Melatonin is a hormone that helps us heal while we sleep and is produced by our body in relation to darkness. This is why its best to sleep in an absolutely dark room with no ambient light. Less melatonin means our capacity for healing is reduced which also seriously effects our immune system and so, our health and well-being.

We can block out the visible light with appropriate curtains using pelmets, so no radiance from street lighting can be seen. Clocks and other electrical equipment that product light can also be covered. We can turn off phones, routers, and other wifi equipment, but things like smart meters are on 24/7.

The best form of melatonin is our own natural supply regulated by sleeping at night.

Some Melatonin-Boosting Foods:

• Pineapples,
• Bananas,
• Oranges,
• Oats,
• Sweet corn,
• Rice,
• Tomatoes,
• Barley

Are melatonin supplements effective, non-toxic?

Sometimes made from cow urine, and you might not want to take it. As everybody is different doses for one person are not always suitable for another. Man-made supplements have never been as good or as effective as what is naturally available through good nutrition or in this case, going to bed earlier in the night.

Melatonin is POSSIBLY SAFE when used by mouth appropriately, long-term. Melatonin has been used safely for up to 2 years in some people. However, it can cause some side effects including headache, short-term feelings of depression, daytime sleepiness, dizziness, stomach cramps, and irritability.

The Dark Side of Melatonin - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/van-winkles/the-dark-side-of-melatoni_b_8855998.html

Meditation as a way to deal with insomnia can provide excellent results as often we can't fall asleep because we are feeling stressed. For those times we fall asleep during meditation this is because we actually needed to sleep more than we need to meditate and we will feel much better for it.

SLEEP, OR LACK OF...

Something I found out awhile back that might be a help for those who have disturbed sleep patterns... I've lived with insomnia more or less for over 20 years. It can be annoying but its actually no bother any more. But isn't it a bad thing not to be able to sleep when I need to?!

No, believe it or not (except for lack of melatonin). Providing I let my body rest for long enough, which is what we do when we sleep, by morning I will feel almost like I have been asleep (but not quite). While we sleep the body/mind (whatever) goes through a repeating cycle, every hour to hour and a half (60 - 90min). There is about a 10 minute window within that cycle where its easiest to actually fall asleep, and if this window is missed, we have to wait until it comes around in the cycle again.

This is why those who find it difficult to sleep should not read, write, listen to music, get up and do something or otherwise distract themselves from falling asleep. And don't fuss or toss and turn in frustration that you are not getting to sleep, as it doesn't actually matter that you are still awake. The main aim of sleep is to rest the body, so, do nothing. But you cant stop thinking!!!! Your mind is too active to be able to sleep!! That's why we dream. We never do stop thinking. Also we can't use one part of our mind to stop the other part thinking.

But I'm bored lying there waiting to fall asleep!!! So daydream until you fall asleep. Its like dreaming before you start dreaming.

___ above this line is the Beta brain wave rhythm, the awake state____14 Hz to 40 Hz (High)

____________ Alpha (dreaming) brain wave rhythm________________ 7.5 Hz to 12 Hz (Moderate)

__________________ Theta brain wave rhythm___________________ 4 Hz to 7.5 Hz (Slow)

__________________ Delta brain wave rhythm____________________ 0.5 Hz to 4 Hz (Slowest) -> 0 is a bit too slow. It equals death.

Imagine a circle imposed over the lines above, representing the cycle of sleep from the beta line to delta line and back up again to beta line. When we start to go to sleep we drop down into alpha rhythm which is also where we dream, then as sleep progresses we go deeper into theta, and then into delta before cycling back up to theta, alpha and beta again. Its at the peak of the cycle where its close to beta that we all wake up but its for so brief a period that we forget we wake up as we go back into deeper sleep again, through alpha, theta, delta and back up again. This is why we are easy to wake sometimes and not at others, as its harder to wake someone when they are in deeper delta sleep. Meditation practices encourage us to go to these lower brainwave rhythms while we are awake.

• The higher our beta rhythm state the more stress we experience.

I literally daydream about things until I eventually nod off to sleep, sometimes hours later. Got an idea for a book, or project, or have places you want to see in the world? Gently imagine what it would be like. Enjoy your ability to make-believe and day dream it, until it eventually becomes your dreams. Maybe one day you will live it too...