5 Reasons Why You Can’t Sleep And How Herbs Can Help

To discover deep sleep again, it is important to understand that insomnia is a symptom.

About half the people I see as a herbalist struggle with insomnia. Many people miss two, maybe three nights’ sleep every week. In the worse cases, sleep is elusive every night for months and months.

To sleep, I recommend you discover the underlying cause of your sleeplessness.

Let’s explore some of the possible root causes of insomnia and a few herbs that can help ease the cause of your sleeplessness.

Caffeinism

Coffee is one of my favourite herbs! A cup of coffee is high in antioxidants, gently laxative and can be part of a liver cleanse. Coffee carries strong medicine. Like every plant that has strong medicine, it needs to be used with care and caution. The coffee bean’s medicine teaches us health is found with moderation.

Coffee is often a contributing factor to restless sleep. But before coffee is a challenge, usually multiple demands are being made. To meet the many demands on time and energy, coffee is reasonable for a short period.

However, when multiple cups of coffee become a way of coping with life for an extended period, caffeinism begins to take your body/mind on a journey of poor health.

Caffeinism is a clinical condition associated with being jacked up on energy drinks and coffee for an extended period!

Caffeinism is premature ageing. The list of symptoms associated with caffeinism includes greying or loss of hair, headaches, irritation, thinning skin, loss of appetite, increase sensitivity to pain, etc.

Caffeinism fires up adrenal glands sending out sparks of adrenaline which eventually causes burned out nerves. This results in sleeplessness.

If tossing and turning is a nightly ritual and you are drinking coffee all day, then quit the coffee!

Herbs for caffeinism

There are some herbs you can use to rebalance your adrenal glands and nervous system after extended use of coffee.

One of my favourites is Gotu Kola (Centella Asiatic). This gentle herb soothes frayed nerves, quiets down the adrenal glands and helps your body/mind rediscover relaxation.

Many herbs can be formulated into a tea to help combat the fatigue when reducing coffee.

One tea blend I frequently use contains Rosemary (Rosmarinus off.), Peppermint (Menthe Piperita), Damiana (Turnera diffusa) and ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba).

The Monkey Mind

I like the expression, what happens during the day, is what happens at night.

Sleep is time to let go of worry, planning, hopes and fears. During sleep, dreams sort out complicated emotions and unexpected moments during the day. If a day is spent with thoughts racing from one subject to another, rewinding thoughts and picking apart the past moment or conversation, these endless thoughts will continue into the night.

If this is the case, practice letting thoughts go during the day. This is not trying to shut off thoughts. That will create more feelings and stress.

You want to learn to reduce the speed of your thoughts and to enjoy the moment such as grass on bare feet in the morning, or the sweetness of watermelon, or the sun’s kiss on skin, or the thirst quenching clarity of the water.

Using the senses to ground oneself in the present moment takes care of those pesky repetitive thoughts that feed stress and interfere with sleep. This takes practice!

Herbs for Monkey Mind

Sipping a calming cup of tea offers a perfect opportunity to allow thoughts to settle and gather oneself into the present moment. I recommend a blend of chamomile (Matricaria recutita) and lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) to help you settle into the quiet moments during the chaos of daily life. Those quiet moments when we practice letting go will help you sleep once darkness falls.

Pain

Pain can be difficult to treat because, like insomnia, it is merely a symptom.

Many of the excellent herbal pain relievers are still illegal, or have been patented and are synthetically manufactured. However, there are still a few plants in the herbalist’s medicine bag that reduce pain. To use them effectively, it is important to understand the cause of the pain.

Herbs for pain

For those suffering from chronic back, neck or joint pain a topical ointment that contains a small amount of aconite (Akoniton aconite) can be enough to numb the pain long enough for sleep to take hold. Aconite is a very powerful herb, and I do not recommend using it without proper guidance.

Other herbs that can be used to ease pain are California poppy (Eschscholzia californica), Oat seed (Avena sativa) and Willow (Salix alba). When pain is aggravated by muscular tension a warm Epsom salt bath before going to bed can help relax tension in the body associated with pain (or a busy, busy mind). I also recommend adding ten drops of lavender (Lavendula Angustifolia) essential oil to the bath.

If the pain is eating away at your peace of mind scenting the pillows with lavender will also help calm the mind and body in preparation for sleep.

There was a study done in a prison where three drops of lavender were placed on each inmates’ pillow. The aggression and agitation in prison dropped significantly.

A balanced supplement of calcium/magnesium relaxes muscle tension and reduces pain. Once the body unwinds, often it is easier to let go of thoughts and ease into sleep. Choosing effective supplements is a bit of an art. Look for ones with few fillers and high bioavailability.

Digestion

More than once I have discovered the underlying cause of insomnia is sluggish digestion. It could be said that during sleep we digest our day. Bloating, a grumbling gall bladder or even constipation can be effecting your ability to sleep.

Again, tools to ease stress in your life need to be used. Digestion is very sensitive on going tension in your day.

Herbs for Digestion

There is a class of herbs called “carminative” that reduce the effects of stress on the digestion, and many of them are also used in sleep teas. These herbs include chamomile and lemon balm which have already been mentioned.

Other such plants are catnip (Nepeta cataria) and dill (Anethum graveolens). Dill is a favoured plant to give to infants and young children suffering from sluggish digestion and poor sleep.

To ease gall bladder pain and help bring on sleep, dietary changes are needed. I also offer hops (Humulus lupus) to relax the gallbladder/liver and calm digestion and the mind.

Night sweats

Many woman struggle with insomnia during hormonal changes. Easing insomnia during menopause can be complex. Every woman experiences menopause differently, and as I have already mentioned, there are many plants that can be used to help ease that stress.

Herbs for hormone balance

Many plants support the body in balancing hormones. I use these within unique formulas specific to the woman’s health challenges.

The one universal recommendation I make for easing night sweats is a cold tea made with Sage (Salvia officinalis) before bed. Sage (yes, the plant used to season poultry), when taken as a cold tea, closes sweat glands and thereby reduces sweating.

It is important to remember the body is sweating for a reason and cold sage tea is a symptomatic relief. However, the tea will offer the woman a couple of weeks a good dry sleep while using plant medicine to help resolve the underlying reason for the dramatic hormonal swings.

Conclusion

If you are suffering from insomnia, it can be helpful to talk to someone who not only treats symptoms but also supports you in discovering and relieving the underlying causes. Find out more today!

Disclaimer

This article in not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.

Now I would like to hear from you. Do you suffer from Insomnia? What have you tried to help your symptoms? Let us know in the comments below.