Natural remedy for sleeplessness

At 11.00 pm: I should sleep now. At 3.00 am: Still scrolling Facebook. This is a very common scenario worldwide nowadays. Millions of people find difficulties to fall asleep according to biological clock. You want to sleep early, but your mind runs you to another direction, it insists you to chat with a friend, or scroll Facebook aimlessly or watching a video on YouTube. Besides trying to sleep, you get glued to the social media. This sleeplessness is called ‘Insomnia’. Among the various lifestyle disorders affecting all and sundry are hypertension, stress, depression and insomnia.

High-paced lifestyle, increased timetables and the desire to earn quick bucks have added to this suffering. Overworked body and mind, haphazard diet scheduling and over-dependence on junk food also leads to such lifestyle disorders. Insomnia can affect a person for many reasons.

This disorder takes a toll on a person’s physical and mental health. A study says that in the US 30-40 per cent adults are affected by insomnia, where 10-15 per cent adults state that they are facing this disorder as a chronic one; in India, more than 10 million adults are facing this sleep disorder problem.

The main reasons behind it is a person is trying to accomplish all his/her jobs, all his duties in one order; means s/he has to earn more money, so s/he stays late at office; s/he also has to attend a party, so s/he attends the party after the office. Everything in his/her life is perfect but one thing is missing, that is sleep.

Many of us don’t know that our brain has a sleep cycle and a wake cycle. If sleep cycle is in working mode then the wake cycle remains off as it will rise when sleep cycle stops working. So when someone gets affected by insomnia his these two cycles work on either side of the biological system.

This unhealthy sleep habit can affect a person’s life very badly. A person finds difficulties in falling asleep and staying asleep; and this leads to low energy, concentration problem, mood swings, low performance in school or work.

Most of the people who suffer from this sleep disorders face so many problems in daily life. A person drowns into stress, facing some psychological disorder too. They may encounter with anger, as their mind is not working properly. Some people stay late at the office, they work late by sitting on a chair, this leads to affect your spinal cords and can create back pain.

A person affected by insomnia need to consult a doctor if his/her problem stays more than 3 or 4 weeks. Some people are afraid of treatment as they feel with the medicines side effects which will affect more. But it can be cured by natural remedies too. All you have to do is to maintain a right lifestyle for you and sleep according to your biological clock.

We all need eight hours of sound sleep to lead a good life. Sleep is really important for our health. One, who faces insomnia, can try a simple natural remedy at home. Before going to bed take a hot shower. It is like an exercise, the hot shower will help you to fall asleep as soon as you hit the bed. After the hectic day you need to calm your muscles and cool down your body to get a relaxing sleep for that you can dip your feet in lukewarm water.

For decongest/relax your body muscles and tissues, you may add one teaspoon of Epsom salt (Dead sea salt). A Footbath also prevents your skin from unwanted bacteria, decreases the leg pain that you gained from the whole day. In that warm water, you can also put some essential oil to help you more to relax.

Essential oils are very useful for this sleep disorder. You can use basil (tulsi) oil, cedarwood oil, cypress oil, juniper berry oil, lavender oil, rosemary oil and wintergreen oil. Just put 1 or 2 drops into the water bucket.

Warm water works wonder on our tired body. If someone has no time for a hot shower before heading to the bed, he can put his legs in warm water for hours. It is a really helpful way to relax after a long hectic day. In this remedy, the foot hydrates your skin, smoothens your muscles and help you to relax and this leads you to fall asleep soon you hit the bed.

In that way, essential oils can affect your body chemistry and the aroma helps you to head the mesmerising world of falling asleep. Lavender, jasmine, neroli, ylang-ylang are very useful for this natural oil therapy for insomnia.

Scientists say that the oil, especially the lavender, enters your blood cells after the five minutes of applying. The soothing and calm effect of essential oil can prevent you from sleeplessness. The smell directly hits your brain and evaporative natural compounds of the oil are inbreathed.

By: Dr Naresh Arora
The author is Founder of Chase Aromatherapy Cosmetics.