Are You Sleepy?

Answering yes to “Are you sleepy?” is fine if it’s time to go to bed. However, if you’re just getting started with your day or you’re falling asleep in front of your computer at work, then being sleepy is not so fine and likely the result of not having a good night’s sleep.

We all have had trouble sleeping at some point in time. That’s just a normal part of being alive. At the same time, if not getting enough sleep becomes a prolonged situation, then you have to do something about it.

Serious Lack of Sleep

The more nights of sleep you lose, the worse you feel during the ensuing days. In other words, the effects are cumulative, making you feel physically and mentally unwell the longer you go without sufficient sleep.

Around 80 different types of sleep disorders have been determined, including widely recognized sleep apnea, narcolepsy and insomnia. Health care practitioners recommend a variety of treatments, such as counseling, sleep hygiene, exercise, environment management and medication and/or supplements. WebMD recommends a variety of natural sleep aids to help you “slide into slumber.”

It’s of great importance to establish healthy sleep patterns. Otherwise, there can be potentially severe results from having a serious sleeping problem. To quote the book, Sleep Disorders and Sleep Deprivation: An Unmet Public Health Problem, “The cumulative long-term effects of sleep loss and sleep disorders have been associated with a wide range of deleterious health consequences including an increased risk of hypertension, diabetes, obesity, depression, heart attack, and stroke.”

The truth is that many books have been written on the subject of sleep. This is not surprising given that sleeping is something we all must do as part of a 24-hour day, preferably at least 7 of those hours. It’s the time when we slip out of normal waking consciousness. “To sleep, perchance to dream,” as penned by William Shakespeare in Hamlet, is part of the desirable goal.

The fact is that there is a lot going on while you are sleeping. It’s as though your body is a vehicle that checks into a mechanic’s shop, where it undergoes maintenance from the events of the day. And since everything is connected, this nocturnal maintenance happens for body and mind.

Interrupting the Transition

Not being able to turn off your thoughts, concerns, worries, etc. interrupts a smooth transition into the sleeping state. You may lie awake for hours, tossing and turning.

You know those moments that lead you into sleep, going under and transitioning into an altered state of  consciousness. The scientific term is hypnagogia. It is often during this much-needed transitional point in time that an unscientific term occurs: busy brain.

A Smooth Transition

AIM has two recommendations that fit the bill for helping you to turn off a busy brain and transition into much-needed sleep: Composure and Mag-nificence CWR. One is an herbal supplement taken orally, and the other is topical magnesium that gets applied directly to your skin.

Having a magnesium-rich bath before you go to bed is a calming and relaxing experience for your body and soul. Mag-nificence CWR is a bath additive that increases your magnesium levels as you soak. Low levels of this essential mineral can make sleep problematic.

The combination of soothing herbs in Composure can help to relax your body and calm down a busy brain so that you drift off to sleep and awake refreshed.  

A good night’s rest is a regenerating experience for mind and body, allowing you to stay alert and effective until bedtime, when it’s the right time to feel sleepy again.