Sing me a lullaby

Insomniacs can only agree with Lady Macbeth that sleep is “the season of all natures”.

Text and photography by Lydia Dimitrova

Everyone suffers occasional restless nights brought on by concerns about work or a loved one. Usually, when these anxieties subside, so does sleeplessness. However, life throws up constant challenges that can trigger habitual sleep deprivation. So we need to develop a contingency plan to cope with those lonely early mornings when we stare at the ceiling with only a ticking clock for company.

I’m not a chronic insomniac but I have experienced periodic bleak bouts of sleeplessness and have learned to take pre-emptive measures. Unnervingly, specialists have classified 11 different types of insomnia, so there are plenty to choose from! Nevertheless effective lifestyle changes can dispense with the need for medications that are frequently ineffective anyway.

Pharmaceutical products are no panacea for insomnia, daytime lethargy often being an inevitable consequence of the night-time sedative. If you don’t succumb to physical addiction you may find yourself becoming psychologically dependent. I was enslaved to sleep aids for a number of months until I had to wean myself off them by halving the dosage. Sadly for some, insomnia is a chronic medical condition, often triggered by psychological disorders for which pharmaceutical remedies are the sole solution.

So how do you tackle the problem? Firstly try some lifestyle changes; if these don’t work consider some natural sleep-aids such as valerian, standardised melatonin, and various homeopathic remedies, but always seek medical advice for dosage and long-term use. The root of the pungent valerian plant has been used for centuries and increases periods of deep sleep and rapid eye movement, resulting in more restful nights. Melatonin is commonly used as jet lag treatment, and for general insomnia too.  The only side effect, however, is that both supplemental valerian and melatonin can lead to enhanced and vivid dreams, the desirability of which vary according to how your dreams swing. Homeopathic pellets are generally highly effective. These are best prescribed by a homeopathic doctor because choices are endless and widely varying. Yet for many people, including myself, home remedies and lifestyle alterations do help immensely.

The key to understanding sleep tribulations is the hormone melatonin, the substance that regulates your biological clock. Melatonin is produced in the small pineal gland inside the brain. In small children this gland is evidently most active. In older people the pineal gland typically calcifies, so explaining the high incidence of insomnia among the elderly. However, melatonin is also produced in the retinas of your eyes from exposure to direct sunlight. Therefore for overall health – and specifically sleep – it’s good to spend an hour a day outside, exposing your face – or at least gazing at the sun with your eyes closed – to remind your timekeeper that it’s daytime. By contrast, you should try to sleep in complete darkness so that your melatonin knows that it’s time to switch to sleep mode. Use thick curtains to block out streetlights and avoid nightlights. For children too, the use of nightlights is a bad habit because melatonin can be produced only by pitch darkness. As an alternative to blackout curtains, an eye-mask comfortably covers your eyes, producing the desired pitch-blackness. I always use one when I visit places where I cannot control the surroundings. Also, if you must get up at night for a sip of water, or a toilet run, do not turn on any lights because this will create a signal that night is over. Instead keep curtains open outside the bedroom to gently light your way. Or perhaps keep a mild night light in the corridor or bathroom.

Try to turn your bedroom into a rejuvenating sanctuary. Keep this room tidy and enhance it with comforting and attractive furnishings such as a quality mattress and down filled bedding. Reserve your bedroom for sleep and bed-related activities; television and work do not encourage sleep and should be shut out. You may try wearing socks to bed because feet have the poorest circulation and are the first body parts to become cold and so disturb your comfort. I always wear socks at night, donning terry athletic ones even in summer and two or three pairs in winter!

Don’t disturb your serenity by having a blinking clock reminding you that a stressful working day is a mere couple of hours away. This only makes you feel worse. It’s much better to somehow persuade yourself that you have many hours of sleep left. That way you may relax enough to lose consciousness. Other remedies such as counting sheep are best consigned to the realm of old wives’ tales. Instead, try placing a decorative box of dried lavender flowers on your nightstand. Open it late in the evening and allow the calm aromatherapy scent to engulf you. If you wake up at night try to relax by tinkering with the sand-like fragrant buds.

Night-time reading may help you to shun thoughts of daily responsibilities but beware enthralling stories that encourage you to read on. An intoxicating plot may prevent sleep when you turn off the light. Simple short stories and easy reading are the most suitable bedtime reading. Otherwise, supplement or substitute your reading by writing down aggravations and dilemmas. Writing a list of chores can have therapeutic effects by channelling worries into the written word. Don’t end your evenings with the classic nightcap. While alcohol causes an initial drowsiness, the effect is short lived and may cause you to wake up later, preventing a deeper sleep cycle.

Better than booze, an hour of professional massage can be a worthwhile bi-weekly or monthly expense, as you will discover once you have experienced its calming effect on your nervous system, because it stimulates the release of "feel good" endorphins. Massage is one of the simplest forms of relieving pain, anxiety and stress. It can be helpful when performed by a partner, although trained hands are preferable. Discuss with your massage therapist what would be most suitable for you, but generally a mild to medium pressure is more appropriate than deep tissue massage.

Daytime napping is healthy for most, yet for sleep deprived individuals a power nap can confuse the day-to-night cycle. So try to forgo your afternoon siesta. Adopt a strict bedtime routine instead. This is by far the best self-help measure. Your body recuperates the most between 11pm and 1am; hence a bedtime of 10pm or 11pm is ideal. Perhaps waking up at sunrise and retiring at sunset would be most desirable but this is only possible far from civilisation!

In addition to scheduled resting hours, a daily workout of 30 minutes or more, which causes you slight perspiration, is another excellent long-term remedy. Stanford University's Medical School undertook a study that revealed that exercise was very effective in counteracting insomnia. However, you must be persistent because positive effects are only felt a few weeks down the line. Make sure your exercise takes place at least three hours before you hit the hay because calmness does not immediately follow energetic activity.

Try to heal yourself, take on a child’s rhythm of life, exercising with friends at the park and setting yourself an early bedtime. Do this and you’ll most likely sleep like a baby seduced by a calming lullaby.

Blindfold

A sleep mask keeps light out, leaving your eyes in restorative darkness to activate optimal melatonin production. Finding a sleep mask in Bulgaria is difficult. Perhaps they’re available in lingerie and sleepwear shops, but those are more decorative then practical. Next time you find yourself in an international airport, be sure to look for one there. Some sleep masks can be too stiff, others too polyester-like. Opt for a black one, of soft (mostly) natural fibre.

Sleep Scents

Lavender flowers are renowned for their soothing and calming aromatherapy fragrance, and real dried flowers keep their perfume longer than the bottled variety. Separate the flowers from a dry lavender bouquet into an attractive box and keep it on your nightstand. At bedtime open the box and ruffle the rice-like buds to release their fragrance. Dry lavender bouquets can be found at Slanchogled at 13 Ivan Vazov St, between three and nine leva, depending on size, and close by at L'Occitane on Tsar Shishman for about 10 leva.
 

Source: Month2Come