Do You Get Enough Sleep? Do Your Children?

The hours we spend sleeping are vital to our well being... this is when our bodies can turn their attention away from activity and work on repairing themselves.

In kids, sleep is when hormones that help them grow are released and when tissues not only repair themselves, but grow. Without sufficient sleep time, they can suffer serious long term damage.

Studies now show that kids between 5 and 12 years of age need 11 hours of sleep each night and teens need 8 1/2 to 9 hours.

Parents are right to be concerned about kids not getting sufficient rest, but wrong when they think that as adults they don't need to pay attention to their own sleep patterns.

The average adult needs about about 8 hours – and we should take it, no matter how many tasks and obligations demand our time. Our bodies also need time to repair, and without adequate rest, we aren't very efficient at taking care of all those obligations that keep us awake.

But it isn't always demands on our time that rob us of sleep. Sometimes it's our minds and emotions that keep us awake long after we've turned out the lights.

Because this is so common, Feel Bach! has created 4 different Sweet Dreams blends to help you break the "sleepless" pattern and begin getting the rest you need.

Because they're Bach Flower Essences, they won't leave you drugged and groggy in the morning - and you need have no fear of side effects. Unlike pharmaceuticals, they won't cause you to get up and go driving while you're asleep!

Sweet Dreams #1 is for people who can't let go of the day, but instead lay in bed thinking about unfinished work and what needs to be done tomorrow. This one can turn into a chronic habit that's difficult to break - I know, because I did this for years.

In fact, during an especially busy period of my life, I actually stored things away to think about after I went to bed, because I just didn't have enough quiet time earlier in the day. Talk about a wrong approach!

Sweet Dreams #2 is for those who can't relax enough to ignore the little noises of the night, or when you're worried about waking up on time in the morning. The very night when you should get plenty of rest to be sharp for a morning presentation turns into the night when you lay awake until an hour before the alarm rings.

Sweet Dreams #3 helps calm the fears that keep you awake. If you lay there and worry about something that may happen, or re-live something that did happen, this is the blend for you.

Sweet Dreams #4 is for folks who fall asleep easily, but then awaken far earlier than necessary.

If you're not getting enough sleep because you simply aren't going to bed when you should, change your habits. Your health is at stake and it's worth more than that TV show or last chapter of a good book.

If your lack of rest is because you agree to do too many things, begin saying "No" when it means you'll lose out on sleep.

But if the problem is that you just "can't sleep," try one of the Sweet Dreams formulas.

You'll feel better physically and mentally - and you'll probably accomplish more every day as well.

Sleep remedies, one size doesn't fit all!

If you have sleep problems you may have tried all sorts of over the counter medications - maybe you've even tried something from the doctor. And maybe they've worked for you - if your particular problem is what they were designed to help.

But the truth is, not all sleep problems are alike. That's why Feel Bach! has four different formulas to give you sweet dreams. The one I use is for having trouble falling asleep. My mind didn't always want to shut down and be quiet at the end of the day. Instead, I would just keep right on working while I was trying to be asleep. My sweet dreams formula is putting an end to that energy-draining problem, letting me relax, and allowing me to set aside the day's concerns and get the rest I need.

Other people fall asleep easily enough, but then keep waking up. Others wake up too early in the morning and can't fall back to sleep, even though their bodies haven't had enough rest. Still others suffer from nightmares that wake them frequently during the night. How terrible!

I have nightmares once in a great while, and they're awful! I can really feel for people who have them every night. People I've met who suffer from them tell me that traditional sleeping pills do nothing to help - and in fact sometimes the chemicals make the nightmares even worse.

Since these problems are all so different, it's no wonder that "one size fits all" drugs can't help everyone.

Flower essences go after the problem in a completely different manner. Instead of putting a chemical "band aid" on sleeplessness, they gently rebalance your energies so that you can naturally sleep well. They won't work instantly like a pill, but the help they give will be long lasting. And since they're all natural and have no known side effects, you wake refreshed instead of groggy.

Before I discovered Sweet Dreams, I used to spend a good half hour doing meditation in order to clear my mind and fall asleep. It usually worked, unless there was so much going on that I couldn't relax to meditate. I still think meditation is a good thing, and highly recommend it, but now I don't have to "work at it" any more.

I wish you good rest...