Restorative Sleep

"What hath night to do with sleep?" was a question from John Milton in Paradise Lost.  It seems, if Facebook posts at all hours of the night are indicative, that many folks feel this way. Insomnia has been around for the ages and seems to be becoming more prevalent with each passing year. 

Why? Many reasons.

To truly get restorative sleep, the kind we need to meet our utmost needs for a good night's sleep, it takes about 7-9 hours by most experts' calculations. Most people look at that number and think how does that work? How can a person take that many hours out of a too busy day to spend only on sleep? I'm guessing that most reading this average about 6 hours at the most--that seems to be what most people give as an answer when asked about sleep habits. 

And how much of that is spent in actual sleep? If you're thinking about how the day went (or didn't), what should have been done (or shouldn't), or how the next day should go, you're wasting valuable shut-eye. Just thinking about wasting valuable shut-eye keeps one awake that much longer...it gets to be a pretty vicious cycle in no time.

So, what to do? 

If at all possible, relax. Our bodies have very finely-tuned receptors that easily pick up stressors. To help ourselves, we need to truly prepare ourselves for sleep. That means no last-minute intense TV show right before bed, no heavy eating, no borrowing tomorrow's troubles tonight. The show's not that important, you've probably had enough to eat to hold you over until tomorrow morning's breakfast, and tomorrow will find you soon enough. It's okay to allow yourself some good sleep. 

If you are seriously having issues with sleep, there are a number of things that can help. Integrative healing such as Reiki, reflexology, massage, meditation, and yoga can help. Your physician can help you figure out if you perhaps need more magnesium. Remember to try natural ways first before trying prescription medications; many times these have some extreme side-effects you might be able to avoid. If you do need these medications, be sure to have a physician's careful guidance.

Natural, restorative sleep can be achieved in a natural way in most cases. Give yourself the time and ability to re-learn how to sleep--one step at a time. Before you know it, you'll be snoozing well and waking up even better!