10 Natural Ways to Better Sleep

5. Try Sleep-Enhancing Supplements

Sleep issues can stem from a deficiency in vitamins or minerals in your diet. Eating a real food diet is key, but some people may need more help. Find out more in 25 signs you have a nutritional deficiency. Magnesium, amino acids, leptin, and thiamine can help.

Melatonin is another option. My husband loves Sleep Essence, a nutritional supplement made with Rue, Vetiver, Valerian, Lavender and Melatonin. He takes just 2 capsules about 15 minutes before bedtime. It’s been the cornerstone of his nightly ritual to get a good night’s sleep. Want to find out more about Sleep Essence? Find out how to order it and essential oil here.

6. Read Before Bedtime

It’s probably the easiest thing to do, yet many of us don’t do it or we play games or read on our smartphones. Ditch those phones, laptops, e-readers and other electronic devices, and opt for a good old-fashioned book instead. Reading helps to calm the mind before bedtime (you can also apply some Vetiver essential oil too) and reduce stress to get the body ready to sleep. Find books with calming and soothing themes, which means avoiding crime dramas, horror stories and anything else that might increase your heart rate.

7. Try an Earlier Bedtime

Not surprisingly, going to bed later can affect your body’s natural circadian rhythm – your body’s natural clock. If you’re late to bed all the time and have sleep issues, try an earlier bedtime. For many people, a 9 or 10 pm bedtime is ideal to get a full night’s sleep and to start the day the next morning at 6 am am.

8. Sleep in a Dark Room

Got a night light in your room? Like to sleep with the TV on? Got a computer in your bedroom? Get rid of them, and keep your room as dark as possible for sleep. Why? Artificial light can disrupt your circadian rhythm as your body may think it’s time to get up.

9. Get a Better Bed

If you’ve tried all of the above and still can’t get a good night’s sleep, it could easily be your mattress. That was a HUGE issue for us. Both my husband and I used to toss and turn all night – never feeling quite comfortable in our bed. He would wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble going back to sleep, while I always felt tired in the morning. These are both signs of a disrupted sleep cycle.

What happens during a sleep cycle? Your body goes through Stage 1-4 sleep and then REM (dream) sleep. It takes 45-90 minutes to go through a sleep cycle. When you sleep on your side, your body will want to move every 10-15 minutes. If you’re trying to get to a 45-90 minute sleep cycle, but your body is moving every 10-15 minutes then you won’t get through a full sleep cycle.

So the right bed makes a huge difference. If you’re tossing and turning all night or your bed is sagging (in fact, most memory foam beds start to sag within the first TWO years!), then your bed is likely the culprit. I searched for a long time and finally found a bed that supports my back (no more tossing and turning) without off-gassing toxic chemicals from the mattress.

10. Try New Pillows

No budget for a new bed yet? Try an intelliPILLOW to get a better night’s sleep on a pillow made without toxic chemicals. I love this pillow because it helps to properly support the head (great for side and backs sleepers). It’s made with a soft, but supportive foam core and has an adjustable, hand pump-able air chamber that let’s you adjust the contour of the pillow by about 2 inches. This allows you to set the pillow at the perfect angle between your head and shoulder to get the support that’s just right for you. The bonus is that the intelliPILLOW is non-toxic – so no off-gassing toxic chemicals like other foam pillows.