Can’t fall asleep?

Is your sleep constantly interrupted?

Do you wake up after 8 hours of sleep or more, feeling un-refreshed?

In my practice as an herbalist and acupuncturist I often see clients with such midlife sleep problems.

Here are three typical examples of midlife people struggling with sleep that may sound familiar to you:

1. Trouble Going to Sleep

2. Trouble Staying Asleep

3. Not Enough Refreshing Sleep

Homo sapiens is the only animal known to curtail, interrupt or otherwise disturb his normal sleep cycles deliberately. A bear sleeps until his inner clock rouses him, yet men and women will shorten their sleep based on external criteria – a business meeting or medical appointment, family demands, a gripping novel that transfixes or a movie too exciting to turn off.

Sleep is one of the most important but often neglected aspects of wellness and aging. Cutting back on slumber has lots of health consequences, and can make us irritable, but is also dangerous; for those who work under hazardous conditions or with machinery, and to innocent people who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that as many as 100,000 crashes are due to driver fatigue each year.

Peter Hauri and Shirley Linde in No More Sleepless Nights estimate that more than 100 million Americans (almost 30% of our population) have occasional sleep problems. About a third of these have some form of chronic insomnia, and over 10 million of these people suffer enough to see their doctors and spend millions on prescribed tranquilizers, sedatives and sleeping pills.

So we all agree it’s important to get a good night’s sleep, but why does this fundamental respite become so torturous at midlife and how can we treat it effectively and safely?

Here is my prescription or “Midlife Sleep Formula” that has worked for hundreds of my clients:

1. Nourish yourself to promote health and sleep.

What and when you eat do matter.

2. Lower the impact of daily stressors through exercise and relaxation

Minimizing the effects of stress on your body, mind and spirit are more important during midlife than ever before.

3. Create an irresistible, sleep-inducing bedroom environment.

Design the most perfect and inviting bedroom for you.

4. Develop a routine before bedtime that promotes the deepest slumber.

What you do during the day and before bed do make a difference to the quality and quantity of your sleep.

5. Take herbs and supplements to support the best sleep.

To complement everything else you’re doing, you may want to use non-pharmaceuticals to assist you in going to sleep, staying asleep or having more refreshing sleep.

Want to learn more about my Midlife Sleep Formula? Check out my recently published ebook, I Just Want a Good Night’s Sleep, and stay tuned for more posts on getting a better night’s rest at midlife!

Are you in midlife and experiencing sleeping problems? Do you have a tip you’d like to share? Please be sure to add a comment. Wishing you delicious refreshing sleep, if I can help you with sleep drop me a line nina@ninaprice.com.