If you suffer from sleeping disorders, chances are you’ll be given a prescription for sleeping pills. There are however a lot of side effects with sleeping pills, so you’d be better off in the long run treating yourself using natural insomnia cures.
This reliance on sleeping pills is symptomatic of the way we automatically look for the “quick fix”. Granted there may be at times good reasons to use pharmaceutical drugs at times, sleep and insomnia are not best treated that way.
Most people need about 6 – 8 hours per night, on average and numerous studies have shown that the odd night with less sleep is not detrimental. The main reason many of us cope badly with a nights disrupted sleep is strangely enough be because we take it too seriously!
Try to consider at your occasional insomnia in a philosophical way – the odd night with bad sleep is part of life. Unless your insomnia is frequent and actually affects your life, it is best to regard episodes of less than perfect sleep as a gift of extra hours!
Having said that we all know the feeling that “I really want to go to sleep tonight!” If that occurs now and then try natural insomnia cures before reaching for sleeping pills – they have no side effects!
An age old method of falling asleep is to take a warm bath and adding some drops of essential oils will increase its effectiveness.
Here are some useful oils you can try – singly or in combination. Everyone is unique, so you might find that combining two or more works really well for you.
- Lavender (Lavandula Angustifolia). Has a distinctive and pleasing, calming smell and has been used for centuries.
- Sandalwood (Santalum Album). Has a soft fragrance and appeals probably more to men than the other oils mentioned here. It is often used in balms and body lotions for men.
- Sweet Marjoram (Origanum Majorana). This herb gives you a relaxed, warm feeling and will leave you feeling quite drowsy. It is not the same as “Spanish Marjoram”, which has different properties and is a thyme species.
- Neroli (Citrus Aurantium). It is part of the citrus family, it has a distinctive fragrance and is often said to be particularly effective for treating for insomnia and sleep difficulties.
- When using essential oils know they are very strong! Check they are not falsified and blended with other ingredients (check the latin names!) and use only 6-8 drops. Use less for children and older people, particularly if they are poorly
- Used correctly essential oils will not have any bad effects but instead enhance the beneficial effect of a warm bath.
- Finally – if you wonder why this works it is paradoxically because the body has to be cooler before you can sleep. When you take a bath you will obviously be warmer, but once you get up the body over compensates and thus you cool down. When searching for natural insomnia cures make sure you consider these essential oils!
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