Homeopaths always ask how your sleep is. It’s a huge part of a person’s life and health. And knowing how your sleep is disturbed (or not) forms a part of your symptom picture on which the homeopath prescribes.
Sleep is vitally important to our health: it maintains and improves ability to concentrate, make decisions and be creative. It keeps immune and hormone function in good order, and it refreshes our energy and well-being,
The effects of not sleeping well immediately spills into our daily life and ability to cope, to work and to maintain good energy, good moods and good relationships.
Sleep issues can often be a main reason someone comes to me for homeopathy. Most commonly, issues are constant waking and not being able to fall back to sleep; an overactive mind, worrying and anxiety preventing sleep; unrefreshing sleep; nightmares; children who wake and need the comfort of their parents in the night; fear of the dark and, for some, complete insomnia.
Often it’s a secondary problem that is impacting sleep: painful arthritis, a need to get up for the loo frequently, restless legs, hot flushes, an injury, respiratory problems, palpitations, a crying child … there really are a thousand and one ways in which people experience poor sleep.
There is an important spiritual and nourishing aspect to sleep too. Night time is for rest and recuperation when the mind switches off from the routine and stress of the day. In rest, the mind is free and can process what has been or what is to come. It can produce chaotic stories – dreams that are the opposite of our ordered daytimes. Often our dreams express our fears for us to work through. Then there is a mystery as to what happens, where do we “go” when we sleep? – How often do we agonise over a problem, “sleep on it” and wake knowing exactly what to do!
How can homeopathy help?
The cycle of imbalance causing bad sleep and bad sleep causing ill-health is hard to break. You may be doing all the right things like not using your computer late at night, cutting out coffee and keeping a routine… but getting good sleep continues to be difficult.
Homeopathy tackles the problem by restoring balance and overall health. Homeopathic medicines are used to stimulate and assist the body’s own natural healing processes and this involves all its systems and functions. In doing so, the cycle of bad sleep can be broken.
Even if a person has come for treatment of symptoms unrelated to their sleep, it is common for their sleep and dreams to improve along with their main complaint.
Read more about homeopathic treatment on my website.
