You can sleep on the sofa for a while, sleep comes effortlessly when the mind is distracted by the movie of the evening that remains to rock it in the background; but here is that when there is to slip under the covers of the bed everything changes: it starts with the best intentions, but it is there in ambush, it is the insomnia .
We turn over and over again, change position, get up to drink, to pee, to get the handkerchief: every excuse is good to call Morpheus to himself, but he doesn't arrive.
Then all that remains is to count the hours, trying to put into practice all those teachings, such as meditation, breathing, relaxing focusings, hoping for a miracle. But nothing.
Anxiety brings with it an avalanche of thoughts that is hard to stop, the common obstacle becomes an insurmountable mountain.
When then the terror of spending an entire whole day under the banner of physical and mental destruction caused by the deprivation of hours of sleep occurs, here is the need to resort to natural remedies.
The causes and natural remedies for insomnia from anxiety
Insomnia is a common disorder that consists of the inability to fall asleep or the subversion of normal sleep patterns.
The causes are often stress, anxiety, depression, but also abuse of exciting substances, drugs or alcohol, physical pain, food allergies, environmental disorders, menopause, thyroid dysfunction and habitual snoring associated with the presence of sleep apnea.
There are various natural remedies that can help calm the states of anxiety that cause insomnia, here are some.
Sedative diet
Sedative feeding means cooking, obviously lightly and in the right amounts, all those foods that contribute to regulating the central nervous system; among these, rice deserves a prominent place , which, according to the most recent discoveries, lightly cooked at dinner, would help to fall asleep a few hours later.
Other relaxing foods are: zucchini, green beans, pesto (without garlic if it is heavy to digest), boiled potatoes seasoned with oil, salt and parsley, fruit salad accompanied by pine nuts or almonds, boiled apples and cinnamon .
Medicinal plants
There are several long-known medicinal plants that can assist in states of anxiety and insomnia, relaxing the nervous, muscular and circulatory systems; among these the most famous and used remains the valerian . This can be assumed in various forms: herbal tea or infusion, natural valerian tablets, mother tincture, drops; its roots have sedative, relaxing and hypno-inducing properties, as they contain substances such as essential oils, flavonoids and alkaloids that reduce the time needed to fall asleep and improve sleep quality.
Other plants indicated to improve sleep quality and promote sleep are: lemon balm (excellent in case of irritability, excessive fatigue, nervousness), passion flower (sedative and anxiolytic, calms the sense of anxiety), hawthorn and lime tree, against palpitations and tachycardia, escolzia and hops .
Bach flowers
The main flowers ideal for fighting anxiety and insomnia are Hornbeam, White Chestnut, Impatients, Walnut, Agrimony and Red Chestnut and are associated with different forms of insomnia.
Essential oils
The essential oils used in the treatment of insomnia, in addition to facilitating sleep and keeping it prolonged, improve its quality, performing a general harmonizing action.
They are used in aromatherapy, both for environmental diffusion (1 drop per square meter of the bedroom), through relaxing baths (10 drops in the bathtub) or applied through aromatherapy massages (5-7 drops in a vegetable oil).
One of the most recommended is lavender essential oil, also ideal for children, bergamot oil and basil oil .
Phisical exercises
Exercising is important, but be careful not to do aerobic or stimulating exercises late in the evening if you suffer from insomnia, as hormones that enter the circulation can disturb sleep.
Better to engage in relaxing practices, such as yoga, tai-chi, gentle gymnastics, autogenic training and breathing exercises, to be practiced possibly by 8pm.
