Insomnia can often be a tough cookie to crack. It has the power to keep you up nearly all night with perhaps a few scant hours of sleep. When this happens consistently, you will begin to feel the toll a lack of sleep has on the body. You will feel tired, moody, and unable to concentrate for a long time and, and this sleep deficit can even lead to lowering the body’s immune system. Before you reach for a pill to get some extra hours of rest, however, consider these five natural ways to beat insomnia instead.
5 Natural Ways To Beat Insomnia
Limit naps to help with insomnia
While short naps can be useful in eliminating brain fog and stimulating creativity, it might not be quite as useful for your night’s sleep. If you have trouble nodding off at night, taking a rest during the day can make it harder to fall asleep as you'll be less tired. That said, if you are very tired during the day you should certainly rest, but limit your nap to thirty to 60 minutes for the best chance of falling asleep at night.
Yoga for insomnia
One of the causes of insomnia is stress. When you’re having a stressful day, you can be sure that sleep will not come as fast as you would otherwise want. One way to handle stress is by doing yoga. Yoga is important in strengthening the mind and the body. This way, you will be able to relax your mind and also stretch your body, increasing blood circulation in the body which, in turn, promotes sleep.

Photo by: Olivia Anand Design
Create a Good Sleep Environment
It’s important to create an atmosphere that promotes sleep. Aim to create a serene environment without any noise, distractions, or light. Most importantly, having a good, supportive mattress will help you achieve better sleep quality and quantity. You should also make sure that distractions such as phones, tablets and televisions stay far away from your bedroom.
Aromatherapy and herbal remedies for insomnia
Aromatherapy is yet another widely successful technique of eliminating insomnia. Some essential oils such as lavender, chamomile, ylang-ylang, and patchouli have been known to help people fall asleep. You can use about two or three drops of essential oil such as lavender and rub it onto pressure points of the body such as temples or the neck. You can also use an oil diffuser in the bedroom which will help you breathe in the oils and get a faster result.
Read at night instead of watching TV for better sleep
Finally, consider reading a bit at night before you turn in. This can help calm your mind and get you ready to curl up and drift off to sleep. You can pick a favorite book or read a new one – either option will help.
Eliminating insomnia is possible without the use of pharmaceutical pills if you use these natural ways to beat insomnia. Using the above strategies, you can get a good night’s rest and enjoy all the benefits of quality and quantity sleep has to offer!
For more natural ways to beat insomnia, have a read of Yoga for Insomnia: 7 Steps to Better Sleep with Yoga and Meditation.
This is a guest post from Krista Harper. Krista Harper is a freelance writer and yoga instructor in Southern California. She regularly covers lifestyle, mental health, and nutrition topics and has a passion for helping people create balance in their lives.
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