It's Not the Snoring Beast!

I'm typically a great sleeper.  Even during super busy and high stress seasons, sleeping 7-9 hours is no problem and I relish in the rest that I'm able to take.  Sleep is super important for healing and maintaining wellness, but that topic is for another post.  

The past few weeks have been difficult for me to find rest beyond 4-5 hours.  As I lay awake, tossing around - more like flopping like a fish out of water - my mind would wanter and drift to a variety of things, but none that seemingly prompted this sleeplessness.  Most often, my sweet hubs would offer his nighttime serenade that once awakened, would not allow for me to fully resume my treasured slumber. 

But after he returned to flying the friendly skies, my sleepless routine continued in the midst of the silence of the night that I loved.  Ok, so I couldn't blame his songs of night...so what was it??   What was really a VERY obvious answer did not reveal itself until just today...after about 3 weeks of this inconsistent sleep pattern.

This morning, I awoke refreshed, realizing that I truly slept like a baby for the first time in days.  So, of course, I began to consider what I had done differently the day before.  It took only minutes to recognized two teas that I had been consuming on a regular basis before, but had not had in quite a long time.  But why would teas make that much difference? 

The first tea is a green tea blend that is used for muscle recovery and the second is a tumeric/ginger blend (sometimes I make my own blend, too) to help keep inflammation down overall - a great tool in preventing cancer.   In the months that I had to pull back on exercise while my torn hamstring recovered, I had held off on the green tea and then gradually did the same with the tumeric (not sure why, just did).  But in recent weeks, my workouts have increased...and so has the tenderness in my muscles and joints!   It finally dawned on me that my sleep was being disrupted by my own lack of care to the increased (good) work that was happening, and that the subtle soreness and shifting energy deep within was not being properly cared for.   How quickly adding these two natural herbs back into my system helped!   I also realized today that the post workout pains were much less, if at all.

This is simply just another reminder to myself - and hopefully to you - that food in nature can heal, and that being mindful to what your body is telling you is essential for all well being.  Our bodies are subtle and the subtleties will build until something finally gets your attention.   The goal is to grasp the message(s) before they develop into serious conditions and disease.

So while some sleepless nights might be the snoring beast next to you, that may only be the smokescreen to the real problem at hand.