Sleep remedies for the Bride to-be
Wedding planning can be so stressful, am I right? One slight difference in opinion with a family member and you can be sent on a downward spiral of sleepless nights festering over how you’re going to broach the subject involved next time around. Aside from a s**t tonne of deep breaths, there are plenty of natural remedies that can help you relax and put the emotional and physical tension at bay.
Melatonin
Short of heading down the ‘sleeping pill’ route, Melatonin is a hormone found naturally within your body that helps regulate sleep and wakefulness. As someone who hates taking pain killers at the best of times (read: childbirth) I’m totally ok with this! In New Zealand, it is available by prescription only, but you can import melatonin gummies off the likes of iHerb.
I tried and tested this magic potion while I was pregnant and found it really helped relax me before bed. I just rubbed a bit on each forearm as I tend to fall asleep with one of them by my head and would doze off.
Magnesium
My absolute go-to when it came to helping my tired body sleep when I was training. Long time followers will know, but for those of you who are new I used to be a pretty hard core gym junkie - and will be getting back into it very soon! If you’re ‘shredding for the wedding’ it’s important to keep it simple in the supplement department, especially if you’re just an average gym goer. My favourite magnesium is made by Puori, I used to combine it (M3) with their fish oil (O3) and coconut formula (D3) which helps with absorption.
Epsom Salt Baths
Now, this was something I used to do from time to time when training to relax my body, but to be honest I think it was more the ritual of having a bath that allowed calmness before bed time! Get it from the supermarket, or a better option would to be to try ‘floating’ at the likes of Cloud 9 Float Club.
Lavender Spray
I used this at the family batch over the Christmas holidays and found it really calming! I don’t typically like the smell of lavender, it kind of reminds me of patchouli, and the one I used was definitely not overpowering. Try a few out and see what scent you like the most. Plus, I found it helped to keep the mossies away from me!
Herbal Tea
Again, one I probably tend to put down to more of a ritual, grabbing a cuppa before bed is a great way to relax. Try and choose something known for its ability to help with sleep, like Chamomile as a safe bet.
Phone Apps
After having a baby, I can’t possibly leave this out now! I honestly found playing white noise at night really helped me drift off to sleep - think rolling waves, rainforest noises. There’s a tonne of free apps out there, and also some suited to adults like Calm which is designed to help with meditation and sleep.
These do sound a whole lot better than counting sheep, don’t they? What methods do you try when closing your eyes just isn’t cutting it?
Until next,
