How to get a good night’s sleep

Most of you with sleep problems or insomnia already know about sleep hygiene.

This includes avoiding caffeine after lunch hours (coffee, black and green tea, etc); avoiding computers, TV and cellphones two hours before bedtime, avoiding alcohol. Sleeping in complete darkness, exercising, meditation, going to bed at the same time every night (22.00 o’clock is a good choice). One hour of sleep before midnight has the quality of two hours of sleep after midnight.

However very often despite that we follow sleep hygiene, some of us still have difficulties with falling asleep.
Research shows that this might be because of lack of magnesium and also some other minerals.

Stress, sugar, caffeine and some medications deplete magnesium from our bodies. Magnesium is the anti-stress mineral, it helps to relax muscles and has a calming effect on nervous system. I suffered from insomnia myself for a few years, which might have been triggered by the fact that my son used to wake up several times a night, every single night for 7 years. Even though I was very exhausted in the evenings, I still could not fall asleep. However I have now solved my insomnia problem, thanks to the following: Eat more foods, which have high in magnesium content (dark leafy greens, nuts and seeds, beans and lentils, whole grains, fish, avocados, bananas, chia seeds, dry fruits and dark chocolate).

Supplement magnesium. Try 450 mg 1 hour before sleep time.
Magnesium oil can be sprayed on the lower body an hour before sleep time.

Epsom salt baths. Epsom salts (magnesium sulphate) is very soothing to body and mind. This way your skin is absorbing magnesium, as supplementation alone might not be enough. Besides that Epsom salts help the body to release the toxicity. These baths should be avoided during pregnancy, menstruation, if there is a risk of high blood pressure. Epsom salt baths could be taken once a week for three out of four weeks. To follow this technique: 1 kg of Epsom salts for a normal bath run the warm to hot water to dissolve the salts, soak for 20 min. Do not use any soap, etc. Dry your body and go to bed.

If you do not have a possibility to take a bath Epsom salts footbath might be a solution for you. You will need 4 tablespoons of Epsom salts for a footbath. Take a bath for 15-20 minutes. This is a great technique before bedtime.If you cannot find Epsom salts, try good quality Dead Sea salts instead.