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Health store help

Independent health store advice on sleep

Looking for advice on natural health and wellbeing? Your local independent health stores can offer a wealth of knowledge and expertise. This issue we speak to Suzan Turan, owner of the Aquarian Health Store in Cahersiveen, Co Kerry

When a customer is looking for help with sleep, I ask these initial questions to get a better understanding of the individual and the situation:
• Since when have you experienced this sleep interruption?
• Do you fall asleep easily but wake up and find it hard to go back to sleep?
• Do repetitive thought patterns keep your mind engaged?
• Are you taking any medication?
• Is there currently a stressful situation in your life?
• What have you tried so far?

These opening questions often lead to self-exploration and present some great “aha” moments. From there, we can start looking at potential actions or behavioural changes before exploring products.

Here are some of my personal favourites for sleep support:

Herbal teas
These are an unsung hero. They are inexpensive, safe and they work. If falling asleep is an issue, eliminating stimulating drinks by 3 or 4pm and having a calming herbal tea can benefit the nervous system. With so many options available, I recommend choosing organic, high-quality products with expert guidance. Some suggestions include chamomile, melissa (lemon balm), valerian, lavender, oat, and hemp leaf tea.

For those waking during the night, a common phase during menopause, I suggest preparing a flask of sleep tea. Rather than lying awake, turn on the light, sit up and sip a cuppa. More often than not, you’ll go back to sleep. Just be sure to empty your bladder beforehand!

Herbal tinctures
These offer more medicinal potency compared to herbal infusions and are often overlooked due to the latest trends or “quick-fix” promises. Your local health store or herbalist will be a mine of information when it comes to choosing the right fit, particularly if you are taking medication. As they are powerful medicines, they can negatively interact with prescription meds but this should not deter you from exploring them.

Changing the narrative
In the case of “chronic” non-sleepers. Is this one of your standard lines? “I’m such a bad sleeper and I wake up every night.” If so, stop it! Remember that our brain and subconscious mind are always listening. So when we state the above, this is what we will get. I truly believe that changing our narrative makes a huge difference, even if it initially seems false.

We all know that when we have to get up early for something important and must not wake up too late, our subconscious mind will wake us just before the alarm goes off. True? So, by changing the narrative to “I sleep like a log”, or “I’m such a great sleeper”, in time you can be. This is such a huge and multi-layered topic. It requires exploration and individual conversation and does not really have a “one size fits all” solution in my opinion. Having been in the independent health store trade for over 22 years I would encourage you to visit your own local store and explore what best suits your circumstances. I am sure you will find honest and expert advice. We guide – you do. And we love the conversation!

What’s What and Who’s Who at Aquarian Health Store in Cahersiveen, Co Kerry

The store first opened on 15 July 2002 and was named Hemp & Things. It was rebranded to the Aquarian Health Store in 2009.

Suzan says: “We pride ourselves on providing a very personal, friendly and knowledgeable service. We stock a large variety of predominantly organic foods, both ambient and chilled. Our organic fruit and veg delivery is always keenly awaited! We have a large variety of herbs and spices, dried fruits, grains, pulses, condiments and so much more.

We have a refill station for eco-cleaning products as well as shelf stock to get you cleaning anything that your heart desires. When it comes to caring for your skin, there’s a product for all types and conditions. We stock brands including Dr Hauschka, Weleda, Natura Siberica and Antipodes with price ranges to suit every budget.

In the supplement section, we offer the full Terranova, Viridian and Nature’s Plus ranges, as well as One Nutrition, New Nordic and Solgar. This is to name but a few. Other products include incense, lots of Primavera essential oils as well as some Atlantic Aromatics carrier oils and floral waters. You can find Tarot card decks, crystals, some locally made jewellery, local honey when in season and various other gifts. You’ll find a lot of interesting products all over the store. And the team and I are so happy to chat with you and help you where we can. The team consists of Julie and Gerri as well as myself. During the summer we are so happy to have our lovely junior Mary, who just passed her leaving certificate and has begun her new journey at Trinity College. We are so, so proud of her.

On 6 December we will be running our annual “Thank you: Let me give back to you” event. The red carpet will be rolled out for our loyal and supportive customers and all the products in store will be discounted. We will also have some wonderful prizes from ourselves as well as from our fantastic suppliers. I really want to give a big shout-out to our suppliers. Times have been extremely tough and challenges appear on a continuous basis. Here is a massive thank you to this group of people who keep our doors open and are very generous any time my store runs an event.

We hope that readers of Rude Health magazine will come to visit us when they’re in Kerry. We’d love to meet you for a chat.”

VISIT: The Aquarian Health Store, 23 Main Street, Cahersiveen, County Kerry, V23 CA25
CONTACT: 066 948 1733 or suzan@aquarianhealth.ie
VISIT: www.aquarianhealth.ie

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