Natural Ways To Address Insomnia – Part 2

Since 1995, the Hansa Center for Optimum Health has been internationally recognized as a respected leader in the treatment of chronic illness. The owner and director of the Hansa Center, Dr. David Jernigan, purchased an OrganicPedic Duo mattress and recommends The Healthy Bed Store to all of his patients. Dr. Jernigan recently wrote the following article which is the second in a two-part series on natural ways to address sleep problems and has given us permission to reprint it for our customers:

In the last Health Tips, I gave you suggestions that you can do at home without a doctor’s help. Other considerations must be addressed by your doctor of natural medicine depending upon your unique sleep problems.

Many sleep problems can be resolved by Biological Dentists that specialize in correcting the position of your bite and tongue. The tongue often falls back in your throat compromising the airway. When this happens, the adrenals kick out adrenaline to wake you and get you breathing again. This adrenaline also causes your bladder to want to empty. It can cause panic and anxiety, not to mention nightmares that wake you up.

Chinese medicine describes a busy brain syndrome that prevents sleep that is caused by what is called a Spleen Qi Deficiency. Chinese formulations, such as Gui Pi Wan by Plum Flower brand, or Gather Vitality, by K’an Herbals company, were developed over 1000 years ago to correct the fluid regulation and transportation problems that are caused by too much mental stimulation. This over mental stimulation is very common in the chronically ill person because their body is too sick to have a real life, so the person is stuck essentially living in their head. This busy brain can lead to obsessing over figuring out one’s illness, digging and pouring and surfing the internet until you are causing this Spleen Qi syndrome. This is also seen in college students who become overloaded mentally.

Epigenetic miasms are described in homeopathy that deal with inherited tendencies to being a night owl and groggy and/or grumpy in the morning. The homeopathic remedy that addresses this is called Medorrhinum. Only a doctor or practitioner highly trained in homeopathy should determine which miasm remedy you need.

Progesterone can help both men and women with sleep issues if it is tested as being too low. A saliva test should be performed to test progesterone levels. It is a good idea to have a 24-hour saliva cortisol test and DHEA test performed for those who are feeling stressed out all of the time or those who are exhausted yet cannot sleep. This test can be done using a test kit from DiagnosTech, Inc.

Use EFT to address the emotional distress revolving around the conviction that you are not going to be able to go to sleep. Learn how to do EFT at this link from Dr. Mercola: http://eft.mercola.com/

Control your thinking and don’t let yourself get uptight about anything. Do the best you can at what you do each day and at the end of the day, let the issues of the day go. You have done all you can do for one day. “Lean not unto your own understanding” of how things will work out.

When I trained in Anthroposophical Medicine in Germany, the doctors taught me a process that can help not just with sleep, but with life in general. The point of the exercise is to allow the subconscious to finish processing anything that was incompletely processed from the day. Remember, almost 90% of what your brain processes each day is on the subconscious level. Anything that your subconscious brain didn’t get fully processed during the day will set up an irritation to the conscious brain. This loss of equilibrium between the subconscious and conscious mind often feels like anxiety about something you cannot quite define.

To correct this problem, the German doctors said you should take 15-20 minutes when you first lay down to sleep and replay your day in reverse. In your mind, see yourself like you are watching a movie of yourself starting to get into bed, and retrace in your mind everything prior to that, such as you getting ready for bed, and see yourself all the way through your day when you first woke up that morning.

The point is NOT to rehash things in your mind, or to do the “woulda-shoulda” thing about the situations in your day. You should simply watch it without judgement. The point is not to resolve things on an emotional and/or mental level, but to allow your subconscious to have the chance to revisit and find balance about things it didn’t process through completely. This process gets easier once you get used to it. You will notice you go to sleep and awaken more settled in your mind and spirit.

I also want to discuss those people who may get to sleep fine, yet awaken at specific times during the night.

You may recall my health tip on the fact that if all of the body’s energy had to go to all the organ circuits all the time, there would not be enough energy to go around. Each organ circuit has its time of highest energy being dedicated to it.

Often there is a body clock “time zone” problem that is the issue, causing a circuit that should only be active during the daytime to be getting its time of highest energy at the wrong time, night time. For example, the bladder circuit, which should have its time of highest energy between 3-5 p.m. This type problem can only be addressed by a doctor trained to correct the body’s “clock” and “time zones.”

My primary focus here is on those whose organ clock and time zones are correct, yet problems within those organ circuits are so bad that they wake you up.

A common time to awaken in the night is between 1-3 a.m., which is the liver’s time of highest energy. People who awaken every night during this time might benefit greatly from taking some liver support supplements during the day and again just before going to sleep. It could help to take more if you still awaken between 1-3 a.m. even after taking a supplement during the day and at bedtime.

A good general liver support supplement for this purpose is Total Liver Detox, by NutriWest Inc. A general recommendation of 1-3 pills, 2-3 times a day for most adults is well tolerated. Check with your doctor before starting any new supplement.

I feel it is worth finishing with this tip for those people who awaken every night between 3-5 a.m.

The lung circuit is getting the most energy from the body between 3-5 a.m. and by supporting the lung circuit you can often just “cruise” right on through to a more reasonable time for the rooster to crow.

People who awaken between 3-5 a.m. often have acid reflux, though not always. Having acid reflux/heart burn is due to the fact that the diaphragm muscle is on the same circuit with the lungs. When there is a problem with the lungs, the diaphragm muscle loses tone and the hole in the diaphragm where the esophagus passes through to the stomach gets bigger. This allows the stomach to herniated up into the chest cavity and often causes acid reflux.

Your doctor of natural medicine is likely able to pull the stomach down and out of the chest cavity manually…no surgery required! Then you must support the integrity of the lungs with a good supplement, such as Core Level Lung, by NutriWest, Inc.

A good general adult dosage recommendation would be 2-3 pills, 2-3 times a day, or as directed by your doctor, whom you should check with before starting any new supplement.

There are obviously many potential reasons your lungs might be having problems, such as infections, toxins, asthma, and other breathing problems. These will need to be addressed by your healthcare team.

Hopefully these tips, when combined, will result in a very restful and satisfying night’s sleep, allowing you to awaken refreshed and ready to face the day!