Getting a good sleep is important, particularly for people with chronic pain or chronic illness. Research shows that lack of good sleep can affect mood and outlook on life. Sleep can affect energy level and ability to do activities and can also affect our ability to think clearly.
Yet, people with chronic pain or chronic illness are the people most likely to have difficulty with sleep. Pain and discomfort can wake us up in the night if the pain is bad enough. Also poor sleep is associated with many chronic conditions.
So how do we ensure we get a good nights’ sleep? Western medicine suggests good sleep hygiene is important and I can’t stress that enough. Check out this blog for tips on improving sleep hygiene.
Tibetan Medicine and Sleep
According to Dr. Nida, Tibetan Medicine doctor, sleep is the first and best rejuvenation technique. Within Tibetan Medicine there are number of rejuvenation techniques to improve longevity of life, health and strength. But getting a good sleep is considered the best.
One of the most common causes of poor sleep is too much loong. This happens if we get very busy with our lives, trying to achieve and acquire things or status. One can experience too much loong at night with a mind that can’t seem to shut down. We try to sleep but the mind is too busy.
As we try to fall asleep, we start to worry about not falling asleep. This worry, of course, makes it worse.
Another symptom of excessive loong is a restless night or frequent waking up.
The solution is to calm down the loong; settle the racing mind. This starts with making good sleep a priority. We don’t want to worry about getting a good sleep. But we want to ensure that we put in place sensible habits to help us sleep better.
Gentle Tibetan Yoga to Promote Sleep
Tibetan Medicine gentle yoga can be used to calm the loong and help settle the mind and body. Here are two practices that can be done to help reduce the loong and promote better sleep.
Bend forward and let the arms dangle. Repeat the mantra HA HA HA HA vigorously exhaling from the throat. Each time you say HA, gently shake the arms and torso. This helps resolve the day’s emotional blockages and releases emotional energy from the day.
Another Tibetan yoga move for improving sleep is rubbing the crown point with your palm. Start by sitting in an upright posture. Take a deep belly breath and while holding the breath, vigorously rub the crown of your head with the palm of your hand. When your ready to breath out, shoot out the breath but only release about one third of the breath. Then breathe normally. Repeat three times.
Safe Tibetan Herbal Aids for Sleep
Some safe herbal medicines from Tibet include a warm broth of onion and garlic. Boil fresh chopped onion and garlic in a pot of water for a short time. Drink a warm cup of this broth before going to bed.
Another herb that one can use is nutmeg. A pinch of nutmeg in warm milk will help you sleep. Don’t take more than a pinch, because anymore may be hallucinogenic.
Acupressure for Sleep
A very useful technique from Tibetan Medicine is called hormé. This technique involves using a small cloth pouch of herbs dipped in warm oil and applied to certain points on the body. Hormé is too involved to explain in this blog but one can use a similar technique with warm oil pressed on the points with the thumb or finger.
Sesame oil is often used but any seed oil will work. I like to use coconut oil.
Dip a finger or thumb in warm oil (not too hot!!) and apply to the centre of the soles of each foot. Then to the centre of each palm. Finally, apply to the crown point. The crown point is twelve finger widths above the eye brows.
Meditation for Sleep
Mantra meditation is another effective way to fall asleep. Recite the following mantra while visualizing a glowing black spot on the forehead. Recite slowly and in a relaxed and easy way.
RI AH HUNG
Meditation both before and while falling asleep can be done. Mindfulness of breath is a good way to calm down the mind in the evening before going to bed. Even five minutes can make a big difference.
If you have trouble falling asleep, try counting the breath up to ten and then start over.
If you are laying in bed and can’t fall asleep with this meditation, don’t worry. Remember you are meditating and relaxing and that is good for your body and mind.
You can experiment with one or more of these techniques. They are all safe to use. But remember that some of these techniques need to be practiced for a while before they are effective.
Getting a good sleep is part of self care. More tips on self care can be found here.
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