by Nelson, Dr. Christopher’s Herb Shop
Few health problems get annoying faster than insomnia. After only getting 2-3 hours of sleep a night for a few days, you can start to feel grumpy. If this goes on for a few years, then you might really be past the point of annoyed.
The causes of insomnia can be incredibly varied, which can make it challenging to approach with natural therapies. There are many different herbs that are used for this problem, and people have a tendency to respond differently to one and well to another. Using some of the herbs with a stronger action can keep the searching down to a minimum.
Of course, if someone is taking stimulants before sleeping (coffee, cocoa, metabolism boosters, sports drinks) then it should be no mystery. These need to go if they are the cause.
Before listing and discussing some herbal help, let’s have Dr. Christopher give us some simpler, less known but effective approaches:
Dr. Christopher taught:
“Our bodies receive electricity through the top of the head where we used to have soft spots when we were babies. This electricity is essential to our bodies but it must be fresh and free flowing, coming through the top of the head, down the spine, through the body and is grounded out into the earth. When we do not let the electricity out and be grounded into the earth, it becomes static and toxic and builds up so much that new electricity can't come in.
“We can't sleep and we become hard to live with. Each day, therefore, we need to send some time out on the lawn or the ground to get rid of this static electricity in the body. There was an elderly man who was having a lot of trouble sleeping. His insomnia got so bad that he became very difficult to be around. His son knew this principle of walking on the earth to discharge unwanted energy and tried to convince his father to do so, but his father said that no one was going to get him to take off his shoes in public and walk on the lawn barefooted!
“However, one day, the son said, "Dad, I have something I must talk to you about." He sat the old man down, quickly took off his shoes and whisked him outside. They walked around the lawn a few times, talking and then the old man said that he was feeling tired. He went in the house and went to bed--and slept all night! We have noticed that native peoples who walk without shoes or who wear leather soles that let the energy through are much less nervous than those of us who wear synthetic or rubber soles. We spend a good deal of the summer without shoes and although it may not look as proper or civilized as wearing the plastic sandals that are the style now, we feel much less nervous and very harmonious during this time.”
Most of the herbs used to promote restfulness are the nervine herbs. When I was first getting into herbs, I had a friend who was a naturopathic doctor. He taught me some interesting things in the time he was around. I remember he once told me about insomnia trouble he had suffered. In a short period of time, he had gone through a divorce and lost his children and his house (I think he might have been having problems with his job as well). He told me that he had not slept for two weeks, and it was an extract of valerian root gave him the first night of sleep during those times.
Many herbs may be used as singles. Chamomile, lavender, valerian root and passionflower are commonly used with great results. Other nervines such as scullcap, black cohosh and the like are also helpful.
When we have a really stubborn case of insomnia, often someone will respond well to kava kava. This is an herbal tranquilizer (I think this is the closest we've come to doping someone up). I have had some cases where someone with bloodshot eyes has told me that no drugs or pills have been working for them. It makes me happy when they cheerfully tell me two weeks later that they are sleeping restfully. It does not work every time, but with a high enough success rate to be worthwhile. Kava kava can make the lips and tongue go slightly numb for a short while after taking it, but as the Polynesian culture has demonstrated, gallons of this tea can be drunk throughout the week without damage to the body.
One final famous case of Dr. Christopher's to conclude this newsletter:
Dr. Christopher told the story of a high school teacher who had a terrible case of insomnia. She could only sleep in twenty-minute stretches; thereafter, she would pace the floor throughout the night, keeping her family awake and becoming more and more tired herself. During the day she epitomized the "witch" school teacher. Eventually her screaming and irritability, her meanness and nagging, became so intolerable that her family wanted to have her committed to a mental institution. And she was so weary of it all that she would have liked to go herself.
The family called Dr. Christopher, however, who came over and prepared a cup of his nervine tea [Relax-Eze]. As it steeped, he chatted with the family, and then she drank the cup. Soon she yawned and said she might like to go lie down. Her husband commented that Dr. Christopher might just as well stay, because she would be up again in twenty-minutes, but Dr. Christopher took his leave.
The next morning, Dr. Christopher answered the telephone; a man's voice began berating him and calling him all sorts of vulgar names. "You ought to be jailed," the man shouted, "for giving my wife heavy drugs when you said they were herbs!"
Dr. Christopher explained he had only given the woman herbs, so mild that a newborn baby could safely use them. When the man calmed down, he explained that his wife had slept all night and awakened calm and refreshed.
She continued taking this formula, and cleaned up her diet as well. Before long, she was as sweet and cooperative as she could be with her family and her classes, and everyone was grateful that she didn't have to be committed to a mental institution!
Christopher Formulas:
Relax-Eze
Slumber
Valerian & Wild Lettuce Tincture
Find Dr. Christopher's Herbal Formulas, single herbs, essential oils, books and more at Dr. Christopher's Original Herb Shop: www.drchristophersherbshop.com.
NOTICE: All information in this newsletter is given out as information only and is not intended to diagnose or prescribe.
