When you’re struggling to sleep, sleeping pills can be effective to help you get off to the land of nod sooner. However, medication isn’t necessarily something people will want to take and therefore, there are plenty of alternatives to sleep pills. Here are some alternatives that you might find useful to try in order to help you get to sleep quicker.

Plants

There are certain plants that have been known throughout history to be helpful when it comes to falling asleep. Chamomile, for example, is a well-known natural sedative and is a great way of calming nervous agitation that can make falling asleep difficult to do. That’s why it’s an ingredient that tends to be used in a lot of bath and body products due to it’s calm and de-sensitizing features.

 

Lemon balm is also a great plant which has many calming properties and so does verbena. Verbena has anti-stress properties which can be handy to have when your mind is running into overdrive. Lavender is also an obvious choice.

Melatonin

With melatonin, it can help to reduce the time it takes for you to fall asleep. It’s a hormone that’s found in the body and can be naturally produced throughout the day. With that being said, there are plenty of plant and synthetic options available through your local pharmacy or online.

Relaxation Techniques

When falling asleep, you’re body is in such a relaxed state, that it’s important that you’re at this point as you’re getting into bed. Relaxation techniques can be a great way of helping with stress and anxiety - two things that can keep you up at night. There are lots of physical techniques to use, some that might also use audio to help. These techniques might be helpful in getting you to sleep a lot sooner and without the use of pills.

 

There’s so much available on the internet, that it’s certainly worth giving this a go, even if you don’t feel it’s going to be helpful for you. It’s worth a try!

Good Sleep Hygiene

Good sleep hygiene is always going to be helpful when it comes to getting a good night’s sleep. And no, it’s not how good or bad you smell when you get into bed. A good sleep hygiene consists of setting bedtimes and when you should go to bed and get up. It’s making sure that you prioritize sleep as and when it’s needed and to make gradual adjustments where necessary. Taking naps is something you want to try and avoid where possible, so try to get a good night’s sleep in one go, rather than napping in the afternoon or early evenings. This is only going to throw off your sleep pattern when it comes to bedtime at night.

The danger of taking sleeping pills as medication to fall asleep is that you may have more of a risk of overdosing. With these natural alternatives, you can hopefully fall asleep quicker without having that risk attached. Why not try these out and see which ones work best for you.