How insomnia occurs: Pain, stress, worry, anxiety and panic, illness, the side effects of drugs, uncomfortable or strange surroundings, noise, travel, and the disruption of your normal rhythms and cycles can all play a part in insomnia. Insomnia may take several forms. Some people have difficulty falling asleep, some wake in the middle of the night and others wake too early, after having had too little of their well-deserved rest. Other people have dreams and nightmares which disturb their sleep. Sleep comes because your brain begins to filter out incoming stimuli and gradually shifts your attention from outer to inner awareness. Your body awareness becomes less and quickly, or gradually, you fall asleep. When your mental activity, pain, emotional state, noise and discomfort keep your attention above the sleep threshold, you don't sleep. The biochemicals and the hormones that the body produces in an aroused, excited or fearful state work directly against the process needed for going to sleep. In going to sleep, the parasympathetic or calming aspect of the nervous system comes into play, while when you are stressed or excited the sympathetic nervous system is activated, causing you to stay awake, ready for fight or flight. In order to go to sleep, you have to shift to the parasympathetic, relax, breathe deeply and let your mind move into feelings and images, rather than verbal thought. Homeopathic remedies: The remedies are made from substances in nature like coffee, strychnine and arsenic that cause wakefulness in healthy people. When prepared in minute, potentized doses, and prescribed according to the principle of like cures like, they can cure insomnia. When treating chronic insomnia, we have found it best to treat the whole person homeopathically, rather than just the specific symptom of sleeplessness. Preparing for sleep. Make your bedroom a peaceful sanctuary. Reserve your bed for sleeping, so that it isn't associated with waking activities. Pick a bedtime for yourself. Gradually decrease your activity level and stimulation as you prepare to go to bed. Make your surroundings soothing and comfortable, dim and quiet. Often the time just before sleep is when your subconscious mind likes to present you with the unfinished business of the day or your life, including all your worries and anxieties. Review your day and make plans and resolutions for the coming day, so that you know what you need to attend to and your mind can be at rest about it. Forgive yourself and others, let go of what you are holding on to and accept that there is nothing else that you can change or do today. Face your fears, including the fear of not sleeping. Accept your imperfections and look forward to tomorrow as a time for making changes and completing what was left undone today. Affirm to yourself that all is well. Feel the safety and protection that comes from your connection to God and the universe. Feel that you deserve to rest and sleep, no matter what you did or didn't do today. Keep letting go--of the day, of your tension, of your body, of your worries. Sleep is surrender-- to the tiredness, the struggle, the fear, the possibility that you might not wake up again. Keep surrendering and letting the mind dissolve, until sleep comes. Sleep easy. Drs. Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman and Robert Ullman are naturopathic and homeopathic physicians and cofounders of the Northwest Center for Homeopathic Medicine in Edmonds, WA. They are coauthors of The Patient's Guide to Homeopathic Medicine and Beyond Ritalin: Homeopathic Treatment of ADD and Other Behavioral and Learning Problems. They can be reached at (206) 774-5599. Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.