NATURAL SLEEP AIDS

While the anxiety releasing products can help ease tensions during the day, sometimes you need some additional help at night. According to Blumenthal, these sleep inducers may work as well as the popular pharmaceutical drugs, but without their adverse side effects…

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  Valerian is a natural sleep aid and daytime sedative, that contrary to the popular myth, is not related to the pharmaceutical drug Valium. Small doses of valerian can be used for calming during the day and higher doses as a sleep  aid about a half hour before bedtime. Valerian can be taken in combination with lemon balm or other mildly sedative herbs (e.g., chamomile, hops, etc), which makes it an even more powerful sleep aid.


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  Hopes (Humulus lupulus) can also be helpful. Yes, this is the same ingredient used in making beer-it is a gentle sedative that promotes relaxation and is available in pills, as well as in tincture and bulk flower form in health taken together with valerian.

Precaution, do not take any of these products while pregnant of breastfeeding. While all are available at health food stores and on-line, it is important to take them only under the supervision of a trained practitioner. If anxiety and/or insomnia are more than an occasional problem, you may need to take a broader look at your life some changes-whether it’s delegating responsibilities at home to family members or professionals, or shifting job obligations or saying “no” to some committees. Anxiety is a message that something’s not right. Natural or pharmaceutical, nothing will solve such problems except solving the problem itself.

   

You can’t take care of everyone if you don’t take care of yourself.

Natural Sleep Aids