Insomnia
Definition:
Chronic inability to sleep or to stay asleep throughout the night. When you are wakeful and sleepless.
Herbal Aids:
Scullcap: 1 teacupful of warm scullcap infusion nightly upon retiring. [SNH p.371]
Insomnia (sleeplessness, especially morphine addict): See formula using scullcap, lady's slipper, hops, catnip and black cohosh. [SNH p.374]
Insomnia (sleeplessness, caused by nervousness): See formula using valerian, vervain, scullcap and wood betony. [SNH p.379]
Restlessness, Insomnia, Hysteria, Neuralgia, etc.: See formula using valerian, scullcap and mistletoe. [SNH p.380]
Insomnia (nervous sleeplessness): See formula using Lady's slipper, pleurisy root, skunk cabbage and scullcap. [SNH p.385]
Hops: Insomnia, nervous irritation. Take 2 to 3 cupfuls of hot hops infusion or stuff a pillow with hops (sprinkled with alcohol if desired) to sleep on. [SNH p.396]
Relax-Eze: Dr. Christopher Nerve Herbal Food Combination Here is a formula we have used with great success for well over thirty years. It is used for helping to relieve nervous tension and insomnia; it is mildly stimulating and yet lessens the irritability and excitement of the nervous system and also lessens or reduces pain. This formula contains herbs that feed and help revitalize the motor nerve at the base of the skull (medulla area and upper cervicals), and also herbs that help rebuild or feed the spinal cord. This group of herbs will also help rebuild the frayed nerve sheath,. the nerve itself, and its capillaries. The following herbs in this combination are food for your valuable--and in many cases, shattered-- nerves: black cohosh, capsicum, hops flowers, lady's slipper, lobelia, skullcap, valerian, wood betony and mistletoe. The suggested amount for an adult's use would be one to three cups of the tea, or two or three capsules or tablets three times in a day, taken with a cup of celery juice or steam-distilled water. [HHH p.187]
General Instructions: Some other techniques can help you get to sleep. Very effective is the combination of bath and massage, particularly with a soothing oil, such as camomile. Herbal oils are easily made; check "Preparations," [EWH p.188]. Camomile and linden tea both can help a person relax and sleep. For a really stubborn case, take a cup of valerian tea or a couple of capsules with warm water. A pleasant walk out of doors can help a person relax enough to sleep. Sometimes the person's blood sugar is a little low, and simply eating a piece of fresh fruit can put a person out. Warm tea with honey will do the same. [EWH p.151]
Not Hot Cocoa: Many of the people of Dutch extraction, that is, everyone from the Old Dutch Cleanser Girl to the Boy Who Put His Finger in the Dike, were prone to prepare themselves a nighttime cup of hot cocoa for the insomnia which prevailed in the land. Now...how can cocoa possibly cure insomnia when it contains 13.5 mg. of caffeine per cup? This practice was so extensive that it not only included family, but servants and visitors as well. This toxic dose of chocolate was topped with another toxin: cream or marshmallow. Anybody for a little chamomile? [NL 2-4]
Juices: Lettuce, celery, apple, onion. [NL 3-5]
Squash Seeds: Boiling squash seeds for a half an hour and then drinking the water has the effect of calming the nerves and helping in cases of insomnia and is good also for any urinary inflammation. [NL 4-12]
Vegetables for Insomnia: Cabbage, carrots, celery, collard greens, kale, lettuce, parsnips, potatoes, spinach, turnip greens, squash. [NL 4-12]
Testimonials:
1. Insomniac Cured after Years of Sleeplessness: Dr. Christopher told the story of a high school teacher who had a terrible case of insomnia. She could only sleep in twenty-minute stretches; thereafter, she would pace the floor throughout the night, keeping her family awake and becoming more and more tired herself. During the day she epitomized the "witch" school teacher. Eventually her screaming and irritability, her meanness and nagging, became so intolerable that her family wanted to have her committed to a mental institution. And she was so weary of it all that she would have liked to go herself.
The family called Dr. Christopher, however, who came over and prepared a cup of his nervine tea [Relax-Eze]. As it steeped, he chatted with the family, and then she drank the cup. Soon she yawned and said she might like to go lie down. Her husband commented that Dr. Christopher might just as well stay, because she would be up again in twenty-minutes, but Dr. Christopher took his leave.
The next morning, Dr. Christopher answered the telephone; a man's voice began berating him and calling him all sorts of vulgar names. "You ought to be jailed," the man shouted, "for giving my wife heavy drugs when you said they were herbs!"
Dr. Christopher explained he had only given the woman herbs, so mild that a newborn baby could safely use them. When the man calmed down, he explained that his wife had slept all night, and awakened calm and refreshed.
She continued taking this formula, and cleaned up her diet as well. Before long, she was as sweet and cooperative as she could be with her family and her classes, and everyone was grateful that she didn't have to be committed to a mental institution! [EWH p.151]
2. Nervous Debility and Insomnia: Lucas reports the case of a gentleman who was otherwise in good health but was continually suffering nervous debility and insomnia. Treatment by other doctors had not helped him at all. He was encouraged to try natural medicine and was given a combination of an ounce of Skullcap, an ounce of hops, and a half ounce of gentian root. He took this as an infusion and within a week he was sleeping well. At the end of two months he was fully recovered. Lucas mentions that Skullcap, catnip and peppermint work the same way for many people (Luc:Herbal:25). It is said to give natural sleep to morphine addicts, especially when combined with catnip, lime blossom and hops (Lev:Common:134). [UW-Scullcap]
3. Static Causes Insomnia: Dr. Christopher also said that our bodies collect excessive static vibration. Our bodies receive electricity through the top of the head where we used to have soft spots when we were babies. This electricity is essential to our bodies but it must be fresh and free flowing, coming through the top of the head, down the spine, through the body and is grounded out into the earth. When we do not let the electricity out and be grounded into the earth, it becomes static and toxic and builds up so much that new electricity can't come in. We can't sleep and we become hard to live with. Each day, therefore, we need to send some time out on the lawn or the ground to get rid of this static electricity in the body. There was an elderly man who was having a lot of trouble sleeping. His insomnia got so bad that he became very difficult to be around. His son knew this principle of walking on the earth to discharge unwanted energy and tried to convince his father to do so, but his father said that no one was going to get him to take off his shoes in public and walk on the lawn barefooted! However, one day, the son said, "Dad, I have something I must talk to you about". He sat the old man down, quickly took off his shoes and whisked him outside. They walked around the lawn a few times, talking and then the old man said that he was feeling tired. He went in the house and went to bed--and slept all night! We have noticed that native peoples who walk without shoes or who wear leather soles that let the energy through are much less nervous than those of us who wear synthetic or rubber soles. We spend a good deal of the summer without shoes and although it may not look as proper or civilized as wearing the plastic sandals that are the style now, we feel much less nervous and very harmonious during this time. [UW-Valerian]
Dr. Christopher's Program for Insomnia
Herbal Combinations:
* Relax-Eze
* Nit-e-Nite
Recommendations:
Relax Eze; take 2-3 capsules three times a day.
Relax-Eze extract; take 15-30 drops three times a day.
Nit-e-Nite; in a cup of tea three times a day.
Single Herbs:
Valerian Root, Hops Flowers, Passion Flowers.
Advice:
Walk in the grass barefoot to induce sleep.
See Also:
Relax-Eze: Dr. Christopher's Nerve Herbal Food Combination
Chronic inability to sleep or to stay asleep throughout the night. When you are wakeful and sleepless.
Herbal Aids:
Scullcap: 1 teacupful of warm scullcap infusion nightly upon retiring. [SNH p.371]
Insomnia (sleeplessness, especially morphine addict): See formula using scullcap, lady's slipper, hops, catnip and black cohosh. [SNH p.374]
Insomnia (sleeplessness, caused by nervousness): See formula using valerian, vervain, scullcap and wood betony. [SNH p.379]
Restlessness, Insomnia, Hysteria, Neuralgia, etc.: See formula using valerian, scullcap and mistletoe. [SNH p.380]
Insomnia (nervous sleeplessness): See formula using Lady's slipper, pleurisy root, skunk cabbage and scullcap. [SNH p.385]
Hops: Insomnia, nervous irritation. Take 2 to 3 cupfuls of hot hops infusion or stuff a pillow with hops (sprinkled with alcohol if desired) to sleep on. [SNH p.396]
Relax-Eze: Dr. Christopher Nerve Herbal Food Combination Here is a formula we have used with great success for well over thirty years. It is used for helping to relieve nervous tension and insomnia; it is mildly stimulating and yet lessens the irritability and excitement of the nervous system and also lessens or reduces pain. This formula contains herbs that feed and help revitalize the motor nerve at the base of the skull (medulla area and upper cervicals), and also herbs that help rebuild or feed the spinal cord. This group of herbs will also help rebuild the frayed nerve sheath,. the nerve itself, and its capillaries. The following herbs in this combination are food for your valuable--and in many cases, shattered-- nerves: black cohosh, capsicum, hops flowers, lady's slipper, lobelia, skullcap, valerian, wood betony and mistletoe. The suggested amount for an adult's use would be one to three cups of the tea, or two or three capsules or tablets three times in a day, taken with a cup of celery juice or steam-distilled water. [HHH p.187]
General Instructions: Some other techniques can help you get to sleep. Very effective is the combination of bath and massage, particularly with a soothing oil, such as camomile. Herbal oils are easily made; check "Preparations," [EWH p.188]. Camomile and linden tea both can help a person relax and sleep. For a really stubborn case, take a cup of valerian tea or a couple of capsules with warm water. A pleasant walk out of doors can help a person relax enough to sleep. Sometimes the person's blood sugar is a little low, and simply eating a piece of fresh fruit can put a person out. Warm tea with honey will do the same. [EWH p.151]
Not Hot Cocoa: Many of the people of Dutch extraction, that is, everyone from the Old Dutch Cleanser Girl to the Boy Who Put His Finger in the Dike, were prone to prepare themselves a nighttime cup of hot cocoa for the insomnia which prevailed in the land. Now...how can cocoa possibly cure insomnia when it contains 13.5 mg. of caffeine per cup? This practice was so extensive that it not only included family, but servants and visitors as well. This toxic dose of chocolate was topped with another toxin: cream or marshmallow. Anybody for a little chamomile? [NL 2-4]
Juices: Lettuce, celery, apple, onion. [NL 3-5]
Squash Seeds: Boiling squash seeds for a half an hour and then drinking the water has the effect of calming the nerves and helping in cases of insomnia and is good also for any urinary inflammation. [NL 4-12]
Vegetables for Insomnia: Cabbage, carrots, celery, collard greens, kale, lettuce, parsnips, potatoes, spinach, turnip greens, squash. [NL 4-12]
Testimonials:
1. Insomniac Cured after Years of Sleeplessness: Dr. Christopher told the story of a high school teacher who had a terrible case of insomnia. She could only sleep in twenty-minute stretches; thereafter, she would pace the floor throughout the night, keeping her family awake and becoming more and more tired herself. During the day she epitomized the "witch" school teacher. Eventually her screaming and irritability, her meanness and nagging, became so intolerable that her family wanted to have her committed to a mental institution. And she was so weary of it all that she would have liked to go herself.
The family called Dr. Christopher, however, who came over and prepared a cup of his nervine tea [Relax-Eze]. As it steeped, he chatted with the family, and then she drank the cup. Soon she yawned and said she might like to go lie down. Her husband commented that Dr. Christopher might just as well stay, because she would be up again in twenty-minutes, but Dr. Christopher took his leave.
The next morning, Dr. Christopher answered the telephone; a man's voice began berating him and calling him all sorts of vulgar names. "You ought to be jailed," the man shouted, "for giving my wife heavy drugs when you said they were herbs!"
Dr. Christopher explained he had only given the woman herbs, so mild that a newborn baby could safely use them. When the man calmed down, he explained that his wife had slept all night, and awakened calm and refreshed.
She continued taking this formula, and cleaned up her diet as well. Before long, she was as sweet and cooperative as she could be with her family and her classes, and everyone was grateful that she didn't have to be committed to a mental institution! [EWH p.151]
2. Nervous Debility and Insomnia: Lucas reports the case of a gentleman who was otherwise in good health but was continually suffering nervous debility and insomnia. Treatment by other doctors had not helped him at all. He was encouraged to try natural medicine and was given a combination of an ounce of Skullcap, an ounce of hops, and a half ounce of gentian root. He took this as an infusion and within a week he was sleeping well. At the end of two months he was fully recovered. Lucas mentions that Skullcap, catnip and peppermint work the same way for many people (Luc:Herbal:25). It is said to give natural sleep to morphine addicts, especially when combined with catnip, lime blossom and hops (Lev:Common:134). [UW-Scullcap]
3. Static Causes Insomnia: Dr. Christopher also said that our bodies collect excessive static vibration. Our bodies receive electricity through the top of the head where we used to have soft spots when we were babies. This electricity is essential to our bodies but it must be fresh and free flowing, coming through the top of the head, down the spine, through the body and is grounded out into the earth. When we do not let the electricity out and be grounded into the earth, it becomes static and toxic and builds up so much that new electricity can't come in. We can't sleep and we become hard to live with. Each day, therefore, we need to send some time out on the lawn or the ground to get rid of this static electricity in the body. There was an elderly man who was having a lot of trouble sleeping. His insomnia got so bad that he became very difficult to be around. His son knew this principle of walking on the earth to discharge unwanted energy and tried to convince his father to do so, but his father said that no one was going to get him to take off his shoes in public and walk on the lawn barefooted! However, one day, the son said, "Dad, I have something I must talk to you about". He sat the old man down, quickly took off his shoes and whisked him outside. They walked around the lawn a few times, talking and then the old man said that he was feeling tired. He went in the house and went to bed--and slept all night! We have noticed that native peoples who walk without shoes or who wear leather soles that let the energy through are much less nervous than those of us who wear synthetic or rubber soles. We spend a good deal of the summer without shoes and although it may not look as proper or civilized as wearing the plastic sandals that are the style now, we feel much less nervous and very harmonious during this time. [UW-Valerian]
Dr. Christopher's Program for Insomnia
Herbal Combinations:
* Relax-Eze
* Nit-e-Nite
Recommendations:
Relax Eze; take 2-3 capsules three times a day.
Relax-Eze extract; take 15-30 drops three times a day.
Nit-e-Nite; in a cup of tea three times a day.
Single Herbs:
Valerian Root, Hops Flowers, Passion Flowers.
Advice:
Walk in the grass barefoot to induce sleep.
See Also:
Relax-Eze: Dr. Christopher's Nerve Herbal Food Combination
"Natural Healing with Herbs for a Healthier You"
