With rising demands on our time, technological interference, and just plain stress, sleep can seem elusive. There is no one size fits all approach to sleep issues, but as a hypnotist and a Certified Natural Health Professional (CNHP) I always give my clients a number of ways to address insomnia. There may be a combination of mental, physical, and emotional roadblocks. Here's a few of my favorite tips for becoming a naturally great sleeper.
Mental: Train your brain! Use hypnosis, meditation, and sleep time rituals to train your brain to prepare for great sleep.
Physical: Things like the foods you eat, certain vitamin deficiencies, and a "misinformed" circadian rhythm can disrupt sleep. To ensure a good night of sleep, it's best to stop eating after 7:00 pm, take a quality multivitamin daily (magnesium is especially important to sleep) and go to bed when your body tells you.
Emotional: Get rid of stress multiple times a day so it never builds to the point where you feel overwhelmed. Doing deep breathing exercises is a great way to bring stress levels down quickly. Deep breathing means "belly breathing" or a diaphragmatic breath where your belly rises during the breath, not your chest. Grounding is another ways to relieve stress and remind yourself to be in the moment.
