Eugene Magazine Copyright © Eugene Magazine - Lane County's Lifestyle Quarterly Can't Sleep?

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With work, travel, social engagements, carving out at least a little time for the family, it often seems impossible to get that recommended eight to nine hours of solid sleep. Then the next day comes, and it is a struggle to get through. Thus the cycle continues, wearing the body and mind down further as the days go on.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, 29 percent of Americans felt very sleepy or actually fell asleep at work in the past month, 6 percent have nodded off while driving in the past year, and 20 percent have lost interest in sex because they are too sleepy. Lack of sleep can significantly affect our lives, and while many people resort to medications to get more shuteye, healthier holistic methods are gaining popularity.

Holistic healing is a wellness system that focuses on the whole body—mind and spirit—as well as the person’s lifestyle and home environment. If you just don’t feel like yourself even after a night of rest, you may have a sleep disorder, advises David Pettit, the clinical manager at Emerald Sleep Disorders Center in Eugene. Ariel Solomon, an acupuncturist and Chinese herbalist at Five Season’s Women’s Wellness in Eugene, considers a sleep disorder to include low energy, snoring, and consistent difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep.

“Sleep disorders can happen for a multitude of reasons,” says Solomon. “It is important not to simply band-aid the situation with medication, but to address the deeper issues that are causing the disorder.” Holistic healing goes beyond a set of symptoms or a disease. Solomon says she spends a good deal of time getting to know her patients and their sleep patterns. Pettit believes that although experts advocate the need for eight to nine hours of sleep each night, that amount is not needed for health. “If you get five, or four, hours of sleep at night, and feel good, there is not a problem,” he says.

Pettit’s method is to encourage every patient to be a “student of good sleep habits.” He urges cultivating “good sleep hygiene” by going to bed at the same time every night. “The body likes routine,” he says. Additional good sleep hygiene consists of regulating light and removing your clock from the bedroom. “People that are having trouble sleeping will keep looking at their clock because they know when they have to wake up, and how much sleep they are losing,” he says.

Solomon agrees with making small changes to achieve better sleep habits. “There are a lot of simple things, like not watching TV or using a computer in the hour before bed, that can drastically improve sleep,” says Solomon. She argues that achieving a dramatic change in sleep quality can be as easy as removing caffeine from the diet or eating dinner earlier. “These are better methods” than knocking yourself out with sleeping pills, says Pettit.

Both Pettit and Solomon advise that holistic treatment should be sought before medical treatment such as sleeping pills, which have an assortment of negative side effects including daytime drowsiness, dizziness, headaches, and rebound insomnia—not to mention that they can be addictive. “Using sleeping pills to fix a sleeping disorder is like using duct tape to fix a leak in your roof,” says Solomon. “It may stop the problem temporarily, but there is an underlying issue that needs to be addressed, or the problem will eventually get worse.” Sleeping pills such as Ambien will knock you out, but it’s “like hitting yourself with a sledgehammer,” says Pettit.

If you have removed your clock, are eating an early supper, and made your bedroom as dark as a cave and you are still struggling, then give herbal medicines, supplements, and exercise a try. “Herbal medicine is particularly helpful in cases where poor sleep is related to anxiety and depression,” says Solomon. Pettit agrees, and recommends melatonin supplements as helpful when someone has trouble “shutting their brain off” at night. The supplements “are 100 percent natural,” he says, “and they make you tired and control your sleep drive.”

Eugene resident Arwen Okalani says her kundalini yoga practice and supplements of valerian root have enhanced her health and sleep, both of which suffered from her full slate of work and study at the University of Oregon. “Kundalini yoga has totally changed my life,” she says. With yoga, her digestion improved and she generally felt better. The body “is a whole constitution: if everything is working better, your sleep is better,” she says.

While some small changes in your routine, like a nightly walk, might bring relief within a day, an accumulation of easily implemented changes recommended by a holistic practitioner could dramatically improve your sleep patterns. Solomon says, “Within four weeks, even people with severe sleep disorders should notice some improvement.”

PERCHANCE TO DREAM

Five Seasons Women’s Wellness
1359 Patterson St.
541/515-6446
fiveseasonswellness.com

Emerald Sleep Disorders Center
4725 Village Plaza Loop, Suite 101
541/683-3325
eugene-sleep.com

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Detox for Health
Safe ways to cleanse
By Brittany McGrath

Cleansing and detoxification are advertised in many forms: apple detox diet, herbal teas, cabbage soup diet, acai berry supplements, enemas, fasting, juice mixes, and others. After spending the holiday months packing in turkey, ham, cookies, and spiked eggnog—spring is a good time to replenish and re-energize our bodies. “In both Chinese and Naturopathic medicine, the spring season is the optimal time of year for cleansing and detoxification,” says Janet Zand, author of Smart Medicine for Healthier Living, and a doctor of oriental medicine. However, with the assortment of techniques available, what is considered safe?

When people think detox, many think over-the-counter cleanses or laxatives, which may be more harmful than helpful. “I find that most cleanses on the retail market are not very complete,” says Ananda Stiegler, a naturopathic physician at Balance in Health in Eugene. “They have bits and pieces that are helpful, but rely primarily on stimulant laxatives to encourage removal of wastes,” she adds. Stiegler argues that laxatives are highly addictive for the colon. “I have had countless patients come to see me who are addicted to them” to keep them regular, says Stiegler. Zand recommends two healthier colon cleansers that are also known to reduce cholesterol and regulate blood sugar levels: the high-in-fiber grain Psyllium, and the dried bark of the buckthorn tree, known as cascara sagrada, long ago used by the Native Americans as a natural laxative. Stiegler stresses that cleansers must look at their own personal hygiene and health before exercising a detox plan.

It is best to begin a detoxification and cleansing program after diet and exercise is regulated, and the body is in a generally healthy state. Herrick, who also studied at the National College of Natural Medicine in Portland, and owns a private practice in psychology and energy medicine, swears by her program of coffee enemas, detoxification teas, and an anti-inflammatory diet. “The diet has you slowly wean off meats, than wean off grains, than you are just on fruits and vegetables,” says Herrick. She mentions feeling “super, super light” after the cleansing diet, and she notices a healthier appearance in her skin. “I feel awesome after!” Herrick also favors cleansing teas. Stiegler says the options for detox teas are varied, but they generally contain herbs that support liver function, which is essential for the removal of wastes, and that they are beneficial to drink during the cleansing or as a part of a normal diet.

If you have already implemented these elements into your diet, and are consistently physically healthy, fasting is another option that many rely on for detoxification and cleansing. Fasting is defined as the abstinence of food, but not liquids. “Fasting is very beneficial way to give the digestion a break and give the body an opportunity to rid itself of waste,” says Stiegler, who recommends testing your pH prior to doing a fast. Stiegler explains that a person who is too acidic will experience the common symptoms of headache, nausea, and fatigue after fasting, so test your pH before beginning a fast, “to see if it’s appropriate to stop eating food,” says Stiegler, who also recommends several days of eating only fruits and vegetables before switching to liquids.

Stiegler recommends broth and dilute vegetable juice to provide a better stabilization in blood sugar levels, rather than fruit juice, as well as colonics or enemas, or both. It is vital to do research if interested in fasting. “It can be healthy if it is done right,” says De Rosa. Researching cleansing methods, and knowing your body and its limits is crucial to safely detoxing. De Rosa says cleans can last for one week to a full month, depending on what the person is concentrating on cleansing. There are a variety of health benefits to cleansing, including a better functioning digestive system, more energy, and being able to better absorb the nutrients from foods.

“Cleansing and detoxification encourage the body’s natural internal processes, which eliminate toxins from our system so that we can feel our best,” says Zand.

The dirt on detox

Dr. Ananda Stiegler
Balance in Health
295 W Broadway
541/753-8881
balanceinhealth.com

Clinic of Natural Medicine
247 W 10th Ave.
541/338-9494
clinicofnaturalmed.com

Dr. Liz Dickey
Naturopathic medicine, homeopathy
2158 Olive St.
541/465-1155
drlizdickey.com

Dr. Miriam Mazure-Mitchell
2833 Willamette St., Suite A
541/686-3399

Village Health
1755 Coburg Rd. Bldg. 4, Suite 2
541/684-3988
villagehealthservices.com

Vincent de Rosa
Healing Hour
503/746-4305
12555 SW 1st St.,
Beaverton
655 NW Burnside Rd. Suite 1,
Gresham
hhroomtime.org

Dr. Stiegler recommends the book Cleanse and Purify Thyself, by Richard Anderson.

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