How to get better sleep using the 5 senses!

Sleeping pills is not long term strategy for Insomnia

INSOMNIAAAAA ... is experienced by the highest percentage of women going through perimenopause. You might have approached your Doctor who would have prescribed you, melatonin, an antidepressant or a sleeping pill.

Taking prescribed sleeping medication or things like melatonin is completely fine but these are only short term solutions. All medical professionals will tell you, using these to manage your sleep is not a long term strategy due to side effects and serious impact on health. When I say serious, think cancer, increased risk of dementia, rebound insomnia, organ damage etc for really long term users. Plus there is a tendency to become dependent on them.

This blog is dedicated to holistic and natural solutions so that sleep becomes easy. Have you tried any or all of these to help you sleep? Let me know.

The bottom line is that you need to bring your body and mind into a calm and relaxed state and then sleep will come. I know it's easier said than done! Especially when the body is doing its summersault in perimenopause. Trust me, I have been there so I am here to help!

Ayurveda and western science has some simple solutions that are easy to manage at home. These solutions are effective for anyone and especially any Dosha type. If you are keen to know what Dosha means click on the link here to read my previous blog and fill out the Dosha questionnaire here.

Getting to the root cause of insomnia is key to finding the right solution.

Insomnia happens for many different reasons:

• Stressed or busy mind,

• Body is overly stimulated, heated (hot flash) or tired,

• Digestive issues or overeating

• Pain due to improper posture, old age or injury or sickness

When we get to bed time, we have had a full day of interactions with other people, energies exchanged, mind busy, physical movement/labour. We have eaten, drunk, breathed pollutants. We have essentially used, impacted and stimulated all the 5 senses of our body. When we are getting ready for bed then, we need to start to wind down those senses and slow down the nervous system so that we can sleep better.

Let's take each of the senses and see how we can bring it into calm and harmony. Connecting these sleep hygiene points to the 5 senses is an easy way to remember them and put into practice.

Gut health impacts mental health

TASTE.

Associated with taste is the mouth and closely linked to the mouth is the gut and what food we put in it. We know that gut health is closely associated with mental health, weight and general fitness and health.

To prepare the body for sleeping, we need to keep our sense of taste mellow. Leave heavy meals and meats for lunch time. Meat takes a lot of time to digest and eating meat in the evening means you sleep with undigested food in the stomach. This can cause a sluggish, stoggy and uneasy feeling in the stomach. Keep dinner light with soups or smaller portions of rice, vegetables. High fiber, high protein whole foods can help you fall asleep more easily and sleep better throughout the night.

Eating at least 2-3 hours before you get to bed is essential so that the body has already started the digestion process.

Drinking herbal supplements and teas can be calming agents to promote good sleep.

Digestive teas like mint, licorice, chamomile, cardamom, and hibiscus-based teas are excellent. Supplements like Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), magnesium are also prescribed as grounding agents to calm the nervous system and improve the quality of sleep.

Simple Solution: Drink a mint tea before bed. You can also make Golden milk by boiling milk of your choice, tsp of turmeric, crushed black pepper, saffron and some jaggery or tsp or maple syrup until it comes to boil. Drink while warm to promote good digestion and sleep.

Sight the most stimulating and complex channel to the brain

SIGHT.

Our sight is probably the most stimulating and complex channel to the brain. Our eyes are a constant source of information and cognitive ability for our body. We use sight for reading, deciphering, communicating, socialising, appreciating, understanding. The modern day issue we have is that our sight is overstimulated. Digital overload! The mobile phone is the best yet worst invention of our time. Information at our fingertips that we just cannot put down. I am guilty of it too!

However, the nights I put my phone on airplane mode at 8:00pm rather than 10:00pm are the nights that I have the best sleep. Switching off the blue light is essential.

In contrast, Red light therapy is sleep inducing because it produces Melatonin in the brain which helps regulate our circadian rhythms and makes us feel more rested during waking hours.

Circadian clock is a collection of neurons in the hypothalamus that signals the brain when to be awake and when to become sleepy. This can sometimes be affected because of the lifestyle we lead, the jobs we do, climate and season changes etc. Circadian rhythms also regulate hunger and digestion, body temperature, mood, fluid balance, and other important physiological processes. We can also correct our sleep cycle using the circadian rhythm by

waking up the same time everyday. Exposure to bright light, preferably natural sunlight or bright artificial light. Increasing melatonin production in the body, by practicing meditation OR taking melatonin supplements

According to Russell Foster, a professor of circadian neuroscience at Oxford and the director of the Nuffield Laboratory of Ophthalmology: "It’s also to do with when you see light. [Seeing] dusk light delays the clock, making you get up later, while morning light advances the clock. All these things define whether you’re a morning type or not – and that’s really powerful information, because if you’re struggling, you can go outside [in the morning] or sit in front of a light box and that will help advance the clock. You won’t be able to negate it completely, particularly if you’re an owl, as I was, but you can at least shift in the right direction."

Simple Solution: While in bed, rub your palms against each other to warm the palms. Cover or cup the eyes with your palms, with a gentle pressure around eye sockets (not the eye balls). Taking 5 long slow, long, deep breaths. Soothes the eyes and immediately puts your parasympathetic system into action allowing you to calm down.

Circadian Rhythm solution: When you wake up in the morning, get some light exposure either outdoors in the sun or bright light in the room. Before bed practice meditation and shambhavi mudra known to stimulate the pineal gland that is responsible for producing melatonin naturally.

Largest organ of the body can be used to calm the nervous system

TOUCH.

The largest organ of the body is the skin and the easiest way to impact skin is to shower. A lot of research has gone into why a cold shower is health promoting during the day. In the night however, having a cold shower will wake your senses up. A warm to lukewarm shower will make you feel clean and warm.

Apart from clearing away all the toxins and dirt, warm running water on your skin helps wash away and release any stresses and anxieties that you might be holding on to.

The other simple way of calming the nervous system is Massage.

Ayurveda promotes a massage technique called Abhyanga. This can be done on the whole body (if you are lucky to have someone do this for you) or you could target certain specific parts of the body. Abhyanga is therapeutic massage of the whole body with medicated oil helps improve blood and lymphatic circulation through the body. It balances the body’s chakras (energy centres), nadis (energy channels) and can bring deep relaxation to the body and peace to the mind.

Padabhyanga (massage of the feet) Padhabyanga is soothing, revitalising and calming. It stimulates vital marma points, thereby providing balance for disturbances of the autonomic nervous system.

Shiroabhyanga Therapeutic massage of the head helps to calm the nervous system. Massage is done with medicinal oils tailored to your condition, which absorb well on the head, scalp and hair roots. You can also start with warm coconut oil and target certain areas like the top most part of the head, the point behind the ears and the brain stem.

Ayurveda has other procedures like instilling nourishing substances in eyes. A simple replacement measure at home is to place sliced cucumber on the eyes to relax the eyes or a cooling eye bag.

Ayurveda also suggests application of soothing paste overhead and face. You can apply a face pack to soothe and pamper yourself or a night face oil to massage your face in circular motion, relaxing and also refreshing you before heading to bed.

Simple solution: First wash your feet with warm water making sure they are clean. Tap dry. Then sitting in bed before sleep, use warm cold pressed coconut oil or foot cream. Warm some up in your palms by rubbing together. Then apply on to your ankles making circular motion. Then apply to the soles of your feet in rubbing motion. Then use the base of your palm to apply a bit of pressure and massage the feet. If you are in a cold climate, wear some warm socks before you go to sleep.

SMELL.

Using an essential oil like lavender, camomile or sandalwood for the foot massage will have a double effect in promoting sleep. Essential oils are oils derived from plants, usually by crushing and steam distilling parts of the plant. A variety of essential oils have been used as medical treatments since ancient times. Spray some mist on your bedding or on your face. A nice smelling candle (though remember to blow it out before falling asleep) or diffuser with essential oils also helps calming the mind. Our sense of smell is connected directly to the brain's centre for memories and emotions, otherwise known as the limbic system. These essential oils have compounds that have relaxing properties and can soothe the nervous system.

Simple solution: Practice alternate nostril breathing with lavender essential oil. Rub some good quality Lavender oil on the pulse point on your wrist. Then place your left palm in dhyan mudra (tip of index finger touching tip of thumb). Then block your right nostril with your right thumb, take a breath in through your left nostril. Place your ring finger on the left nostril, release right nostril and breathe out. Then breathe in from the right, block the nostril with thumb, release ring finger, breathe out through left. Practicing ANVL is good as it is, but doing it with essential oil will help you even more.

HEARING.

Keeping a calm environment is essential for good sleep. Listen to soothing music, keep kids calm, avoid any aggression, anxiety and fights before bed. Use earplugs to block out sounds. Snoring partner or going through hormonal changes in perimenopause, can bring anxiety levels to a heightened state waking you at the slightest of sounds.

Chanting OM three times before bed also helps with calming the body and mind. The energy emanating from the sound is felt within and around us. Meditating and listening to the sound of your breath before breathing is also soothing for the mind and nervous system.

Other Ayurvedic treatments that you can try with a qualified Ayurvedic specialist:

Panchakarma to detox the body and remove the physical and mental toxins that can give rise to insomnia.

Vasti (medicated enema) Most of the time, sleep problems have a relationship with your gut health. The colon is known as the seat of the vata dosha. Colon cleansing using therapeutic herbs helps to re-establish balance in your vata dosha and lower intestine. An ayurvedic specialist will plan the right type of therapeutic enema for you.

Shirodhara is an excellent treatment for insomnia and related stress, and anxiety as it profoundly relaxes the nervous system. A stream of warm medicated oil is poured very slowly onto the centre of your forehead (the location of the ‘third eye’) for about 30-45 minutes, followed with a gentle scalp massage and reflexology treatment. The effect is amazing! Shirodhara is non-invasive and enables non-pharmacological management of insomnia. For best results, it is ideal to experience Shirodhara several days a week for about a month. It helps to control the hyperactivity of nerves, reduce stress, calms the mind, and stimulate the pituitary gland (master gland). It will also help the proper functioning of other endocrine glands and induce better sleep.

It is important to gradually add these changes into your life based on your circumstances to recover from sleepless nights. Your bedroom becomes a haven for calmness, rest and slumber so your body expects to do just that as you get into sleep mode. Living mindfully is a lifestyle choice that you have to make especially as you get into perimenopause.

Next week, I have a special guest who will give us golden nuggets of information on how to effectively use essential oils for sleep.

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