Simple Methods to Alleviate Insomnia at Barefooters' Library

If you've ever had trouble falling asleep at night, and who hasn't, then you'll know that it can be very frustrating indeed. Staring at the clock, doing mental calculations and thinking that if I just feel asleep in the next five minutes I would get this many hours of sleep, can be a real frustrating experience.

Being able to get a good night sleep in this stressful modern age is becoming more and more difficult. This is especially true in these troubled financial times. But sleep is one of the major keys to health, healing and longevity. Studies show that people who sleep more are in greater health, think more clearly, have more energy, live longer and their hearts work easier throughout the day.

When we sleep the liver is busy re-energizing the blood. This is one reason that over 50% of our blood ends up in the liver and spleen overnight. It's important to get that blood flowing and move it away from the organs and up to the brain upon waking up. I show an exercise for this on my Chinese Health And Fitness video. This is very important in helping to prevent strokes. Since most strokes occur before 9am while a large amount of blood is still stored in the internal organs.

During sleep the fire energies of the body are slowing being recharged as the heart rests. But if you don't get sufficient sleep, the heart is deprived of this rest as well as all the other organs, especially the liver. In Chinese medicine, the liver is the wood organ and the heart is the fire organ. The heart (fire organ) gets a lot of it's energy from the liver (wood organ). The liver also recharges the blood during the day with the extra energy it receives during sleep.

If the liver is unable to rejuvenate at night during deep restful sleep, not only is the blood chi now deficient, but the heart must work harder to maintain consciousness and to make up for this lack of wood that the liver is no longer providing. If you have ever gone through the day on only a few hours sleep, I'm sure you've noticed that your heart is often beating faster and harder. Human consciousness is fueled by the combined energies of the heart and kidneys, while thinking clarity, mood, overall metabolism and energy are governed by the liver.

Without sufficient sleep the whole system is operating on its emergency reserves throughout the day. For those in good health this is not usually a problem if it occurs sporadically. But if you're chronically sleep deprived your going to cause a host of short and long term illnesses. Deep sleep is necessary and critical to cell regeneration and the deeper the sleep, the greater is the healing and rebuilding of the body.

Enzymes, which are responsible for all processes in the body travel throughout the system while sleeping and rebuild damaged cells and tissues, fight off bacteria, viruses, germs, dissolve tumors and cancers and so much more, provided that you have sufficient enzymes in the first place that is.

Now that I've sung the praises of getting a good night sleep, what are some techniques to help us achieve this wonderful state of un -consciousness that we all love to experience.

This is because digestion increases the fire energies of the body and will keep you awake. Not to mention that later at night, enzymatic activity of the body is lower and food will not digest as completely as during the day. Noon time should be your largest meal with dinner time being only a moderate sized meal, something that we in the west tend to reverse

Again since water helps to cool the fire and strengthen the kidneys (The water organ) this will help to calm the conscious mind and help you to fall asleep.

Processed foods containing ingredients like Mono-Sodium-Glutamat (Natrium Glutamat) for example are known excitotoxins. What are excitotoxins? These are ingredients that actually accelerate the metabolism of certain cells, like brains cells to the point where they die prematurely. So not only does this kill your brain faster, it will keep you awake in the process which further causes cells to degenerate faster since they're not getting a chance to be healed during sleep.

Along the centerline of both feet, about an inch north of the center of the foot there is a point which lies on the kidney meridians. Pressing on this point with moderate pressure for 30-60 seconds helps to strengthen the kidneys and thus the water chi of the body. This has an associative cooling effect on the heart fire, calms the mind and can sometimes result is sleep in as little as 30 seconds later.

Take a moderately deep breath, then hold your breath for 3-5 seconds, then slowly exhale, take a deep breath again, hold it for 3-5 seconds, then exhale. Repeat this breathing exercise anywhere from 5-10 times or more and then try going back to sleep. You may find that your mind is not much more calm and sleeping before you know it. You can also do a general foot massage which can also help calm the mind and body energies too.

Melatonin is a natural hormone that regulates the human biological clock. The body produces less melatonin with advancing age, which may explain why elderly people often have difficulty sleeping and why melatonin supplements improve sleep in the elderly. Normally, the body makes melatonin for several hours per night--an effect best duplicated with time-release supplements. Studies using time-release melatonin have reported good results. Many doctors of natural medicine suggest 1-3 mg of melatonin taken one and a half to two hours before bedtime.

Valerian root makes getting to sleep easier and increases deep sleep and dreaming. Valerian does not cause a morning "hangover," a side effect common to prescription sleep drugs and melatonin in some individuals. A concentrated valerian root supplement in the amount of 300-400 mg can be taken thirty minutes before bedtime. Combining valerian root with other mildly sedating herbs is common both in Europe and the U.S. Chamomile,hops, passion flower,lemon balm,scullcap, and catnip are commonly recommended by doctors of natural medicine

Learning to meditate is critical for so many reasons, many of which I cover on my video so I won't repeat them all here. The more you practice calming the mind, the calmer the mind will become. With the right training, diligence and work any part of the body can be retrained and strengthened and this includes the mind. The stronger mind will be more under your control so when you want to go to sleep, it will obey your commands more so than someone who does not practice calming and controlling their mind and thoughts. This not only gives you more direct control over your thoughts, but helps to greatly alleviate or even remove stress. Without those nagging worries of the today, tomorrow, next week or next year, you'll have a far easier time drifting off into the blissful world of deep sleep. Your mind and body will thank you for it the next day.

So remember these tips to make sure that you're enjoying your eight hours of sleep. The greater and deeper is our sleep, the stronger, healthier and more productive will our day be. Buenas Noches!

Richard Stacel

Chinese Health And Fitness

http://www.ChineseHealthAndFitness.com

Email: Richard@Chinesehealthandfitness.com