Try taking a warm shower or indulging in some natural oil therapy to help you battle insomnia, suggest experts.
Insomnia or sleeplessness can be taken care of by following natural remedies suggested by experts Naresh Arora, Founder of Chase Aromatherapy Cosmetics, and Nalin Verma, Co-Founder and Director, Euro Chroma Institute of Cosmetology (ECIC):
* Before going to bed, take a warm shower. It is like an exercise, the hot shower will help you to fall asleep as soon as you hit the bed.
* Dip your feet in lukewarm water in a foot bathtub or bucket to relax your body muscles and tissues and add one teaspoon of epsom salt commonly known as dead sea salt.
Foot bath also prevents your skin from unwanted bacteria and decreases the leg pain that you gained from the whole day. In the bucket of warm water, you can also put some essential oil like 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.
* Lavender, Jasmine, Neroli, and ylang-ylang are very useful for the natural oil therapy for insomnia. The soothing and calm effect of essential oil can prevent you from sleeplessness.
* Do not eat or drink right before going to bed. Eating a late dinner or snacking before going to bed can activate the digestive system and you can suffer from gastric problems or heartburn. It is even more important to avoid eating and drinking right before bed since this can make your symptoms worse and will keep you up.
* Make your sleeping environment comfortable: Temperature, lighting, and noise should be controlled to make the bedroom convenient for sleep.
* Decrease your caffeine intake.
* Delay worrying and brainstorming. If you wake up during the night feeling anxious about something, make a brief note of it on paper and postpone worrying about it until the next day when it will be easier to resolve.
* Alcohol disrupts the sleep cycle and may keep you up throughout the night.
* Avoid naps during the day as it can make it more difficult for you to sleep at night. If you feel like you have to take a nap, limit it to 30 minutes.
* Sip warm milk with honey daily at night.
* Practice cognitive behavioural therapy and manage your stress with exercise daily.
* Stick to a regular sleep schedule. Set your biological clock by sleeping and getting up at the same time every day, including weekends. Get up at your usual time in the morning even if you’re tired. This will help you get back in a regular sleep rhythm.
* Turn off all screens at least an hour before bed. Electronic screens emit a blue light that disrupts your body’s production of melatonin and combats sleepiness. So instead of watching TV or spending time on your phone, tablet, or computer, choose another relaxing activity, such as reading a book or listening to soft music.
* Move bedroom clocks out of view. Anxiously watching the minutes tick by when you can’t sleep — knowing that you’re going to be exhausted when the alarm goes off — is a surefire recipe for insomnia.
