The Importance of Rest

All the parts of the human body work together, although each one has its special part to do. The stomach must have a time to rest between meals. The other parts of the body require rest, too. This usually takes while we are asleep. We must not be neglectful and fail to give the entire body enough rest, or they will soon get worn out and give us trouble. 

Sometimes, when people are not well or are "all tired out”, they find they cannot sleep well at night. There are a number of little things that can be done to induce sleep. A warm bath before retiring, followed by a gentle massage, especially along the spine, often will, by relaxing the nerves and muscles, produce very good results. A hot foot bath, which draws the blood away from the brain, frequently will be found beneficial. A glass of hot milk or cocoa, taken just before retiring, often will have the same effect. If the sleeplessness is a result of indigestion, a plain diet will relieve. Sleeping upon a hard bed without any pillow sometimes produces the desired effect. Always have plenty of fresh air in the room. Keep the mind free from the cares of the day. If they will intrude, crowd them out by repeating something else some soothing sentence or bit of poetry. One good plan is to close the left nostril by pressing on it with the finger, then take four deep breaths through the right nostril. Then close the right nostril and take four deep breaths through the left one. Repeat this about four times. Then breathe slowly through both nostrils, but count your breaths. You seldom will count very many. Never take any sleeping medication except upon the advice of a physician, for they usually contain drugs that will injure the heart.

A lack of sleep, you will find, that could cause a number of individuals to be nervous, which means they do have not control of their nerves, but the nerves run away with them. Sometimes this is shown in palpitations of the heart, headache, backache, and many other disorders. There may be a tendency to cry at trivial things, or a feeling of having "the blues." The cause usually can be found in the surroundings or occupation, loss of friends, or real or imagined troubles. Whatever the cause, it should the cause should be removed, if possible, and measures taken to restore the worn out nerves that are crying for rest or food.

Natural herbs help, so does nourishing food, also a change of scene and occupation, if possible. A person who is nervous frequently does not realize what the cause of his condition is, and considers only the symptoms. So when he or she has a headache, resorts to medicine.  In taking these, he or she only is deadening the pain and not removing the cause, so the pain is liable to return.

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