Trouble Sleeping? 5 Naturopathic Treatments That Can Help You Sleep Better

If you need a little extra help to get a good night’s sleep, consider trying these 5 natural sleeping aids below.

Having a good sleep is a restorative process. Just like a phone dies off post usage for long hours and needs recharging, so does the human body. Sleep helps repair various bodily functions at the cellular level. It improves the cognitive ability of an individual to carry out daily functions. Therefore the ability to fall asleep or remail asleep at night without any disturbances is most crucial to maintain overall well-being of an individual.

Sleep is an active state maintained by a highly organized interaction of neural networks and neurotransmitters of the central nervous system (CNS). Stress is one of the major factors for poor quality and amount of sleep. The end products of stress response are corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) and cortisol, which are responsible for arousal and sleeplessness. On the contrary, deep sleep has an inhibitory effect on the stress response. Other factors associated with poor quality sleep are – chronic pains, heart failure, COPD, Asthma, ulcers, thyroid disorders, Parkinson’s diseases, headaches, smoking etc.

5 Ways in Which Naturopathy Can Help Improve Sleep:

1. Hydrotherapy: A neutral temperature douche for 3-5 minutes at bedtime helps relieves cerebral congestion. Also simple things like a hot foot immersion helps in it. A warm immersion bath or shower at bedtime is a very traditional concept and acts a natural sedative by relieving irritability and restlessness of the body.

2. Massage therapy: A gentle massage to the head, neck and foot during bedtime or late evening also induces sleep. Many studies have been conducted on the same and found that there is release of endorphins during massage which reduces pain, de-stresses and provides relaxation.

3. Food: What we eat and when we eat can influence our sleeping patterns. A recent study concluded that higher food intake close to bedtime is associated with negative sleep patterns. It was hypothesized that an increased gastric volume may lead to physical discomfort and delay the onset of sleep. Certain food items like beetroot, banana, buttermilk, almonds are very rich in tryptophan which promotes sleep. Also pistas, cashew, coconut water, jackfruit, sunflower seeds, peanuts, barley, amaranth and bajra are some of the foods rich in potassium and Vitamin B6 which act as natural relaxant.

4. Yoga: Regular practice of Yoga helps reduce stress and regularize sleep patterns. Yoga has been known to reduce somatization and symptoms related to mental health indicators such as anxiety, depression, anger and fatigue. Inverted postures, forward and back bends promote better blood flow to the brain, promoting sleep. Pranayama which comprises of slow breathing helps in activating the parasympathetic nervous system which can make you calmer and more relaxed.

5. Meditation: Even a simple 15 min meditation technique of breath awareness can help stimulate the pineal gland which is responsible for the production of the hormone melatonin which primarily controls the sleep-wake cycle and mood stability. Practices like deep relaxation, trataka induce an alpha state in which the alpha brain waves become dominant. This is a state of wakeful relaxation leading to calmness, alertness and better cognitive skills.

(Inputs: Dr Avantika Krishna Killa, Naturopathy – Yoga Physician and Founder, Panchatattva)