For more info about this series 28 Days to Peace and Well-being please go to: https://wordpress.com/post/catherinestrang.com/1455 This post takes about 3-4 minutes to read and the audio (20 mins) at the foot of the post is best listened to as you fall asleep so needn’t take up extra time during the day.

I’m sure I don’t need to cover why we need decent sleep; as anyone who’s suffered from a spate of sleepless nights or a longer term issue with insomnia will attest, poor sleep affects well-being on many different levels. For more details about sleeplessness and insomnia try the book Why Does Stress Make Us Ill? https://wordpress.com/page/catherinestrang.com/101

Following are a few suggestions for a good night’s sleep – from supplements to practical suggestions, I have kept this as brief as possible and in future posts after this series will cover some of the following in more depth. For now however no series on peace and well-being would be complete without addressing how well we rest at night. If sleep is a problem for you and you have yet to tackle it in depth then in the spirit of the first part of this series it may be enough to let the thought of addressing it settle into your mind. Or perhaps pick one change to make that is as stress free as possible. At least listen to calming meditations as you drift off to sleep, this is an easy, soothing way to improve general well-being.

Magnesium deficiency – a lack of magnesium often causes poor sleep. Magnesium is one of the most important minerals needed by the body, it maintains heart, muscle and nervous system health, regulates blood pressure and blood sugar levels and so much more. One way to tell if you are deficient is to have an evening bath with 2 cups of Epsom Salts (magnesium sulfate) dissolved in warm to hot water. If sleepy or relaxed after this you probably need to take extra magnesium.

Melatonin Imbalance – a lack of melatonin will cause poor sleep and melatonin tablets are available on prescription. However there may be, apart from serious illness, fixable reasons why melatonin may be low such as stress, smoking and not getting enough natural light and being outside during the day. Another key factor is bright artificial light in the evening, this confuses the body and disrupts the circadian rhythms. Our eyes and pineal gland cannot tell the difference between natural and artificial light and may be sending our brain signals that it’s still daytime. This disrupts the melatonin secretion in our brain. Also, it’s been shown that switching on lights in the middle of the night can disrupt the functioning of the pineal gland for up to three days – so get used to going to the loo in the dark! Try very soft lighting (pink light bulbs are relaxing) and if you cannot limit screens in the evening at least download apps that filter blue light. Most devices have this built in these days and just need to be enabled for an automatic start come evening. For light pollution such as bright street lights try heavy curtains or blackout blinds – your pineal gland will thank you for it. On a deeper note beyond general health, a highly functioning pineal gland is crucial for spiritual growth and for opening up to clearer communication with the higher realms.

General factors for decent sleep are of course the usual advice of lowering caffeine, sugar and alcohol intake, eating earlier for calmer digestion, no highly stimulating TV or reading before bed, setting good habits of getting up and going to bed earlier and regular exercise. It can also be helpful to address issues and problems during the day whenever possible so you aren’t kept awake at night through overthinking.

Diet and nutrition is a factor that is often overlooked; when we are eating poorly and have an overload of toxins in our body this will disrupt sleeping patterns (and a lot else!). Beginning a process of cleaning up our diet and cleansing the body often has miraculous results on not just health in general but on our mood, mental health and sleep habits. On this topic I am currently two weeks into a deep cleansing process that will take me into spring. I’m keeping a journal and a lot of notes about all I’m researching and doing and will start blogging about this next month. So do please subscribe if you have been thinking of doing something similar.

Action Steps for Day

Determine where, if needed, you need to make a change for good sleep. What step could you take today to ensure more peaceful sleep?

Listen to the following recording as you go to sleep.

The audio below is to help empty the mind and relax the body as you drift off to sleep, it is also embedded with soothing suggestions for maintaining deep sleep.