We all know we should be meditating, but still it’s a hard thing to get to in our crazy lives. Sometimes the simplest way to meditate is by taking long slow deep breaths. When you lay down at night, find a good neutral and comfortable position, and begin taking long slow deep breaths rooted deep in the belly. Aim for about 7 or less breaths a minute. To make it easier you can picture the air you are inhaling as golden light filling up your body with goodness, and releasing all the tension and energy with the exhale.

We all really love our beds, but spending too much time in them doing things, other than trying to sleep or making love, will train our brain to associate our bed with wakefulness and brain activity. So when you try to lay down for a good night of sleep, it keeps racing since its not sure if it’s time to lay around being awake or dropping into our sleep cycle! Keeping you room free of clutter will help clear your mind of excess thoughts at night as well! 

Also Check out this great feng shui guide from the greatest.

Writing and doodling are some of the greatest ways to express ourselves. This can be creative, abstract, literal, notes to self, reflections, or anything you feel called to do. Getting our thoughts and feelings onto paper allows us to give us something more concrete to relate them too instead of letting them float around our brains constantly. Think of it as a safe place to keep any racing thoughts or overwhelming emotions. 

 Option to draw what good sleep means to you, or just find a great coloring book for you too fill in the lines if you don’t feel as called to creating your own drawings. 

Blue light is the most strenuous and stimulating frequency of light for the human eye, this might make a lot of sense to you if you’ve ever gotten a mean headache and a tight scalp from a day of working on the computer screen.  

By utilizing techs built in features to tone down the blue frequency, wearing blue light blockers, and avoiding technology first thing in the morning and preferably two hours before bedtime is one of the best ways to calm down are nervous system and reduce the strain on our eyes. 

Drugs and supplements can only do so much for our system. 

• Melatonin only helps people fall asleep, but doesn't do a good job of keeping them asleep since our bodies break it down so fast. Better to rely on our own natural melatonin production with the tips given above.
• Ambien can be addictive and has plenty of harmful effects that it exerts on our bodies. You can find yourself with vomiting & nausea, dizziness, insomnia, aggression, confusion, and loss of coordination if you are using Ambien frequently.Social phobia 
  
• Benadryl or Doxylamine are antihistamines that cause drowsiness but often causes side effects such as blurred vision, dry mouth, urinary retention, and daytime drowsiness.

Other flashy herbal supplements on the market combine all sorts of herbal extract compounds, vitamins, and whole herbs that can cause a lot of drowsiness if overused. 

What’s the solution then? 

A balanced and whole plant based herbal medicine, which allows the body to sink into its natural circadian rhythm rather than forcing our bodies into a place where it can find rest through high doses of herbs or excessive amounts of sleep aides. 

We made our Night formula with just this in mind. Sleep is just way too important for our health and we feel very passionate about giving people the tools for deeper more nourishing rest. 

Lets breakdown some of our favorite non drowsy herbs if you feel like you would like to play with some of your own herbal blends.

• Passionflower (Passiflora incarnata) - Celebrated for it’s gentle sedative and soothing properties,
  which are expressed with a light and sweet taste. Melts restlessness and nervousness, restoring a calm
  centered system. (2)
• Skullcap (Scutellaria lateriflora) - Aids in healing the nervous system in an adaptogenic manner. Overall it increases our nervous health, function, and cell communication. This can be great for nervy shooting pains, headaches, numbness, brain fog, fatigue, tremors, stress and more. (3)
• Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) - It has been prescribed by doctors since the Middle Ages as a natural remedy to improve sleep, reduce anxiety, heal wounds and promote longevity. When used as an herbal sleep aid, it seems to help reduce insomnia symptoms and sleep disorders, including during menopause when symptoms such as anxiety, hot flashes and restlessness are very commonplace.
• Chamomile (Matricaria recutita) - Chamomile is one of the quintessential nurturing and calming herbs highlighted in this formula. It’s muscle relaxing and nervous system restoring properties are are seemingly instantaneous with just the first sip. (2)

1. Saxena, R. C., Singh, R., Kumar, P., Negi, M. P. S., Saxena, V. S., Geetharani, P., ... & Venkateshwarlu, K. (2012). Efficacy of an extract of ocimum tenuiflorum (OciBest) in the management of general stress: A double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2012.
   
2. Shinomiya, K., Inoue, T., Utsu, Y., Tokunaga, S., Masuoka, T., Ohmori, A., & Kamei, C. (2005). Hypnotic activities of chamomile and passiflora extracts in sleep-disturbed rats. Biological and Pharmaceutical Bulletin, 28(5), 808-810.
   
3. Wolfson, P., & Hoffmann, D. L. (2003). An investigation into the efficacy of Scutellaria lateriflora in healthy volunteers. Alternative therapies in health & medicine, 9(2).