Category: General Health

How can aromatherapy help you get better sleep

With the trend of going back to the natural and to the basics, aromatherapy is becoming a popular alternative in the world of total wellness and health. In fact, more and more people are using it to get better sleep which they think is the best way to regain one’s strength so he or she can do all the things that needs to be done.

Aromatherapy is believed to have therapeutic properties that can heal a person’s illness or relax him or her. Today, aromatherapy is not only used for healing processes but is also used to help a person get better sleep since it is practiced in a very soothing way.

To achieve the health benefits of aromatherapy not only on how to get better sleepspecifically essential oilsone should get all the knowledge and experience that you can get. It is best to read references of aromatherapy from various books, magazines, and even online sites that offer free aromatherapy information.

To gain experience, one can also enroll in an aromatherapy crash course class that is near your place. Here, they can teach you the basics of conducting an aromatherapy procedure as well as almost all the information that one needs to know about aromatherapy. For people with hectic schedules and dont have time to attend a class physically, they can enroll in various online sites that offer aromatherapy classes.

Using aromatherapy

Before anything else, make sure that you have supplies for aromatherapy such as items that will be used for measuring items such as cups and spoons, means of transferring liquids such as funnels with different sizes, containers for mixing elements and for proper storage such as bottles or vials, labeling items like stickers, lots of paper towels and alcohol to clean the area afterwards. After preparing the necessary supplies, you may start with your homemade aromatherapy. The following are just some of the aromatherapy products that you can do inside the confines of your abode.

1. Aromatherapy massage or body oil. All you need is to combine 50 drops or 1/2 teaspoon of the essential oil of your choice together with 4 ounces of vegetable oil.

2. Aromatherapy compress. This is considered as one of the easiest aromatherapy products out there. All you need is to add at least 5 drops of essential oil to a cold or hot cup of water and dip a soft cloth on the mixture.

3. Aromatherapy foot or hand bath. What you need is to add 10 drops of chosen essential oil to a part of cold or hot water in a medium-sized basin. Using your hand or a stirring rod, stir the essential oil evenly to blend well with the water.

Getting better sleep using aromatherapy

To get better sleep, one must also know which are the essential oils that can bring about positive changes in a person’s body. Some plant derivations of essential oils and their potential benefits such as geranium for relieving stress-related conditions like tensions, nervous breakdown, and skin illnesses like eczema or hard-to-heal wounds; jasmine for arousing sensuality, relaxation, and in treating several skin conditions; eucalyptus for relieving muscle pains and aches as well as in to alleviate respiratory system conditions especially poor breathing; frankincense to aid lung conditions, urinary problems, irregular menstruation, and relieving pains in skin disorders like acne and excessive burns; lavender for helping improve the function of the respiratory system and alleviate stress-related conditions such as insomnia, depression, and mental fatigue; and peppermint to aid respiratory problems specifically asthma as well as mental fatigues that lead to fainting and extreme headaches.

Helping teenagers to get better sleep

With so many gadgets to play with and use and with so many parties to attend who would want to sleep? With so many distractions today, peopleespecially the younger ones or the teenagersare having a hard time to get better sleep. This should not be a problem but it goes to show how poor the quality of young people is today. Many of them do not perform well in school because they rarely get sleep due to all these distractions.

If you are one of those parents who are having problems that their teeners are not getting the right amount of sleep that they should have, here are some tips that you can share to them.

1. Ask them to cut out on too many caffeine intakes. If you are doing the grocery, then you should be the one who have taken out of the list the foods and drinks that contain caffeine such as coffee, chocolates, sodas and teas. But since you cannot monitor their routines outside your home, it is a must to remind them to cut out on these foods and drinks. You can do this by telling them the bad effects of caffeine not only in sleeping but in their overall health as well.

2. Tell them not to resort to alcohol as a “sleeping aid”. Many adults resort to alcohol to sleep fast. Since their bodies are much older, they can tolerate the effects of alcohol but this should not be the case among the younger ones. If you are a parent, try to tell your child that although alcohol may help him or her to fall asleep, it may cause disturbances that may lead to lesser quality of sleep. Aside from not really helping them to get better sleep, it may also affect their overall health and physical appearance since alcohol may cause early aging.

3. Teach them how to relax before their bedtime. Although this is much easier to do when they are toddler, parents should still try to teach their youngsters how to relax a bit when they are about to go to sleep. You can do this by spending time with the teener and talk about how he or she should handle the everyday stress either in school or in growing up. If the child is able to talk about these things before bedtime, he or she will have a peaceful sleep without thinking of so many things. You can also ask her or him to do relaxing activities such as reading a book or practicing yoga if you are not around to talk to.

4. Ask them to have regular exercise. If regular exercise helps older people to get better sleep at night, what more to the younger ones? Explain to your child the importance of having just the right amount of exercise in getting better sleep and achieving optimum health. To make it more effective, join your teener in doing regular exercises such as light jogging or brisk walking. If he or she sees that you are “walking your talk” there is greater chances for him or her to obey you.

5. Give enough hours for television or for Internet. For a teener to get better sleep, there should be less hours for him or her to spend watching TV programs or browsing the Internet. Since these two are major distractions, it is a must that parents restrict them with too much time on these activities so can sleep better at night.

Get better sleep the natural way

Some people are really born to have a hard time to get better sleep. While there are those who were able to develop this problem because of unhealthy practice. Either way, the problem still lies that one is having a hard time lulling into that good slumber.

The best way to go about it is that first, one needs to address the problem of sleeping. These include knowing the reasons why that person is having a hard time sleeping. The focus areas should include the personal issues, status at work, health conditions, and sleeping environment.

1. Personal issues. The may include stress factors that affect the overall emotional state of a person. If one if stressed by personal issues, it will be harder for him or her to get better sleep because that person is thinking too much. If it’s possible to address these problems and problems immediately, it would really help a person to get better sleep. If not, one should seek help from professionals so he or she can cope with the issues and will have better chance of getting sleep at night.

2. Status at work. Studies show that more and more people are having a hard time sleeping because of their status in work. With the overall global crisis that the world experiences now, it is only common for people to worry about their security. If you think that this is one factor that won’t let you get better sleep at night, then now is the right time to face it and be prepared for the worse. If you are prepared that no matter what happens, you will still have your job or you are confident that you can easily find one, then you will have peace of mind and will lead you to sleep better at night.

3. Health conditions. Some people are able to develop sleeping disorders without them knowing. These sleeping disorders are usually caused and triggered by so many factors. If you are having hard time sleeping and you think that the reasons are something that you can no longer control, then it is best to seek professional help.

4. Sleeping environment. This is also among the things that affect the overall sleeping state of a person. If you have bad sleeping environment, then the tendency of your body is to resist sleeping.

The natural way

In the market today, there are so many products and even medication that promise to help one get better sleep. But, these artificial substitutes may have a side effect. To avoid further complications, it is best to try sleeping techniques the natural way. Some may include routines that will only help you get better sleep but help improve your overall health as well.

The first thing that you could do is to develop and practice good sleep hygiene. These include eating the right foods that can help you sleep better and avoid those that affect sleeping patterns. It also includes having regular exercise and avoiding napping in the afternoon so you will sleep well at night. You may also want to develop a routine that will help you sleep better such as doing relaxing activities before your bedtime such as taking a warm bath, reading, or writing in your personal journal.

To get better sleep, you can also try soundproofing your room to avoid unnecessary noises, adjusting the lights so you will be more comfortable, getting into a comfortable sleeping position and practicing deep breathing to relax your senses.

Get better sleep the easy way

More often than not, how to get better sleep is among the common questions that working people think about. This is because they rarely experience it because of too much stress or being too busy in their work. If you are one of those who are having problems when it comes to sleeping, here are some of the ways that can help you get better easier:

1. Develop better sleeping habits. Like everything else, developing good habits helps a person accomplish a certain task at hand. For those who are prone to not sleeping well at night, it would be best to start developing good habits that would help him or her get better sleep. Good sleeping habits might include daytime routines such as eating the right foods, exercise, and enough napping in the afternoon. Experts say that eating the right foods would help a person be lulled into sleep without so much hustle. If one wants to get better sleep, he or she must avoid eating foods that contain ingredients that stimulate the nerves and the senses such as those with caffeine content. To help the body relax, enough physical activities such as exercise should also be done at day time so it will somehow exhaust the body and let it crave for rest at night time. Although napping is good to some people, it can be bad to those who are having sleeping problems because they have a tendency to “over nap” that which will eventually affect their sleeping at night.

2. Enough amount of daily exercise can help a person to get better sleep. Aside from health benefits, regular exercise also helps a person get better sleep especially at night. This is because it lets the body work just enough so it would want to rest at night. Strenuous activities such as workouts are not really necessary if one is not used to it. Simple exercises such as brisk walking or light yoga activities are enough to help to get better sleep at night.

3. Come up with you own personal sleeping plan. Above anybody else, you should be the one who knows your body. If you are having problems sleeping at night, you are the first person to identify what is the problem and try to address the issues properly. If you are having trouble sleeping, analyze what may be the problem. If it is something that you can handle, try to do the things that will help you overcome it. You can do this by coming up with a personal sleeping plan that will really work for you. You can plot the activities that you can do and try to implement them during nighttime. If the specific plan doesnt work today, try another set of sleeping plans the next night and then another one for next, next night. By doing this, you can discover the techniques that would work for you.

4. Create a good sleeping environment for yourself. If one wants to get better sleep, the easiest way is to create a comfortable, nice, and cozy sleeping environment. If you are having trouble sleeping and you have tried all the techniques available but those did not work, why not try re-arranging your bedroom. Figure out is something inside your bedroom that hinders you from getting better sleep. Check if your bed still suits the needs of your body and if not, try replacing it. Check if there are some things that catch your attention and makes it hard for you to sleep, if there are, try removing them for a while until you are able to sleep better.