Sleeping Disorders

American's suffer greatly from sleep disorders. The first thing I will always ask a client is "do you drink anything with caffeine?" The Agrimony personality type tends to be extremely sensitive to caffeine or any addictive drug. The first thing that needs to be done is to eliminate caffeine from the diet. It's understandable that this is easier said than done. Caffeine puts great stress on the adrenal glands. These glands are our energy centers and our stress centers. When caffeine becomes a way of life, it puts a great deal of stress on our energy center. Once the adrenal glands are stressed, exhaustion comes into play. It is then that the caffeine addict will continue to increase the coffee to keep the system going. It becomes a merry ground round that does not allow anyone to get off.

The adrenal glands not only give us energy throughout the day, but they help us to sleep at night. The adrenals give us the ability to handle stress. So when we burn these glands out, the body becomes totally out of balance. Although we are exhausted during the day, we cannot sleep at night. We are unable to handle stressful situations, or we create situations to be more stressful than they really are.

First and foremost, I would suggest a high potency B-complex vitamin to help stimulate the adrenals. Severe stress in our lives can imbalance our B-complex which will put the adrenals under stress almost immediately. There are a number of herbs that might also prove helpful. My first choice would be Ginseng. It comes in many forms and types. I'm not sure that one is better than another, so you might want to try one that speaks to you. Bee Pollen is helpful in getting our energy flowing. It contains every vitamin, mineral, enzyme and amino acid we need to live. So it helps us to nourish the body at every level from past abuse. Licorice is also helpful in stimulating the adrenals but holds a caution for those prone to high blood pressure as it might elevate these levels. I like to use Licorice from time to time as an energy boost, but it has never affected me in a negative manner.

In the emotional world, the adrenals hold the emotion of discouragement. Discouragement creates exhaustion. Our fast paced lives of today many times keep us in a state of discouragement. The opposite of Discouragement is Excitement. It is through excitement that the adrenals are stimulated. So in order to heal sleeplessness, excitement becomes a necessary part of each day.

There are a number of flowers I have found that are helpful for sleeplessness dependent upon the emotional state of the client.

A White Chestnut state of mind can often be a culprit for not sleeping. The White Chestnut personality has the mind that never shuts up. Old thoughts keep playing over and over like a broken record. A White Chestnut may not be able to go to sleep because of these thoughts, or they may wake in the middle of the night and not be able to get back to sleep. White Chestnut personalities often have circulatory problems that manifest themselves in the form of coldness, numbness and tingling in the hands and feet.

Agrimony is another personality type that might have sleeping problems. The agrimony does not deal with issues as they appear. They stuff their feelings and prefer to make light of situations. They may be haunted by thoughts that have been unresolved. They become the professional stuffers and usually turn to addictive behaviors to make themselves feel better including addictions to drugs, alcohol, carbohydrates, sugars, chocolate, caffeine, shopping, etc. Other manifestations of the agrimony personality may include headaches, cold sores, skin disorders, digestive disorders and eating disorders.

The Vervain personality type can also have a hard time sleeping. These personalities will be focussed on one particular issue and won't be able to let it be. Their mind will harp on this one issue and not allow the mind to calm enough to fall asleep. They have fixed ideas and principles and seem to live on their "nerves". The Vervain are "driven" and their mind is always a few steps ahead of their bodies. They take on far too much and don't leave time for rest and relaxation. This personality type becomes tired and strained.