4 Secrets to Getting a Better Night’s Sleep

Secrets to a Better Sleep

Do you have trouble sleeping? What could be a cause of insomnia? Often I hear complaints like…

• “I wish I could fall asleep before midnight”
• “I can never get a good night’s sleep. I wake up every night around the same time and it takes me hours to fall back asleep”
• “I always wake up so tired. I barely slept and my brain just doesn’t want to function”

Sound familiar? Sleep can be tricky.  Did you know that you have a body process called the circadian rhythm? This is a process that does maintenance on different body systems or organs every 2 hours. For example, your body does maintenance on your eliminative organs during the night. Hence, your “second adrenaline” kicks in around 11pm, coincidently when it’s time to start doing work on the gall bladder. This “second adrenaline” or “second wind” kicks in, not for you to stay up all night with energy, but to provide your body with enough energy and stamina to get its job done while you sleep (and stay out of the way).

What Time Should You Go To Bed?

Ideally, you should be in bed by 10:00 – 10:30 PM, to give your body time to calm down, unwind and enter into sleep and REM mode by 11:00 PM.  Then, your body activates “gall bladder maintenance” from 11:00 PM – 1:00 AM.  The gall bladder is responsible for emotions such as bitterness and resentment…a reason why you should not go to bed mad. Drinking a warm cup of lemon water can help, as well as diffusing essential oils such as lemon, pink grapefruit, yuzu, patchouli or cypress.

From there, the baton is passed to the liver which does its maintenance from 1:00 – 3:00 AM. The liver is also the organ of heat, and the emotion of anger. Have you noticed if you are ill, you tend to wake up between this time with a fever? Nausea, hot flashes, headaches or night sweats? Doing some meditation, and cold lemon water before bed can help. Diffusing scents, or spraying your pillow, bed linens and pajamas with chamomile (roman and German), lemon, geranium, helichrysum or mints can help reduce the heat.

Your body does maintenance on the lungs from 3:00 – 5:00 AM.  Lungs are the organ that harbors the emotion of grief.  Anyone sad, lonely or grieving tends to wake up during this time period, and sometimes with a cough, sore throat, sneezing or allergies.  Diffusing scents such as eucalyptus, cinnamon, ravintsara, sweet orange, bergamot and sandalwood can be helpful.

Then, from 5:00 – 7:00 AM, your body passing the maintenance on to the small intestine.  This is the reason you should wake up feeling rested, and  eliminate the toxins gathered up during the night.  You should greet your body upon waking up with a glass of water, positive thoughts, proteins and fats.  After all, it did just run a “cleaning marathon” all night while fasting. The body needs hydration and replenishment. When the gut is unhealthy, or unhappy, you can experience cramping, indigestion, reflux and nausea upon waking. This was an inspiration for our Intestinal Soother which include anti-inflammatory and antispasmodic essential oils such as chamomile.

If you need some additional sleep aids, check out our aromatherapy products and herbal formulas in our online store.  Enjoy a restful, healthy and rejuvenating sleep!

Poor Sleep Can Affect The Whole Body & Brain

In Dr. Matthew Walker’s book, Why We Sleep, he talks about sleep spindles. These are bursts of neural oscillatory activity generated during REM sleep, needed for restoration and recovery. If this is deprived for extended periods of time, physical and psychological imbalances can occur. Sleep depreivation can contribute to many health ailments such as depression, heartburn, Congestive Heart Failure, overactive thyroid and Restless Leg Syndrome (source). This in turn will effect cognitive functions, mood, ability to learn adn create as well as suppress immune responses.

Does What I Eat Affect my Sleep?

Yes. If you eat a heavy meal before bed, you guessed it, you will be more restless and uncomfortable. Instead of your body focuses on detoxification, it has to focus on digestion. So you hinder the detox process, which in turn affects sleep adn weight management. In addition, this will further contribute to brain fog, fatigue and decreased stamina the next day.

If you wake up through the night with nausea, the jitters and shakes, or a headache, it can be a sign that the body doesn’t have enough protein to do its proper detoxification functions. Thus, doing a spoonful of a nut butter or yogurt 20-30 minutes before bed can help calm this down, so you don’t wake up.

Herbals that can help

There are many calming and soothing herbs that can help the body rest, restore and rejuvenate.

• Digestive enzymes: When you take enzymes with meals, they help with the digestion process. When you take them before bed, they can help your body do maintenance on the nighttime organ processes (gallbladder, liver, lungs, intestines).
• Probiotics: facilitates gut-brain communications so your head and gut can do its job to the best of its ability, especially through the nighttime.
• Reindeer lichen: good source of plant vitamin D that aids with healthy sleep patterns
• Guduchi: great plant source of magnesium adn other essential vitamins & minerals
• Magnesium
• Chamomile and/or passionflower tea: 2 hours before bed

Calming Sleep Pillow Spray, 2 oz.

• 10 drops Lavender
• 8 drops Roman Chamomile
• 2 drops Frankincense
• 2 ounces distilled water
• Combine ingredients. Shake to mix the oils. Label and store in a cool, dark area to preserve its shelf life. Spray your pillow before bed each night to get a restful sleep.

Article References:

• JennScents Holistic Comprehensive Guide
• JennScents Aromaversity Classes
• JennScents E-books and Reference Material

Author: Jennifer Pressimone, Entrepreneur, Formulator, Author

Jennifer Pressimone is an aromatherapy entrepreneur (an Aromapreneur™). She is the founder and President of JennScents®, Inc. and the JennScents Aromaversity®. She is the Vice-President and Regional Florida Director of Central Florida for the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapy (NAHA). Jennifer has build, managed and maintained several health and wellness businesses over the last 20 years. She is an incredibly gifted essential oil formulator, aromatherapy educator, public speaker, herbalist, author and philanthropist. She leads with passion, experience and heart to inspire, empower and motivate others to not only follow their dreams, but crush it, realizing more than they ever imagined possible. Jennifer is a life coach and business mentor. She received her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of Central Florida, and has thousands of hours in continuing education in many health and wellness topics. Her specialties include mind-body health, gastrointestinal health and cognitive aromatherapy for humans and pets.  

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