Over Coming Insomnia

By Carolyn Schropp BS, NC, Functional Nutritional Consultant and Educator

It’s pitch black and the only light is the ghostly glow from the numbers on your alarm clock. Eyes wide open, you think about the blackout drape you ordered and installed in your bedroom. It sure is working. It’s plenty dark. Glad you found in that catalogue and bought it with your credit card. Suddenly here comes another thought, "Did I pay the credit card bill? Uh oh, and I can’t forget to pay the mortgage. It’s due the day after tomorrow…or is it next week? When do I take the dog to the vet? I think I have a dentist appointment that I need to reschedule so I can make that important meeting at the office". On and on it goes. You need to sleep and you can’t shut off the endless cacophony that keeps replaying over and over in your sleepless mind. After hours of lying there wide awake, you finally drift off into a light sleep. Before you know it the alarm blasts you awake at 6:00 a.m. and another stressful day begins. Tortuous traffic, unpaid bills, fear of layoffs and all the various burdens begin to pile up and you have to face it with little or no sleep.

We all suffer from some loss of sleep. However, it is usually just one or two nights and it only happens occasionally. When loss of sleep becomes the norm you should pay attention. Did you know aside from disease, nothing will degrade good health as quickly as the lack of sleep? Your body requires that period of rest in order to replenish and rejuvenate. HealthWalk™’s natural supplement, ReGenesys™ has shown to be supportive of healthy tissue growth, enhance energy, normal sleep patterns and stress recovery. ReGenesys™ provides intestinal and digestive enzymes to promote proper absorption of nutrients and to enhance the absorption of ReGenesys™’ powerful blend of calcium, magnesium, dimethylglycene and boron for muscle and nerve function enhancement, malic acid for detoxification and adaptogens to help the body recover from stress. It provides a good support for alleviating sleep and stress challenges.

Strategies to prepare you for a better sleep

1. Maintain a regular sleep-wake pattern. Go to bed and wake up the same time each day, including weekends.
2. Keep your bedroom dark during sleep. Block out all light in the bedroom, including the lights from electronic devices like alarm clocks, TV and sound systems.
3. Reduce stimulants. Tea, coffee, cola, chocolate, cigarettes prevent quality deep sleep.
   If you are on medication, check with your doctor or pharmacist for their effect on sleeping. Ask to have your medication adjusted if they are impacting your sleep.
4. Don’t exercise strenuously within two to three hours of retiring. Exercising early in the day helps you sleep, but exercising too close to bed causes wakefulness.
5. Do have a hot shower or bath before bed. We tend to fall asleep as our body temperature falls.
6. Associate the bed and bedroom with only sleep and intimacy. Don’t write, eat, or work in bed.
7. Don’t go through the day’s events in your mind when you are in bed or in the bedroom. Set aside some time towards the end of the day if you need to review the day’s events or plan tomorrow’s and find a place other than the bedroom to do it.
8. Avoid alcohol. Although alcohol will make people drowsy, the effect is short lived and people will often wake up several hours later, unable to fall back asleep. Alcohol will also keep you from falling into the deeper stages of sleep, where the body does most of its healing.
9. Lose weight. Being overweight can increase the risk of sleep apnea, which will prevent a restful night’s sleep.
10. Avoid foods that you may be sensitive to. This is particularly true for dairy and wheat products, as they may have effect on sleep, such as causing apnea, excess congestion, gastrointestinal upset, and gas, among others.
11. If you are menopausal or perimenopausal, get checked out by a good natural medicine healer. The hormonal changes at this time may cause problems if not properly addressed. At HealthWalk we can analyze and support your hormonal and adrenal balances to help you regain balance.
12. Establish a bedtime routine. This could include meditation, deep breathing, using aromatherapy or essential oils or enjoying a massage. The key is to find something that makes you feel relaxed, then repeat it regularly to help you release the day's tensions.
13. Go to the bathroom right before bed. This will reduce the chances that you'll wake up to go in the middle of the night.
14. Step away from work away at least one hour before bed. This will give your mind a chance to unwind so you can go to sleep feeling calm, not hyped up or anxious about tomorrow's deadlines.

Sleep Enhancers:

Ensuring that your daytime diet is rich in B vitamins will help you sleep. The B group of vitamins supports the nervous system and aids dream activity.

Foods rich in B’s include:

Foods that work on regulating the sleep cycle:

If there are sufficient levels of vitamin B6 in the body, tryptophan will aid in the production of neurotransmitters such as serotonin, which helps to regulate sleep patterns.

Tryptophan is an amino acid found in:

Calcium also helps release such serotonins. Choose foods such as:

Vibrant health, you can attain it and we at HealthWalk are here to support you on your path to regaining maintaining and enhancing it.

Carolyn Schropp is a new member of the HealthWalk Family. She became a functional nutritional consultant and educator so that she can share her passion and to inspire others to take control of their life, make healthy nutritional choices and do their very best in all they do. She joined HealthWalk™ because she shares HealthWalk’s mission of holistic healthcare. Her mission in Functional Nutritional Counseling is to provide natural solutions and resources unique to the needs of each client. This includes whole foods meal planning, customized supplementation, stress reduction and nourishing self-care techniques. She is looking forward to seeing and supporting you at HealthWalk™.