Ten tips for supporting better sleep, naturally
Of all the 'please help’ messages I receive, sleep is a subject that comes up in the top three.
When coaching women for natural and foundational wellness , I always like to focus on natural support first. Unfortunately, we live in a world where synthetic forms of sleep-assistance are turned to far too often. A bandaid for a symptom rather than addressing the root cause of the disruption. Prescription medications can cause numerous side effects and make you feel jet-lagged upon waking, among other negative side effects. The body always knows whether it’s working with synthetics or a natural solution.
As with nearly everything health related, our own body systems and then natural offerings from nature are typically the only things we need to lean on to make the most of our health experience.
*And yes, I can almost see the grimace on my twin sisters face as she reminds me that the root cause or her sleep deprivation is a 6 month old baby named Dash who doesn’t seem to like the shut-eye much. So if this kind of ‘thing’ ;) is your root cause of sleep disruption too, the natural sleep recommendations here are also going to support calm, healthy routines for you that will do no harm, and may help to improve the quality of rest that you do get. I’ve been there. I get it. The black hole is real.
Why good sleep is so important.
Nearly every health concern we have can be improved with better rest. Sleep is our most powerful healer. When we are in the land of shut-eye, our bodies are restoring, knitting back together, healing, re-building. Sleep is the ultimate physical and emotional restoration tool.
Here’s more powerful reasons sleep is so important:
Strengthens the immune system
Reduces the risk of inflammatory disease
Improves brain function
Helps maintain a healthy metabolism and detox process
Supports hormone balance
Improves athletic performance
Helps drive creativity
Here’s ten tips for supporting better sleep, naturally
1.Sunlight + serotonin + melatonin
We’re used to hearing about how too much of the sun’s warm rays can be harmful to your skin. But did you know the right balance can have lots of mood-lifting benefits?
Sunlight and darkness trigger the release of hormones in your brain. Exposure to sunlight is thought to increase the brain’s release of a hormone called serotonin. Serotonin is associated with boosting mood and helping a person feel calm and focused. At night, darker lighting triggers the brain to make another hormone called melatonin. This hormone is responsible for helping you sleep.
Without enough sun exposure, your serotonin levels can dip. Low levels of serotonin are associated with a higher risk of major depression with seasonal pattern (formerly known as seasonal affective disorder or SAD). This is a form of depression triggered by the changing seasons.
A mood boost isn’t the only reason to get increased amounts of sunlight. There are several health benefits associated with catching moderate amounts of rays.
Decreased sun exposure has been associated with a drop in your serotonin levels, which can lead to major depression with seasonal pattern. The light-induced effects of serotonin are triggered by sunlight that goes in through the eye. Sunlight cues special areas in the retina, which triggers the release of serotonin. So, you’re more likely to experience this type of depression in the winter time, when the days are shorter.
Due to this connection, one of the main treatments for depression with seasonal pattern is light therapy, also known as phototherapy. You can get a light therapy box to have at home. The light from the box mimics natural sunlight that stimulates the brain to make serotonin and reduces excess melatonin.
2. Exercise
Experts today believe sleep and exercise have a bidirectional relationship. In other words, optimising your exercise routine can potentially help you sleep better and getting an adequate amount of sleep may promote healthier physical activity levels during the day.
We know that moderate aerobic exercise increases the amount of slow wave sleep you get. Slow wave sleep refers to deep sleep, where the brain and body have a chance to rejuvenate. Exercise can also help to stabilise your mood and decompress the mind, “a cognitive process that is important for naturally transitioning to sleep”. (trusted source)
3. Magnesium
Magnesium is one of the most common minerals on earth and is present in many foods (1 Trusted Source, 2 Trusted Source, 3 Trusted Source).
It’s essential for human health and is used in over 600 cellular reactions throughout your body. (Trusted Source).
In fact, every cell and organ need this mineral to function properly. It contributes to bone health, as well as proper brain, heart and muscle function (Trusted Source).
Magnesium supplements have been linked to a number of benefits, including fighting inflammation, relieving constipation and lowering blood pressure (Trusted Source, Trusted Source).
In addition, magnesium may help treat sleep problems.
In order to fall asleep and stay asleep, your body and brain need to relax.
On a chemical level, magnesium aids this process by activating the parasympathetic nervous system, the system responsible for getting you calm and relaxed (Trusted Source).
First, magnesium regulates neurotransmitters, which send signals throughout the nervous system and brain.
It also regulates the hormone melatonin, which guides sleep-wake cycles in your body (Trusted Source).
My personal choice for Magnesium supplements in Australia is the Ultra Muscleze® by Biocueticals provides a readily bioavailable form of magnesium. While it is typically a practitioner only supplement, you can purchase it over the counter at Chemist Warehouse.
Metagenics, Eagle and Thorne are also great brands.
4. GABA
Second, this mineral binds to gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors. GABA is the neurotransmitter responsible for quieting down nerve activity. It is the same neurotransmitter used by sleep drugs like Ambien (Trusted Source, Trusted Source).
By helping to quiet the nervous system, magnesium may help prepare your body and mind for sleep.
[GABA also comes in the doTERRA Adaptiv capsules, available from your US shop in your doTERRA account. If you’re in Australia, you can simply open a wholesale account with any starter kit, and make subsequent US purchases from your account].
5. Meditation or sleep-inducing beats
I’m an advocate for many forms of meditation, however, for sleep, the Into the Vortex meditations by Abraham Hicks are wonderful. Namely because you don’t need to be sitting cross-legged in a perfectly curated/quiet space. You can download the app, and listen as you lay your head down and fall asleep. The app is a premium investment at $20 however I’ve personally used these exact same meditations for 8 years and it has paid for itself time and time again. sometimes multiple times a day.
Even though you can listen to these for free on youTube, the app gives you the ability to do it without wifi so you can listen as you fall asleep). APP DOWNLOAD HERE
Here’s a FREE eBOOK for you that I created for you around these Into the Vortex meditations. You can see how to listen to them for free in here.
6. Binaural beats
Binaural beats in the delta (1 to 4 Hz) range have been associated with deep sleep and relaxation. Binaural beats in the theta (4 to 8 Hz) range are linked to REM sleep, reduced anxiety, relaxation, as well as meditative and creative states. You can find a slew of binaural beats playlists for sleep on Spotify and there are a lot of long playlists on YouTube as well. I am always an advocate of being able to listen offline, which is why I choose Spotify over YouTube.
7. Herbs
My recommendation is to create a blend of tea for yourself and steep some boiling water for a cup of tea after dinner, and within enough time to go to the bathroom before bed. ;)
Passion Flower for Calming and Restful Sleep
Clinical trials have shown that passion flower can reduce anxiety as effectively as the prescribed drug known as benzodiazepine oxazepam. A four-week, double-blind study of patients with generalised anxiety disorder compared passion flower to the common anti-anxiety drug. While the oxazepam worked a little faster, both were the same in terms of effectiveness — however, the passion flower did not cause problems with job performance, such drowsiness while on the job, unlike the oxazepam.
This shows that passion flower is one of the most powerful anti-anxiety natural sleep aids that doesn’t cause lingering tiredness the next day.
Valerian Root to Induce Sleep
Valerian root is a plant with roots that contain many healing properties, in particular for a relaxation and sedative effects. It’s often found in combination with chamomile in a tea. By increasing the amount of gamma aminobutryic acid (GABA), it helps calm the nerve cells in the brain, resulting in a calming effect. GABA works by blocking brain signals that cause anxiety and that ongoing trickle effect that can come from it.
St. John’s Wort May Help Provide Sleep Through Less Depression
Depression is a common characteristic that can lead to lack of sleep. St John’s wort may be able to help.
More recent studies indicate that chemicals, such as hyperforin and adhyperforin, are found in St. John’s wort, acting as little messengers in the brain that drive mood and work as powerful antidepressants. (Trusted Source)
The National Sleep Foundation reports that insomnia is common among those who are depressed and notes that people with insomnia have a much higher risk of becoming depressed. (11) Research from the Department of Psychology at the University of North Texas shows that depression may affect many aspects of sleep, from getting to sleep to staying asleep. By treating depression using St. John’s wort, you may be able to find that restful sleep your body and mind longs for. (12)
8. Fat Soluble Vitamins: Omega-3, Vitamin D
A study in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found the combination of omega-3s and vitamin D
Researchers think it’s because of the effect of those nutrients on regulating serotonin. Flaxseed and chia seeds are other good sources of omega-3, while egg yolks, mushrooms and fortified dairy contain vitamin D.
Humans derive most vitamin D from the action of sunlight in their skin. However, in view of the current Western lifestyle with most daily activities taking place indoors, sun exposure is often not sufficient for adequate vitamin D production.
For this reason, dietary intake is also of great importance.
Animal foodstuffs (e.g., fish, meat, offal, egg, dairy) are the main sources for naturally occurring cholecalciferol (vitamin D-3).
Offal, liver, egg yolks, tallow/lard, muscle meats are the highest natural food-based vitamin D sources. For those who are vegan, mushrooms and fortified foods.
I personally recommend the former as the most bio-available and natural form of D3 for human nutrition, however I understand the desire for alternative sources.
If in doubt, please go back to the SUN!
9. Essential Oils
Essential oils are a wonderful natural support for restlessness, poor sleep. Many essential oils for sleep have calming benefits. Lavender is an essential oil that is commonly studied by scientists for sleep purposes. This essential oil calms the nervous system, primarily due to the chemical compounds linalool and linalyl acetate found within it. Many studies demonstrate lavender’s positive effect on sleep in a variety of people:
People with insomnia — especially women, younger people, and those with mild insomnia — reported improved sleep after breathing in lavender essential oil diffused into the air and inhaled aromatically.
A study published in Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice was conducted with cancer patients, a common group that has serious issues with sleeping well, to better understand whether aromatherapy using essential oils could help provide some much-needed healing shut-eye.
10. Physical Self-connection ritual
One of my favourite rituals to wind down before bed (after I set the diffuser and put it on) is to body brush (stimulates the lymphatic system and promotes detoxification processes) and then take a warm shower and apply a natural body oil with calming essential oils.
OR simply wash the face and décolletage (above the boobs ;) with a warm flannel and then massage the natural body oil and calming essential oils into it. Massaging and touching clean skin with essential oils that offer calming and grounding properties offers a powerful ritual to the calm and relaxation process.
Essential oils that offer amazing calming and grounding benefits [these are all doTERRA Essential oils, which are the most tested and trusted in the world].
Lavender
Frankincense
Balance (Grounding blend)
Roman chamomile
Bergamot
Lavender Peace (Restful blend)
Clary sage or Clary Calm
Vetiver
Recipe for Natural Body Oil
This is based off a 60ml dropper bottle.
10 drops frankincense
10 drops lemon
15 drops lavender
Add to a 60ml bottle
Top with pure carrier oil such as jojoba, almond, pomegranate seed, rosehip or hempseed oil.
Using half a dropper, massage into the skin on the face, chest and breasts before bed.
Any of the above restful oils listed in #10 can be added to this blend.
A wonderful starter kit to support natural sleep.
The images below are of our best-selling Essential Oils Starter Kit, the Home Essentials Kit. It has the top ten oils every home should have regardless of wants or needs and it is a phenomenal 38% off RRP when purchased as a starter kit.
There’s ten bottles of oil, with 250 drops in each bottle AND you get a diffuser to start diffusing with straight away so you can inhale the oils aromatically as you drift off to sleep (this can also be used in your kids bedrooms).
Many people use this kit as the foundation for sleep support.
Top oils within the Home essentials kit that are used to diffuse for restful sleep. (You can blend these together in the diffuser also).
Frankincense
Lavender
Easy Air
Lemon.
You also get access to ongoing support for oils usage.
Top oils within the Home essentials kit that are used to apply and massage onto the body for natural physical support.
Lavender
Frankincense
Lemon.
How to purchase
Step 1: head to: www.mydoterra.com/alicenicholls
Step 2: Click 'Join and Save'
Step 3: Select your Language & Country of Residence
Step 4: Choose Wholesale Customer or Wellness Advocate
Step 5: Select the starter kit you would like (and waive the joining fee)
Step 6: At Enroller id, make sure my number 3288471 is displayed then click verify to see my name Alice Nicholls
Step 7: Fill out shipping info
Step 8: Process your order!
Home Essentials Starter Kit $339AUD
Your dōTERRA Wholesale Account (dōTERRA oils + products at 25% off!)
Oregano 15mL
Tea Tree 15mL
Lemon 15mL
Frankincense 15mL
On Guard® 15mL
Lavender 15mL
Peppermint 15mL
DigestZen® 15mL
Easy Air® 15mL
Ice Blue® 5mL
Petal Diffuser
