5 Ways To Improve Your Sleep

Broken sleep and how to cure it

Even if you are lucky enough not to suffer from night sweats, broken sleep is unfortunately a common feature at menopause.

Author Leslie Kenton in her book ‘Passage to Power’ advocates not tossing and turning but getting up and doing something creative and productive with that time so get out that sketch pad or journal and keep them by your bed.

However, if you just want to get more hours of rest these tips from Andrew Weil, MD can help you.

1. To minimize early waking, try to postpone the evening meal until after dusk and schedule some kind of stimulating activity in the early evening.

2. If your mind is too active when you get into bed, you will not be able to fall asleep – no matter how tired you are. Learn and practice one or more relaxation techniques that can help you disengage from thoughts.

3. Consider bioidentical natural progesterone which many women have found helps relax them and get a better night sleep as it gets those menopausal symptoms under control.

4. Determine how much sleep is optimal for you. People vary in their need for sleep, from as little as four hours a night to as many as ten.

Most require seven to eight hours, but ideal amounts can change over time.

You can adjust your bedtime and see how you feel after sleeping for various amounts of time, or simply note how much you slept on days that feel right.

5. If you do wake early, try to use the time productively. Read or write for an hour, then try to go back to sleep until morning. Think of the yin-yang symbol, which symbolizes harmony with a small dot of white on a black background and vice versa.

Seen from this perspective, a period of nighttime wakefulness complements your daytime nap.

Helpful information:

It is sadly true that many women at menopause experience considerable problems with sleep. Whether this is due to night sweats hot flushes, an increase in the level of anxiety that occurs, or an increased need to get up in the night it is certainly likely that at least one of these factors will play a part.

Certainly progesterone is known to help sleep as it is a relaxant, but if your symptoms are severe – such as night sweats for example – you may be better with a combination cream such as 20-1 which has both progesterone and a small amount of natural oestrogens.

For maximum relief you could also look at Wellsprings Sleep Capsules which are designed to help you drift off more easily and get a restful and refreshing night’s sleep.

They are a combination of four carefully blended amino acids, herbs and minerals that are known to promote sleep: L-Tryptophan, L-Theanine, Lemon Balm and Magnesium.