Insomnia Fix | Lemongrass Tea

Natural Remedy

Are you suffering from insomnia? Know someone who is? What is insomnia exactly?

in·som·ni·a
inˈsämnēə/

noun: insomnia

      habitual sleeplessness; inability to sleep.

      sleeplessness, wakefulness, restlessness

Insomnia has a huge effect on the quality of your everyday life. If you have a hard time falling asleep or actually even staying asleep on a regular basis, it can eventually impact your general health as well as your work performance and relationships.

Here are some of the most common factors that cause insomnia:

1. Anxiety and Stress
   Do you have a lot on your mind? Worry can make your mind race at night and not let you sleep even when you want or need to.
2. Depression
   Another common cause of insomnia is depression. Some studies show that this may be due to certain imbalances regarding the chemicals in the brain that control sleep patterns. On the other hand, it’s often caused by distress alone, manifesting through the negative thoughts or fears at night that usually come with depression.
3. Stimulants
   
   Coffee, tea, energy drinks, and soft drinks contain a significant amount of caffeine that work to stimulate your brain, but it can also disturb your normal sleeping patterns. Drinking coffee later in the day can prevent you from falling asleep at night.
   
4. Medications
   
   A lot of over-the-counter medications are known to cause insomnia in people. Certain pain medications, weight-loss products and decongestants often have caffeine in them and potentially other stimulants.
   
   Some common prescription drugs that are known to disrupt sleep patterns include the following:
• Allergy drugs
• Antidepressants
•  Stimulants
• Heart and blood pressure medications

Ways to Beat Insomnia

If you are suffering from insomnia quite frequently, there are some things you can do to change your lifestyle and behaviors which can result with you getting much needed rest every night. Here are some effective ways to beat insomnia:

• Try to eliminate as much stress as possible from your life
• Limit your naptime
• Wake up every day at the same time
• Exercise on a regular basis
• Create a comfortable sleep environment
• Avoid eating or drinking just before bedtime
• Reduce your intake of alcohol and stimulants like caffeine and nicotine
• Limit the number of activities you do in bed—just sleep, to condition your mind that your bed is for sleeping.

Now here's a Quick Fix

One of my aunts and my grandma both have insomnia. My aunt has had this since I can remember and my grandmother just fairly recently after a couple of close calls concerning her heart. My aunt sometimes wouldn't be able to sleep for days and when she does it is always cut short. She stumbled upon lemongrass tea from a friend of hers and it changed her life ever since. Her sleeping pattern is normal now and both her body and mind are clearly benefiting from the change.

Even my husband who sometimes experience having troubling sleeping at night has tried lemongrass tea. It worked like a charm. So, when I found out that my grandma started to have sleeping problems I suggested it right away. Now my cousin makes a fresh batch of lemongrass tea with raw honey for her on a regular basis and now she sleeps like a log. It's really effective and easy to make. You just need fresh stalks of lemongrass or "tanglad" as we call it here in the Philippines, water and raw honey. Just prepare it like any tea and add the honey to sweeten it. Mr. D adds a bit of cinnamon on his. Drink it before bed time and see the difference. No need to take medication with the side effects, just to get a decent sleep at night. Try it for yourself! :)