afternoon.
Also Read: Top 7 Colors to Bring Positivity in Your Home
2. Meditation & Mental Relaxation
Meditation is a powerful method to keep the stress hormones aside and sleep peacefully. Those who meditate regularly understand that focus on breathing can increase awareness, relaxes the body and completely calms the mind. Moreover, meditation also promotes mindfulness which keeps one attentive in the present without rushing the brains everywhere else.
Also Read: 7 Best Meditation Retreats Around the World [Affordable]
Another mental relaxation technique that acts as a home remedy for good sleep includes visualization. When you lie down on your bed, start imagining at a location where you would feel everything soothing. For example, a sandy beach, shack and coke beside you and you can feel the salty breeze hitting your face. The technique is very powerful to bring you closer to your dreams as well as a good sleep.
3. Gentle Yoga Before Sleep
Yoga heals you physically as well as mentally even when you are in your bed. Yes, there are best yoga poses for better sleep with breathing and exercises in sync. Yoga poses could be tried an hour prior sleeping to relieve insomnia symptoms. Yoga is actually a union of body and mind; trying it before bed relaxes the two.
4. Chamomile Tea
Although not clinically proven, chamomile is still a famous herb which helps in cutting down stress, muscle tension, anxiety and improves sleep cycle. Right after having dinner, you can have a cup of chamomile tea. However, make sure that you drink it an hour prior to bed. Even if not proven, many people have shown positive effects of tea as natural treatment of insomnia.
Also Read: 25 Best Herbal Teas For Stress, Anxiety, Sleep and More For You to Sip On
5. Aromatherapy
Aromatherapy once again may not be a proven way in assisting sleep but it does act as a remedy to soothe the body. You can try placing lavender oil in a diffuser, put scented sachet under your pillow or put a few drops in your bathing tub.
6. Right Food & Diet
There is indeed a direct connection between diet and good sleep. Foods that you must be included in your diet as remedy for natural sleep include:
- Food rich in B6
- Sunflower seeds
- Bananas
- Carbohydrate snacks
- Foods rich in magnesium like legumes, seeds, almonds, cashews, green vegetables, etc.
Food that must be avoided are:
- Caffeine
- Alcohol
- Excessive sugar
- Chocolate
- Cough and cold medicines
Once you have a good hold on your diet and consumption of the right amount of food, the sleep quality tends to improve by itself.
7. Soothing Music
If you set some soothing music near your bed and listen to it before dozing off, there are chances of having better sleep. Yes, this has been researched and proven by a report called ‘Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews’. But you have to be very specific about choosing the soothing music and set it off after a few minutes.
8. Try Relaxing On The Docking Chair/Hammock
Have you seen a baby sleeping in a carriage or mom’s arms? If you have, you know that the docking chair could be your right call. The gentle swing of a chair can provide sensation that fosters deep sleep.
Bonus: Improve Lifestyle, Sleep Deep!
With all the other insomnia natural remedies, it is also important to note that your lifestyle is well-maintained and includes exercises. Exercises in your everyday life contribute to good sleep. In fact, it has the power to cut down symptoms of depression and anxiety.