A research abstract presented at a recent conference suggests that rather than reaching for sleeping pills, those suffering from insomnia may benefit from natural therapies such as meditation.
Insomnia often leads to anxiety, fatigue and depression and can significantly impair a persons quality of life, while medications may have serious side effects.
However, researchers from Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Evanston, Illinois, say patients have reported improvements in subjective sleep quality and sleep parameters while practicing meditation.
Among the specific aspects of sleep that registered the improvement were total sleep time, wake after sleep onset, sleep efficiency and sleep quality.
“Results of the study show that teaching deep relaxation techniques during the daytime can help improve sleep at night,” says Dr. Ramadevi Gourineni, director of the insomnia program at the hospital and the studys principal investigator.
Health practitioners have also recommended natural remedies containing valerian to help combat insomnia and achieve a more restful sleep.
Other natural remedies include warm milk with honey as well as warm orange flower water with just a little sugar, according to Natural-HomeRemedies.com.
