How to sleep well and have a good rest

Published: 06/17/2011 - Updated: 11/11/2018

Many people find it hard to sleep and rest deeply. If you cannot fall asleep and wake up often at night, do not despair. Here are some tips to help you achieve a restful sleep.

The first thing is to know the causes that prevent a good night's sleep:

  • Intestinal conditions
  • Lying too late or not sleep at certain times
  • Excessive mental work
  • Malfunction of the liver or spleen
  • Insufficient secretion
  • Low blood temperature
  • Drinking too much tea or coffee before bedtime or during the day
  • Anemia
  • Excessive stress or anxiety due to unresolved emotional issues as concerns
  • Periods of abstinence, when you want to leave the snuff, medication or drug
  • Diet problem as eating too much protein before bedtime

If you cannot detect the root cause of your insomnia, do not worry. These remedies are used to help relax your body, it doesn’t matter your case.

To have a break you need:

1. Help the body to relieve accumulated stress during day

For this, running or a walking helps, but it is also necessary to do stretching exercises to help the muscles to release tension actually build during the day. The practice of yoga can help here, or just perform stretching at home following a book of yoga.

2. Nourish your nervous system

Include nutritious foods in your diet such as fish oils Omega-3 (chia is a super food of the nervous system), milk vegetables and whole grains. Avoid anything containing white sugar like soft drinks, processed, candy, etc. that only degenerate the nervous system, causing severe problems of nervousness and anxiety. You should remove all heavy starches and refined flour or white, which create pollution in the intestines.

3. Nightmares                    

Usually occur when the intestines do not function well when dining too much or when the body detox period is deep (like when you're leaving any drugs or snuff).

4. If you sweat a lot at night

This may indicate iron deficiency, and if sleep is light may be lack of calcium, magnesium and phosphorus. For this, you should include in your diet foods rich in these minerals, a varied diet of fruits and vegetables is helpful, as well as whole grains and legumes. You should avoid drinking tea during meals because it inhibits the proper absorption of iron, it should be taken twenty minutes after eating, and you should avoid stimulants before bedtime. If you want to avoid nightmares or light sleep, drink lettuce and celery juice at night before sleep, or eat a salad with these vegetables.

5. After consuming the salad or juice

You can wait twenty minutes and drink a tea of valerian, orange or lime, which are relaxing.

6. You can practice meditation before bed

Thinking about a landscape that will produce peace, and you can reach sleeping in an easy way.

7. A massage before bed is helpful

Ask someone to massage you which will help to release excess stress on your body. Use oils of lavender, orange blossom, rosemary, etc., and mix with sesame oil or extra virgin olive oil to give a relaxing massage. Fragrances are a real food for the spirit, help relax the body and create a harmonious and peaceful environment in mind. It is necessary that you make sure that they are natural to get the harmonic and healing effect.

8. You should try to drive your mind to harmonious and relaxing thoughts before sleep

If it costs you, I recommend you read a book that helps you to feel at peace, avoid watching news or programs to activate your nerves or your mental activity, it is best to listen to soothing music, focus on beautiful images and repeat phrases to help yourself to create a peaceful state. A harmonious thought indeed create a joyful state in the body, which helps induce restful sleep. Thinking beautiful things prevents idle and anxious thoughts.

9. Make sure your place of rest is not too tight

Or that the room contains bad furniture or too many things. Your sleeping area should be vented as possible.

10. If you feel you cannot sleep

Do not force yourself to sleep. Open your eyes and try to focus on harmonics thoughts without forcing you to sleep, or do meditation again until little by little your body gets tired. Forcing to sleep only causes the opposite effect, we cannot rest well. Simply, wait for your body to relax again. 

References

  1. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, 2018. Sleep Disorders: In Depth
  2. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, 2018. Sleep Disorders and Complementary Health Approaches
  3. Medlineplus, 2018. Insomnia.
  4. Zhou, E. S., Gardiner, P., & Bertisch, S. M. (2017). Integrative Medicine for Insomnia. The Medical Clinics of North America, 101(5), 865–879.
  5. Burman, D. (2017). Sleep Disorders: Insomnia. FP Essentials, 460, 22–28.

About the author
  • K. Laura Garcés G

    Writer, therapist and lecturer. She is a lover of natural medicine and the power of mind and emotions in body and life. In addition, he has studied nutrition and develops appropriate diets to support this healing process.She has written more than 1500 articles in magazines in Spain and Mexico, winner of two literature contests. Linkedin.