A good night’s sleep is the best remedy.
An old adage, yet mostly true. We spend anywhere from a quarter to a third of our lives sleeping. We need this rest for the body to function properly and our mental and emotional states to be balanced. When we do not sleep well, we do not function well. It is as simple as that.
Many people suffer from some sleep problem. It can be temporary or chronic. It can be falling asleep or waking up during the night. It can be a restless sleep or a dream heavy sleep that does not make us feel refreshed. It can be too few hours or too many. There are many ways in which our sleep can be disturbed and many manifestations of sleeping problems. Each pattern is treated differently in acupuncture. We look at the whole organism and include the problems with sleep in understanding the underlying problem and then treat in a global approach.
In addition to acupuncture, here are some lifestyle tips that can help improve your sleep:
- Have your evening meal earlier. Allowing at least 3 hours before going to bed will permit the digestion process to do most of the heavy work before going to sleep. Also, going for a walk after eating will help the body digest faster.
- Don’t look at a screen for an hour before going to bed. The blue light emitted from TVs, computer screens, and telephones stimulates the brain and keeps us from falling asleep.
- If you exercise or meditate close to your bedtime, this can make it more difficult to fall asleep. Doing these activities in the morning or earlier in the day can be helpful.
- Try to have a routine and set cycle with your sleep. The body works on cycles and if the sleep cycle is consistent, it will make it easier for the body to know when it is time to turn off.
- Make your bed a place for sleep. If you work or watch tv in bed, it can be sending mixed signals to the body as to what it should do when in that place. The bed should only be used for sleeping and lying down.
Even with these changes we can still experience sleep problems and acupuncture can help.
I wish you all sweet dreams.