Improving Sleep Habits Naturally

Sleep is important, both physically and mentally. Sleep heals and repairs our heart and blood vessels, helps maintain our immune system, boosts a good mood, and can help retain memory functions. But not everyone finds it easy to get a good night’s sleep. Issues like inconsistent bedtimes, using smart phones and computer tablets at bedtime, eating large meals before bedtime, and long work hours can all contribute to insufficient sleep habits. Chronic sleep disorders not only make us feel fatigued and grouchy, they can actually increase the risk of heart and kidney diseases, diabetes, and stroke in some individuals.

The Center of Disease Control (CDC) recommends that adults get seven or more hours of sleep each night. In a 2014 survey, they found that 32.3% of North Carolina adults reported usually sleeping less than 7 hours in a 24-hour period. In a survey, the CDC found that about 4% of U.S. adults aged 20 and over used prescription sleep aids in the past month and that one in six adults with a diagnosed sleep disorder and one in eight adults with trouble sleeping reported using sleep aids.

While treatment options may differ among the various sleep disorders, following healthy sleep habits should be a part of every person’s nighttime routine, including avoiding caffeine and alcohol, using a ‘white noise’ generator to block out intrusive or annoying sounds, and of course turning off those devices!  It’s also important to make sure you have a comfortable bed and/or pillow.

There are some non-medicinal wellness products and services that can also offer relief to those who experience issue with sleeping, including herbs, essential oils, and time in an infrared sauna. Nature’s Pathway to Wellness carries a wide range of highly selective natural holistic dietary supplements, vitamins, flower essences, herbs, and essential oils especially for sleep issues.

Infrared saunas offer a relaxing, quiet light therapy that omits infrared light waves that create heat in the body, causing you to sweat and release stored toxins through your skin. Not only can it help promote relaxation and improve sleep habits, an infrared sauna may also improve blood circulation, lower blood pressure, soften skin, and rejuvenate the mind.