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Sleep: How it works and herbs to support it

  • Helen Barnett
    Helen Barnett

    Helen is a medical herbalist, Yoga therapist and Thai bodywork practitioner. Following graduating with a BSc Hons in Western Herbal Medicine from the University of Westminster in 2009, Helen practiced as a herbalist seeing clients in clinics in the UK for over 10 years, and also spent time working as a lecturer and clinical supervisor for the Betonica School of Herbal Medicine.

    Through her own health journey Helen has found the tools of Yoga and herbs, and a sense of connection to nature, to be beneficial in carving a way to a healthier and more balanced lifestyle, and her passion is sharing this to empower people with the skills, knowledge, and discernment to improve their health, wellbeing, and quality of life in ways which are sustainable to each individual.

    Helen facilitates herbal medicine courses and workshops which share the knowledge and wisdom of herbs, interwoven with Yoga practices and self-reflection to better understand our unique and ever-changing needs, and how to best support them.

    Helen also teaches therapeutic Yoga workshops, offers private Yoga therapy sessions and healing bodywork, and is a writer sharing the scientific knowledge and traditional wisdom of herbs, and insights on healthy living practices through her brand HB Healthy.

    The essence of what Helen offers is bringing people back to their essential nature, through re-connecting with their own bodies and the wider nature surrounding them, to re-establish a state of inner harmony and balance, from where they can live a healthy vibrant life, whatever it brings.

  • 19:48 reading time (ish)
  • Mood and mind Stress and sleep Western herbal medicine

Healthy sleep is essential for all bodily systems, and crucial for mental and emotional wellbeing. There are a few stages of sleep which affect our quality of health in different ways.

Introduction

Sleep: How it works and herbs to support it

A combination of increasingly fast-paced living, advances in technology, and the onset of a ‘24-hour culture’ with the accompanying expectation to be continually ‘switched-on’ and available, make it no wonder that sleep deprivation (a lack of sufficient and good quality sleep) is becoming more common.

Insufficient sleep is prevalent across various age groups and can be considered a public health epidemic that is often unrecognized (1). An estimated 1 in 5 people in the UK are not getting enough sleep (2), which over a prolonged period of time impacts health.

Many factors contribute to the different types of sleep disturbances which range from getting off to sleep (sleep latency), staying asleep, or getting a sufficiently deep sleep. A frazzled nervous system plays a major role in many sleep issues.  There are plenty of herbs which can help to reset the balance to ensure that sleep becomes more healthy, easeful, restorative, and nourishing, exactly as it is supposed to be.

This article will look at what sleep is, its importance for health as well as why so many people are not getting enough sleep. We will also share herbs which can support the different stages of sleep and other holistic solutions which can support better sleep.

Helen Barnett

Helen is a medical herbalist, Yoga therapist and Thai bodywork practitioner. Following graduating with a BSc Hons in Western Herbal Medicine from the University of Westminster in 2009, Helen... Read more

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