Here is an exercise that you might do if you are having problems with any of the following things – some sleep related, some not.

• feeling out of sorts generally
• bumping into things
• declining performance
• self sabotage
• anxiety
• panic
• procrastination
• Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
• Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)

We know that a number of the issues above relate to sleep.

How can you fall asleep fast if you’re worried and anxious about things?

Sleep solutions are only useful if they address how to fall asleep, how to sleep better and are natural sleep aids.

Now before you watch…  here’s my personal story on how a neurological re-balance, similar to this process,  changed one aspect of my life quite dramatically – about 22 years ago.

I used to be a reading dyslexic, falling asleep or not actually comprehending what I was reading.  When I tried to study at school I would either get really bored, fall asleep, or find myself reading the same 2 paragraphs over and over again… to get the meaning.  I just didn’t register.  I didn’t read a whole book ever until I was about 29 years old.    Yes, even through my university years.

And for those of you who are thinking that dyslexia relates to jumbling up numbers it’s not always about that (though that certainly does sound like dyslexia).

My numbers were fine – in fact, I think it was BECAUSE I was quite intelligent in other areas, like maths (topping the class in a number of subjects) that no-one ever found out my problem.

And back then (before twitter and facebook!) – alternative health was marginalized (not like now where everyone who’s anyone is looking closer at what is offering).

It was a wacky looking neurological re-balance like this that fixed my reading dyslexia.  (And by the way it was Geraldine Gallagher, one of the featured sleep experts, who knew exactly what I needed to do in order to start reading properly).

So have a look at this process… and if you want to address some of the issues listed at the top of this blog, tap away with Doctor Ng.

Tell me how you go with this.  I’d love to know.

If I hadn’t experienced benefits for many years from people trained in how our neurology works, I wouldn’t believe a word of any of this.  There’s nothing logical to the untrained person about this.

We need the sleep experts.

Good news is, it’s very easy to do, and harmless to find out if it is going to make a difference in your life.

Have fun…. tap, breathe, readjust

Elizabeth

PS.   For people who think they might also be a reading dyslexic, other signs are not being about to ride a 2 wheeler bike, and being annoyed by slow walkers (you want to walk fast, they want to walk slowly).  It was the movement of my eyes from left to right continually, that ‘switched off’ my system and made me want to fall asleep, or ‘not engage’.  There is also a connection between allergies and dyslexia, another thing to consider.  There are opportunities to find sleep solutions when you investigate your allergies and food intolerances.

Week 2 of Sleep With The Experts featured Sue Dengate. 

Fed Up With Sleep Disturbances?

Diet can help with sleeping issues, like difficulty falling asleep, frequent night waking, restless legs, ‘weird’ dreams, nightmares, night terrors, and sleep walking in children and adults.

The food chemicals that have been associated with insomnia include artificial colours, natural colour annatto, preservatives, synthetic antioxidants, flavour enhancers and naturally occurring chemicals called salicylates and amines.  Dairy foods and less commonly wheat or gluten can be a problem for some people but are less likely to be a problem than additives and salicylates.  Sleep disturbance can also be the unintended side effect of a medication.

Sue will help people find which foods affect them and their sleeping.

Sue Dengate founder of the Food Intolerance Network

Sue Dengate

Sue Dengate is a psychology graduate and former high school teacher who became interested in the effects of food additives after the birth of her first child 20 years ago.

She is author of the bestselling Fed Up series, published by Random House Australia.  Her groundbreaking study about the behavioural effects of a common bread preservative was published in a medical journal in 2002.  

Sue, helped by her husband Dr Howard Dengate, a food scientist, runs the Food Intolerance Network through the website www.fedup.com.au.  The Food Intolerance Network provides independent information about the effects of food on behaviour, health and learning ability in both children and adults, and support for families using a low-chemical elimination diet free of additives, low in salicylates, amines and flavour enhancers (FAILSAFE).

Sue Dengate was nominated as Australian of the Year in 2005 and 2006.

What Week 2′s Webinar Covered:

• The 50 + food additives, colourings and chemicals that effect sleep
• ADHD and the incorrect diagnosis of ADHD without checking food intolerances first
• The difference between allergy and food intolerance
• How to recognise allergy and food intolerance
• Food additives that effect anxiety, depression and panic attacks
• The fresh fruit and vegetables and dried fruits that are not conducive to a good night’s sleep, and why
• Sleep Walking, sleep talking,
• Night terrors and weird dreams
• The food additives associated with sleep apnea
• How to reduce or stop snoring
• How to recognise the multi-vitamins that are ruining your good night’s sleep
• How to read labels – things are not what they seem
• The 5% ruling on food labels.  How what’s contained in ”that 5%” can be the barrier between you and your sleep
• The food chemicals that are directly associated with restless legs syndrome
• The good foods for sleep
• VOCs that effect sleep (Volatile Organic Chemicals), smells, hairsprays, perfumes etc
• The medications that people are using to help sleep, which actually contain additives and colourings that actually keep you awake!
• The Low Chemical Elimination Diet, FAILSAFE (Free from Additives, Low in Salicylates, Amines and Flavour Enhancers)
• Dairy foods, and how to select the best ones for sleep.  Milk – soymilk, A2 milk, rice milk – all discussed.
• Symptoms of food intolerance
• Behavioral problems in children, including oppositional defiance
• Additives to avoid, and their number equivalent.  Includes tricky wording the manufacturers use, so you don’t know what a particular chemical/additive might be
• Wakefulness and MSG (monosodium glutamate)
• The natural colour that causes problems, not just the synthetic ones
• Where to get bread that isn’t associated with depression and bad sleep patterns.  Specifically which brands.
• Tips for breastfeeding, baby sleep, even bed-wetting
• Synthetic antioxidants, sleepwalking etc
• The myths of fruit
• Potatoes, oranges, apples, mangoes, carrots, vinegar, sultanas, tomato juice, mint flavoured sweets, strawberries, where are each of these on the salicylates table?
• What about meat and how it is vacuum packed, and distributed in supermarkets?
• Salicylates can be inhaled as well, find out more
• What are the good and bad alcohols for sleep?
• Yes, female hormone tablets are strongly associated with food intolerance
• Yes, sleep disorders can be seasonal.  Find out why.
• And yes, water is fine!

Sue Dengate did a 15 country ’supermarket tour’ in 2001 to investigate additives around the world, and has had her research published in a UK medical journal so the conversation is not parochial.

We had registrations from health care professionals and insomnics from Dallas, New York, Minesota, Christchurch, Auckland, Mumbai, Canada, Tokyo, UK and well as our Aussi contingent.

If food additives or food intolerances are your sleeping problem, or your children’s problem, this week alone could provide sleep solutions to ensure better and lasting sleep.

Elizabeth

The ground-breaking Sleep With The Experts webinar series was broadcast from Sydney Australia commencing July 2009.
The 9 week training program featured 7 guest experts, and delivered world-class information on natural sleep strategies including:

* The 50+ food additives and chemicals that are associated with sleep problems, including disturbed sleep, anxiety, depression, bed-wetting, snoring, sleep apnea, ADHD, nightmares, sleep walking, sleep talking, etc. The information was provided by nominee for Australian of the Year, Sue Dengate.
* Anxiety and how to overcome it – presented by Nic Lucas, medical researcher and editor of an international medical publication, who cured his own anxiety without medication.
* Emotions that keep you awake. Presented by Domenica Papalia, 17 years experience as a pharmacist, combined with 12 qualifications in natural and energy healing.
* Melatonin, serotonin, the vagus nerve; the autonomic and the enteric nervous systems. Stress reduction strategies. Geraldine Gallagher, international lecturer and 5 times President of the NSW Kinesiology Association.
*Better Sleep by Overcoming your Sensitive Reaction Syndrome. The Neuro-Training perspective, presented by the founder Andrew Verity. Verity is an international teacher and consultant to the alternative health and kinesiology industry. His 36 years in alternative health included iridology, kinesiology, homeopathy, Cheirology, Psycho-somatic analysis and applied personology.
* Sleep Music, presented by Angela Sciberras, Bachelor of Arts Music with honours in Ethnomusicology, Kinesiologist/Neuro-Trainer and Therapeutic Musician (International Healing Musicians Program USA).
* Anxiety and stress relief using Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT). Rod Sherwin, twitter’s TheTappingMan, teaches EFT from the basics to practitioner training. He combines his 8 years experience with a wealth of other health modalities.
* What’s your Insomnia Type? It’s the subject of Elizabeth Shannon’s upcoming book, where she distils industry information and matches natural solutions to each of the insomnia types.

Hope you enjoy it, it’s coming very soon.

Kindest regards

Elizabeth