INSOMNIA / POOR SLEEP
Most of us take for granted the importance of good sleep. Sleep plays an important role in maintaining good health and gives us the ability to recover and repair from illness and injury. Ongoing sleep deficiency can be linked to certain health issues such as heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and stroke.
When we are deprived of sleep, overall immune levels and performance levels immediately start to suffer.
So what is good sleep ?
There are 4 phases that we go through when we go to sleep. Each phase is regulated by the sleep centre in our brainstem so that it is an automatic function. If the sleep centre is not working properly we may have issues either getting to sleep, staying asleep, or getting through the necessary 4 phases of sleep. Good sleep should involve deep sleep, which is the 4th phase of sleep. Deep sleep is the most important phase for rest and recover to occur. Disrupted sleep or sleep that is not long enough hinders our overall ability to get deep sleep.
Sleeping tablets are often used by people to assist the transition into sleep but studies have shown that not only are these drugs highly addictive, but they disrupt the brains ability to regain normal regulation of sleep. It is unlikely that the use of a sleeping tablet will enable quality, deep sleep.
What can we do?
Our approach to getting better sleep involves RESETTING the nervous system and the sleep centre in the brain stem. When the nervous system is not in good balance, it is not surprising that the sleep centre of the brain is not working properly. Fortunately, once the nervous system is balanced, it is quite common for sleep to return to normal, followed by improved quality of life.
The first step towards better sleep is having your nervous system assessed for imbalance. This can be done with measurements from your heart beat. Your pupils, breathing and blood flow are other noteable features that may indicate that your nervous system is imbalanced and these will be assessed by your therapist.
Treatment of your sleep issues will be aimed towards regulating your nervous system. This is achieved via several methods including:
- Colour therapy
- Brainwave therapy
- Active Tremor
- Heart rate and breath coherence
- Breath training
Once your nervous system is regulated again, your sleep centre has a better chance to take over and re-initiate good sleep patterns. Better sleep is the key to a productive day.
