My Three Personal Favorites for Sleep Support

I am impressed with the complexities of sleep. It affects so many aspects of our health--our immune system, our mood, our weight, our ability to heal, just to name a few. When sleep goes awry and insomnia comes knocking at the door, it can be challenging to figure out what each person needs to restore restful sleep...because of all the complexities involved! All of this to say, the appropriate remedies for sleep are highly individual. Today I am sharing my favorite three sleep remedies that work for me, but you may need something different if you are experiencing insomnia.

​If you suffer with insomnia and are looking for natural sleep support, you are warmly invited to attend our Relax & Renew Restorative Sleep workshop on Wednesday evening, December 9th from 6-8 p.m. at 2BWell in Springfield (click here to register). 

When I was a child, I would lay awake in bed spontaneously exploding with laughter. My mind raced round and round with all sorts of hilarious ideas, and I sometimes found it difficult to go to sleep. As an adult, my mind still occasionally races with thoughts at night making it difficult to go to sleep (albeit the thoughts are usually not as funny these days). My favorite natural sleep remedy for this situation is White Chestnut flower essence. I put two drops in a small amount of water and within minutes, I find it is easier to slow the thoughts and allow my mind to rest. What I love about this remedy is that it does not make me groggy. I can take it in the middle of the day without any risk of tiredness. It just calms my mind so I can sleep. 

I also find good, old-fashioned chamomile to be calming. I am not as fond of the tea so much as the fresh tincture that I make fresh from my garden. I usually start my calendula plants indoors around December. They are slow growing! I love growing chamomile through the spring and summer and harvesting the blossoms into a jar of vodka. I collect the blossoms in this jar throughout the season, adding more vodka to cover as necessary. Later in the summer, I strain the tincture through a coffee filter. It is a truly delightful natural medicine with a fresh taste unique from tea or tincture made from dried blossoms. I then bottle this up to use throughout the year. I use about a dropperful in water before bedtime to calm my mind.  It tastes sweet and mixes very well with my third favorite sleep remedy--inositol.

Inositol is a B-vitamin, and it also tastes sweet. It, too, helps to calm the mind at night. So, you can see why white chestnut, chamomile and inositol may be a great sleep option for someone like myself who has a busy mind.  I do a lot of thinking throughout the day, so these three supplements help calm my mind down so I can get some restful sleep at night.  Like the other two supplements, inositol is generally well tolerated and doesn't leave me with a groggy feeling in the morning.   

Do you suffer from insomnia?  If so, can you identify what keeps you awake at night?