While many products promote restful stress-free sleep, industry members say they should be incorporated into a holistic healthy approach. “We see many more people learning how to integrate healthy stress-management techniques with supplements and foods,” said Eileen Sheets, managing director, Bioforce USA.
Cathy Margolin, president, Pac Herbs, said this mind and body approach is a staple to Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). “Using principles of TCM ,for example, people who take an integrative approach to medicine and find a practitioner who will treat the whole person, emphasizing wellness, activate the body's self-healing mechanisms (restorative sleep being one of them) and using nutritional modifications, individuals can alleviate many or even all of their pathological symptoms.”
Diet is a big part of reducing stress and helping sleep, said , Al Forman, owner, Tunies Nutrition Center in Coral Springs, FL. “You can’t live on McDonald’s, Burger King, milkshakes, chocolate and doughnuts and expect to have a good night sleep; it’s not going to work,” he said.
Exercise also plays its part. “People should exercise more; our health is exercise and diet,” said Serge Karnegie, president, Vitila Brands. “The best way to not get sick is to not put yourself in stressful situations. Try to avoid what makes you stressed. Also practice positive thinking, diet and exercise to reduce stress. It’s hard at times, but it’s important to forget everything for a moment when you get home. Mediation and yoga are great tools.”
Yoga and mediation use deep breathing as a relaxation method. To help sleep seekers calm down their breathing outside of the yoga studio, Coherence Resources Inc. created the NightWave Sleep Assistant. This device leads the user through a breathing routine guided by a blue light projected into a darkened room. The user synchronizes her breathing with the wave of light as its movement becomes slower and slower. “NightWave works because breathing activates the branch of the nervous system that relaxes you,” said Keith J. Wymbs, CEO, Coherence Resources Inc. “By breathing consciously we reduce the stress hormone cortisol and make way for the secretion of melatonin.” In a study conducted by Coherence Resources Inc., those who used the NightWave for seven minutes, had a three times greater change in finger temperature, a 12-percent reduction in galvanic skin response, and an increase in heart rate variability coherence compared to the control group, all evidence of an improved state of relaxation.