Though most people think of insomnia as the inability or difficulty falling asleep, it goes beyond that. In addition to difficulty falling asleep, insomnia also comprises any of the following:

· Frequently waking up during the night with trouble falling asleep again
· Waking up extremely early in the morning
· Sleep that is not refreshing

Insomnia is not defined based upon the number of hours sleep a person gets or how long it takes to get to sleep. Each person’s sleep needs differ, but when those needs are not met, problems can develop such as being tired during the day, lack of energy, inability to concentrate, and irritability. It can be short-term, intermittent, or chronic.

Some factors in a person’s life make them more susceptible to insomnia such as age (those over 60 are more prone to insomnia than younger people), being a female, and having a history of depression. If other conditions are also present such as stress, anxiety, medical problems, or using certain medications, insomnia is more likely to occur.

Many factors are involved in short-term and intermittent insomnia, but the likely cause is a combination of one or more of the following conditions:

· Stress
· Environmental noise
· Temperatures that are too hot or too cold
· Change in the environment around you
· Sleep/waking problems as those you experience with jet lag
· Side effects of medication

Chronic insomnia is more complex and usually results from a combination of factors, but one of the most common causes is depression. Other causes may include any of the following:

· Arthritis
· Kidney disease
· Heart failure
· Asthma
· Sleep apnea
· Narcolepsy
· Restless leg syndrome
· Parkinson’s disease
· Hyperthyroidism
· Misuse of caffeine, alcohol, or other substances
· Disruption of the sleep cycle due to nighttime activities
· Chronic stress

Other behaviors that may cause insomnia include the following:

· Worrying about being able to get to sleep
· Having excessive amounts of caffeine
· Alcohol consumption before bedtime
· Cigarette smoking before bedtime
· Excessive napping
· Irregular sleep schedule or continually disrupted sleep

These behaviors may be responsible for causing the insomnia initially and cessation may eliminate the problem completely.

With married women entering the workforce in around the late 50s, the advent of mental stress began to take an upward turn.

That doesn’t mean it didn’t affect men prior to that, but women were more prone to outside factors as they began to face the prospect of working as well as taking care of the house, cooking, taking care of the children, and being a wife. It meant trying to balance family time with career time, and it wasn’t easy, especially if hubby was either working long hours and refused to help with the house and children.

Now that we have entered into the 21st century, the stress levels for many people, both male and female, are on the increase even more. People worry about loss of jobs in an economy where companies are being taken over by others, and there is more pressure on men to spend quality time with their families

It is more important than any time in the past to find ways to separate stress from your sleep time in order to prevent insomnia. With the additional stress in our lives, quality sleep is imperative. The methods you use to prevent tension from affecting your sleep depends on your individual body and mental state, but there is no doubt that each of us needs to eliminate the stress from our lives in order to achieve a good night’s sleep.

One of the biggest stress factors that we face today is that many of us are unable to leave office problems at the office. Certainly if there is talk about layoffs and other financial situations, you will bring them home to share with your family, but stress over things going on at work such as learning new skills, training new people, sales quotas, and other things should be left at the office.

Worrying about unimportant things will cause you to suffer from insomnia, thus prevent you from performing your job to the best of your ability. Even managers who have to worry about things like budgets, staffing, and other high-pressure areas need to leave it behind when they go home.

This increase in your stress level not only affects the quality of your sleep but the quality of your family time as well. Remember, you aren’t paid to think about your job after hours, so leave it behind. Other kinds of stress must also be eliminated in order to ensure that you remain in the best of health.

It is usually found in those 30-50 who are working professionals or business people who are trying to balance several responsibilities at the same time, thus leading to tension. The condition has shown a significant rise in developed areas such as United States, Europe, and Australia.

Before one can attempt to cure insomnia, one must determine the cause. Some of the more common causes of insomnia include the following:

· Tension
· Depression
· Frustration
· Anxiety
· Indigestion
· Too much caffeine
· Irregular meals
· Psychological disorder
· Sleeping area that is noisy and lighted consistently

Although doctors tend to prescribe medication to cure insomnia, it’s well-known that this is not a permanent cure, and may actually lead to addiction and a patient becoming unable to induce sleep without medical intervention.

If a patient of chronic insomnia fails to obtain treatment, he/she may discover a breakdown in the immune system, thus leading to disease as well as a case of insomnia that is difficult to cure.

One alternative treatment known to treat insomnia is YOGA. The meditation techniques used in Yoga is instrumental in reducing mental stress and depression, two of the major causes of insomnia. By practicing the meditation methods of Yoga you learn to eliminate the stress and thus the sleepless nights.

Though Yoga has the highest success rate in treating insomnia, both magnetotherapy and Indian head massage also have great potential. The key is finding methods that promote relaxation, and thus treating the source of the insomnia rather than the condition itself. Once you can teach your body to relax at bedtime, you will be able to enjoy a full night’s sleep.

Compared to medical intervention, the alternative treatments will afford you more lasting effects without side affects. Not only that, you will be working toward a cure rather than just a short-term treatment.

The ultimate goal in treating insomnia is to find the treatment that will cure the condition and not just treat it once or twice. With continued practice of alternative therapies, you will find your body becoming more relaxed, and that in itself will cure your insomnia.

When one is deep in prayer, the body and mind are both at rest, and when you can rest both your body and mind, it is more likely for sleep to come to you. The prayer doesn’t have to be very long, but it should be heartfelt and give you feelings of peace and serenity.

Listed below are some sample prayers you might use to alleviate your insomnia. If you are of a different faith, you can adjust the wording accordingly or simply use these as samples to create your own prayers.

Prayer #1

Dear God, please touch me with your healing hands and remove whatever demons within me are preventing sleep. Let me take all my worries and fears and place them in your capable hands so that I can achieve the peace and relaxation that will allow me the healing sleep I need in order to do the work you need me to do. Amen.

Prayer #2

Lord, into your strong hands I place this body, weak from lack of sleep so that you may touch and heal it. I also pray that you use your loving hands to touch this body and induce it into a calming and restful sleep. Amen.

Prayer #3

Dear Lord, I am weary from lack of sleep and ask for you to touch me with your strong and loving hands. I ask that you touch and heal me so that I will no longer be tired and yet unable to sleep. Please, Lord, in thy name I pray. Amen.

Remember, prayer is a good way to cure many things, and whether you are Catholic, Protestant, or Jewish, God is the greatest healer. For those who have frequent insomnia, you may want to come up with a prayer of your own that will address whatever issues you have that are preventing you from sleeping.

Stress is the most common cause of insomnia, and prayers have the ability to relax you; with the two of them together, you will easily find yourself falling asleep and staying asleep, thus allowing you a more restful sleep than you have experienced in a long time.

Relaxation is an important part of curing insomnia, and both prayers and medication prior to going to bed are perfect ways to do that.

Instead of allowing your body to become addicted to sleeping pills, find ways to make use of herbs and herbal remedies that will allow you to sleep naturally. If you use herbal remedies instead of taking medications on which you can become addicted.

There are various treatments that one can use for insomnia including herbal teas, tinctures, stuffing your pillow with a combination of sleep-inducing herbs, and bathing in bath and massage oils (aromatherapy). For example, both lavender and chamomile are very sleep-inducing, and as such, you will find them in many bath lotions for babies and adults. In addition, drinking chamomile tea will also help you to get to sleep. Though many people currently swear by the effects of melatonin, it’s not an herb, but a hormone found naturally in the body. However, it can be beneficial for those who cannon obtain relief with any other remedy. It is produced naturally in the body and when the body is exposed to darkness, it is produced in larger quantities thus making the eyes respond to the need for sleep.

Although we usually think of insomnia as that of inability to fall asleep, it also involves the inability to stay asleep as well. It’s difficult to make it through the day if you have been unable to stay asleep and kept awakening, so whether you can’t fall asleep or can’t stay asleep, your body will feel the same detrimental effects. Some of the herbs that may have a positive effect in preventing insomnia include the following:

* Aveena Sativa
* California Poppy
* Celery Seed
* Chamomile
* Hops
* Kava
* Lemon Balm
* Motherwort
* Passionflower
* St. John’s Wort
* Skullcap
* Valerian
* Wild Cherry
* Yarrow

One thing to remember when treating insomnia with herbal remedies is that people react in different ways, so you need to find what works for you. Also, there may be different times that require different remedies depending on the cause of your insomnia. Most importantly, do not take the word of a friend or relative when it comes to choosing a specific herb, but make your own choice.