Sleeping difficulty and Insomnia is quite a commonly occurring experience in today’s highly stressful, frenetic and busy society. These sleeping problems most often occur in large cities where living is filled with excitement and gaining restful and adequate sleep can be difficult. A large number of people have had and/or are having sleeping difficulties. In the United States about 60% of the population each year suffers from symptoms of insomnia several nights a week. Women are more prone to insomnia as they are 40% more susceptible to sleeping problems than men.
What is Insomnia?
Insomnia typically means that an individual experiences problems staying and/or falling asleep. Insomnia has two categories: primary or secondary. When your insomnia is not associated with any environmental, psychiatric or medical cause, you are considered to be suffering from primary insomnia; secondary insomnia, on the other hand, is caused or co-morbid with specific things including anxiety, depression and other mental disorders, hormonal fluctuations during menopause, intake of stimulant or sleep apnea.
People having difficulty sleeping and are seeking more natural ways to lessen their discomfort and want to better their quantity and quality of restful sleep, may like consider a number of the following useful tips.
Exercise – if you have extra mental energy, it may translate into physical energy as well. Exercise can expend this mental energy. It may also help the body get tired that can translate into quality sleep. Physical exertion can also deplete hormones enabling you to relieve stress symptoms and bring you into a fit and more relaxed state. An exercise method known as Progressive Muscle Relaxation can aid you while you lie in bed awake. The method is about deep stomach breathing and a routine of muscle relaxation and tension all over the body. Begin at the calf muscle of any one of your leg and move up the body, relaxing and tensing muscles along the way. Besides getting an opportunity to put the activity of your mind to another subject causing to you to stay awake, progressive muscle relaxation also provides feedback about what a relaxed muscle feels like.
Traditional Chinese Medicine – Regular acupuncture therapy is able to lessen the cortisol levels of your body. In helping to balance the parasympathetic (relaxation) and the sympathetic (stress) nervous systems, acupuncture can greatly relieve the anxiety and stress you may be experiencing. This can enable you to take better control of stressful situations and recover from high pressure situations without the destructive instances of sleep disturbances that wreak havoc to your body’s renewal capacities. Also, Chinese herbal medicine is not only valuable in treating the symptoms of insomnia it can also resolve the underlying cause of the problem inside your body.
Meditation – if you are in bed, very much trying to fall asleep, the stress of trying to do so may actually add to the raging fire in your very active mind. When this happens, mindfulness training and meditation can help extinguish that fire. In2009, the Northwestern Memorial Hospital conducted a study where subjects who allocated time to meditate two times a day for 15 to 20 minutes for two months attained the ability to fall asleep sleep more soundly and much more quickly compared to the other subjects who didn’t meditate. Yoga, meditation and other relaxing activities that integrate aspects of mindfulness practice are able to lower the levels of cortisol in the body. The stress hormone cortisol is the hormone responsible for the “fight or flight” sensations that often come during times of highly stressful situations.
It is only the doctor who knows how to properly diagnose the various kinds of sleep disorders that are incorporated under the blanket term of insomnia. Many people are unaware of the danger insomnia can cause in a person’s health. The American Cancer Society commissioned a study that involved subjects who got less than 6 hours of sleep each night and others that got 7 hours of sleep. Besides the increased likelihood of mortality, insomnia has been observed to increase the likelihood for other disorders and diseases like obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure.
If you are serious considering a holistic and natural treatment for your insomnia, you can try Chinese medicine such as Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture since they can prove to be a highly effective therapy for you. Be sure to search for a licensed acupuncturist near your area. You can consult with him/her regarding your specific case and eventually embark on a course of treatment. It is important for you to know that unlike, western medicine, Chinese medicine is not a therapy that brings instant results especially when you are suffering from chronic or ingrained sleep disorders. The end results though are much better compared to that of western medicine. Try acupuncture and you will for sure be able to get a restful and sound sleep.