Essential oils are an amazing way to help you sleep and relax in the most natural of ways. The following oils will aid sleep and relaxation.
Lavender is the old time classic, to help sleep and calm the mind.
Bergamot is good for insomnia.
Mandarin sedative
Cedarwood calming and good for yoga
Ylang ylang Calming, relaxation and mental fatigue
Roman chamomile is calming and may help with insomnia
Rutavala is an amazing blend which contains, Ruta graveolens, Valerian and
lavender.
Evening relaxing diffuser blend
8 drops mandarin,
3 drops cedar wood
3 drops ylang yang
Struggling to sleep during lock-down? Relaxing on the sofa, watching Netflix during the day and taking naps is making it harder to get a good night’s rest
In Spain, we are all confined to our homes for good reason, but it’s bound to have an impact on our physical and mental health.
Our anxiety levels are increasing caused by the worsening coronavirus crisis.
There are some ways to hopefully help with the impact and to make things feel more normal.
ESTABLISH A NEW ROUTINE
We are told we need to stick to our routine, but many of us are probably trying to maintain the one we used to follow during a normal working week.
Think about a new routine that takes into account your sleep as well as your kids’ learning schedule (if you have them), your work patterns, and when you perform best in the day. This might mean your new routine has you going to bed earlier and getting up earlier, or more likely, getting up later and going to bed later.
TRY TO GET IN SOME OUTDOOR EXERCISE
Gyms are closed but there are plenty of online zoom or YouTube classes available for all of us
TURN OFF YOUR PHONE
This is a big one!!! Put your phone away an hour before you go to bed – or even switch off for an entire day. Is that something you think you could do?
‘Many people use social media as a tool to find reassurance in their community, thinking this assurance will relax them, when actually it could make them even more anxious and unable to relax. There are so many positive and supportive posts, but equally, there are so many posts that have a negative impact on our health.
AVOID NAPPING
While naps can help to alleviate the boredom during the day if you’re not currently working, they’re not always a great idea. A “power nap” can be a great energy boost, but they do reduce our sleep urge at night. They can also be quite damaging to us sticking to a sleep routine at night. A routine at the moment is important!
BREATHE TO DE-STRESS
Sleep is needed to maintain your emotional balance, and you can lose this balance when the emotional part of your brain becomes hyperactive – with stress levels increasing and mole hills suddenly becoming mountains when you start to overthink.
In the short term, one of the main effects is an increase in anxiety. All our emotions can be exaggerated, but we most consistently see an increase in negative emotions and a decrease in positive emotions. We have less energy, and less motivation.
Take a few moments in the day to stop and concentrate on breathing slowly or meditate – this will help you not get distracted by thoughts and feelings.
LOOK AT SOOTHING IMAGES
Spend five minutes looking at images you find soothing to help you sleep.
DON’T WATCH THE NEWS BEFORE BED
Watch, read or listen to something funny, repetitive or trashy to allow your brain to wander.
DON’T WORK FROM YOUR BED
When it comes to switching off the light at night, if you’ve been in your bed all day, thoughts about work are more likely to persist. Try not to let them in.