It is difficult to find a person who has not been visited by insomnia at least several times in her life (insomnia, as doctors call her). It manifests itself in different ways: someone cannot sleep for a long time, tossing and turning in bed for hours and trying to count sheep, the other, on the contrary, falls asleep easily, but wakes up in the middle of the night or early in the morning and can no longer plunge into a long-awaited dream. For the third, it is connected with the fact that instead of a full-fledged one, they fall into an intermittent, superficial sleep, such short-term half-forgotten ones that do not give rest, but are only worn out so that in the morning a person gets up completely broken, and even with a headache.
Often insomnia is associated with some kind of disease, persistent mental disorders, or for no apparent reason becomes chronic, that is , it repeats for several nights in a row. In such cases, do not self-medicate, only the doctor will be able to make the correct diagnosis and help restore normal deep sleep.
Most people visit insomnia periodically. You can cope with it yourself, without resorting to the help of doctors, if you follow the simplest rules of nutrition and domestic behavior, as well as use the natural remedies that a wide variety of alternative medicine offers.
In principle, it is not difficult to prevent insomnia, but it does not always work out. And all because of our rich dynamic life. Then in the afternoon you will get into trouble, to which then at midnight you will return with thoughts. Then, occasionally ringing glasses, stay up late with friends, and even in clubs of cigarette smoke. Often, workaholism also makes its contribution, when a person even in the evening can not give up his official duties, overloading their already tired brain. There are a lot of people who, for various reasons, are accustomed to a late plentiful dinner, and then they are surprised that “there is no sleep in one eye.”
The conclusions suggest themselves: in order for the dream to be deep, you need to prepare for it and follow simple rules. If there is such an opportunity, try to go to bed and get up at the same time every day , adjusting to the biological clock of the body. By the way, a person sleeps better if he goes to bed early and gets up early. If , after sitting up until late in the morning, to sleep “all the way”, you wake up in a broken condition, and even with a headache. But to go to bed early, if you don’t feel like sleeping at all, you don’t need to, you still won’t be able to fall asleep quickly, and the dream that has come, in the end, is usually not deep.
You should be careful about daytime sleep. It all depends on individual characteristics, for some it does not affect the night’s sleep, while others after it get insomnia almost until the morning. You should not go to bed if you are in an “inflated” state. Before going to bed, it is important to relax – take a walk, breathe in fresh air, take a warm shower, listen to pleasant calm music, read a book with a simple storyline. For me, for a long time the best sleeping pill was the book “Country of Furs” by Jules Verne; only 1−1.5 pages, and a sound sleep is provided, even regretted that, in the end, she “overpowered”.
By the way, shortly before bedtime you can do some monotonous work, but without physical and mental effort – washing dishes, putting things in order in the room, rearranging books or trinkets on the shelves. It is advisable not to leave something unfinished at night so as not to return to it with thoughts. The feeling that the day went well, and everything planned has been done, will help to plunge into a calm sleep.
There is a special conversation about food: a light dinner no later than 19 (the best option – 18) hours. To exclude indigestible, excessively sweet and spicy foods, alcoholic and stimulating drinks from it. Do not forget that some foods have a beneficial effect on sleep, as they contribute to the production of the hormone melatonin, which, in particular, include sea fish, poultry, and nuts. An hour before bedtime, you can drink a glass of kefir or eat an apple. It is good to eat a tablespoon of honey before bedtime and drink a little warm water. But it is undesirable to drink medications before bedtime, if necessary, they should be taken at least two hours before bedtime.
It is important to go to bed in comfortable conditions. It is advisable to pre-ventilate the room, to ensure that there are no extraneous smells and noises in it. It is good in the evening for a while to turn on the ionizer in the bedroom, and if the air is dry, then a humidifier. Naturally, the bed should be comfortable.
For a deep and calm sleep, you can also use traditional medicine. Most often, valerian and peony roots, peppermint, motherwort, lemon balm, alfalfa, thyme, chamomile flowers, lavender, calendula and fragrant violets, hop cones, flowers and fruits of hawthorn, wormwood, birdwort (knotweed), St. John’s wort , fireweed (Ivan tea), sage, fruits of barberry and caraway seeds, greens and dill seeds, oats, lettuce seeds (lettuce) and fragrant celery.
In the pharmacy you can buy ready-made complex collections or dried plants, but you can prepare them yourself, and infusions or decoctions to prepare from them as needed. The most famous of folk remedies was Valerian, from the roots of which infusions, tinctures, decoctions are made. The simplest option is to pour a tablespoon of dried valerian roots with a glass of hot water, bring to a boil and let stand in a water bath or low heat for 10-15 minutes. Drink a decoction in a tablespoon three times a day before meals and at bedtime.
Effective remedies for insomnia can be prepared from smelling celery and pharmacy chamomile. Pour a tablespoon of freshly chopped celery leaves with a glass of warm water and leave for 8-10 hours. Take as a decoction of valerian roots. From chamomile, you can prepare an infusion or broth. For infusion, a tablespoon of dried flowers is poured with a glass of boiling water and kept in a thermos for up to an hour. Drink a third of a glass an hour before meals. In a similar way, the infusion can be made from dill seeds.
To combat insomnia, you can use it separately or in the collection of St. John’s wort, fireweed and oregano. Of St. John’s wort and oregano, infusions are usually made, for which two tablespoons of St. John’s wort or two teaspoons of oregano are poured with a glass of boiling water and insisted in a thermos for 1-1.5 hours. Take a meal in a third of a glass. From a fireweed make a decoction or infusion. For a decoction, two teaspoons of the fireweed are poured with a glass of water, brought to a boil and incubated for 10-15 minutes in a water bath. Take a tablespoon before eating. The fireweed is also recommended to brew as regular tea, including in equal parts with St. John’s wort and a pharmacy chamomile. By the way, you can drink a tablespoon of honey with such herbal tea before going to bed. Do not forget that honey is an excellent remedy for insomnia and goes well with medicinal herbs.
There are many options for using medicinal plants to combat insomnia; recipes can be found in reference books or on the Internet. You can experiment with compiling various fees on your own, only you should adhere to the rule if you “invent” your own infusion or decoction, make it initially from a reduced amount of raw materials and check, according to the reference books, in how much components can be taken and how they are combined with each other.
If you want to defeat insomnia, it’s not at all difficult, for this it is advisable to adhere to a reasonable daily routine, a balanced rational diet rich in vitamins and minerals, and, if necessary, use the means that nature surrounding us is ready to provide.