Amazing Sips to a Good Night’s Sleep

Medicos advise a sound seven hour sleep for everyone. But in the fast paced world that we live in, bedtime is being pushed and pushed further because it is often difficult to wind up the chores of the day and tuck ourselves in bed. For adults, the reasons may be work while for the young, it is certainly gadgets, social media and games. 

Little do we realize that insomnia rolls in silently and then turns to the monster that it is. Even while in bed, if you have to wait for sleep to come to you, man, you are partially in the hands of insomnia!

Medically talking insomnia has a huge aetiology, a number of causes. And definitely, tranquilizers are prescribed to rescue you from the clutches of this beast. And their potencies go on increasing- As you become habituated to one dose, and sleep stops coming to you at that level, you are promoted to the higher one and then higher and higher. Congrats!

Its easy to swallow a tab and drift off to sleep. But then, much later come the after effects. Well, let’s not get into those and stop ourselves from falling into this vicious cycle of not sleeping, popping a pill, sleeping, not sleeping again, popping two pills this time and so on. 

What helps in Attaining Pill-Free Sleep?

So we tell you the sure shot ways to fall into the land of dreams swiftly and with no after effects. We are out with a few tasty and healthy decoctions that are both easy and quick to prepare and equally rapid is their sleep inducing action. 

1. Tulsi- Lemon Decoction 

Tulsi or the holy basil, as it is popularly called, is known for wondrous antiflu effects. But it is now proven that tulsi lowers cortisol, the stress hormone of your body. Lower the stress, higher the relaxation and obviously a beautiful sound sleep.  

The preparation is simple. Let a cup full of water come to boil with a few tulsi leaves added to it. Once it has boiled, strain it and to the tulsi flavored water now obtained, add a few drops of lemon. And there you go! Now you may say that sugar is missing but folks, that has been deliberately omitted for sugar (Carb) favors waking up not sleeping. 

Now taste is certainly an important special sensation and indeed at bedtime, we must pay due heed to it. So if you don’t like the flavor of your decoction, swap it with chamomile. An equally potent tranquilizer, relaxant and with no after effects. 

2. Flavored Water 

Have you heard the dictum- Elixir of Life? Well, elixir of life is simply H2O. There’s certainly a reason why life thrives nowhere other than the Earth. Sipping on flavor infused water aka flavored water every night before bed is also known to be refreshing and coming to the soul. While science has other reasons for advocating this practice, spirituality enthusiasts say water has memory and it heals your soul from every little trauma that it might have suffered during the day. Healing is equivalent to relaxation and well that certainly brings on sleep. 

Now while that is a pro, a con is the need to pee that you might feel in the middle of the night waking you up again. And the solution? You need not have gallons of water, just a cup full. 

3. Ashwagandha Tincture

Ashwagandha tincture is a lovely tonic when it comes to general health. Equally good are its sleep inducing effects as per Homeopathy. Per research studies in Homeopathy, called drug proving, it has been established that Ashwagandha tincture helps lower your blood pressure which soothes the body. A separate study claims, Ashwagandha reduces anxiety too! A few drops of the tincture (available in homeopathy pharmacies) taken in half a cup of water does the magic. You fall asleep sound and wake up fresh. 

4. Cherry Plum Bach Flower Remedy

Scientifically called Prunus Cerasifera, cherry plum is a Bach flower remedy, again available widely across all homeopathy pharmacies. A few drops infused in water reduces stress, tension and all symptoms that you suffer from as a consequence. Also, if taken daily at bedtime, it helps you sleep well. 

A certain study conducted on a small chunk of people has also suggested that cherries contain a chemical that enhances the production of serotonin, a neurotransmitter. For those having a science background, neurotransmitter serotonin requires no description. For those not even remotely associated with science, Serotonin carries messages from your brain to the nerve cells throughout your body. And Serotonin regulates your mood, sexual desires, sleep wake pattern, digestion and much more. 

While these are a few drinks that help you sleep better, you must also make sure you cut down on those activities that keep you awake. Avoiding phones, and gadgets, reducing the intake of caffeine and alcohol, keeping volumes of television, FM, ipods down and limiting late night plans are some steps that you must take alongside sipping on the aforementioned drinks to get a good night’s sleep. 

The Significance of Having a Fixed Night-time Schedule 

When you have a fixed routine, you have a more or less fixed bedtime. And so you also have a somewhat fixed schedule of sipping these decoctions at a particular time immediately before slipping in. When you do this on a regular basis, your mind gets accustomed to the habit and prepares itself for sleep soon as you’re done with soothing your soul with these drinks. And if you have heard of Pavlov’s conditioning experiment, you would know how one action (when linked to another one on a regular basis) leads to the same reaction over and over again! Well, that’s a bit complicated. So in this context, if you take these drinks on a regular basis just before you head to bed, you would end up establishing for your mind, a connection between this habit of drinking a decoction and sleeping. So every time the decoction is sipped, your mind would be all set to fall asleep. And that’s the trick! 

Happy Sleeping Folks!

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