Natural Remedies for Insomnia 2

I mentioned some natural remedies for insomnia in my last post.

I failed to mention the natural remedy I always try first if I have trouble sleeping: Deep Breathing and Progressive Relaxation.

Don't worry, it's not as complicated as that may sound, I will explain what I do if I am having trouble falling asleep, or if I awaken at night and have trouble sleeping.

I start by lying in a comfortable position, and just easily stretch my arms and legs out, trying to tense every muscle in my body, as I breathe in. Then, as I breathe out, I let go of all the tension with one big sigh. Then, I start to become aware of my right foot, and imagine that foot becoming very warm and heavy, and very relaxed. Then I let my awareness move slowly into my leg, imagining that same warm, heavy, relaxed feeling filling my leg,up to the knee, then through the thigh and up to the hip. Then I repeat the exact same steps for the other foot and leg.

After relaxing both legs, I move to the fingers of my right hand, again imagining them becoming warm, heavy and relaxed; and just like the legs, I imagine that same feeling spreading through my hands and forearms and upper arms to the shoulder. I repeat the same steps for the other hand and arm.

After relaxing both legs and arms, I imagine that same warm relaxed feeling pouring down through my spine, and filling my abdomen, relaxing all the muscles and organs of my abdomen and lower back. Then I imagine that warm , heavy feeling spreading up my torso to my chest and upper back making everything feel very warm, heavy and relaxed. Then i imagine the relaxing feeling moving up through my neck, relaxing the muscles as it goes. I imagine the feeling of relaxation flowing across my head and scalp and down through my face.

I almost always fall asleep before I get through relaxing my abdomen and lower back.

If you try this and don't fall asleep immediately, don't give up. I have been practicing these techniques for many years, and respond very rapidly to the images of warmth and relaxation. If you have never done any kind of progressive relaxation technique before, you may need to repeat the steps a few times before you fall asleep.

This is one case where practice will improve your results very quickly.