The command and control center of your subconscious brain is your hypothalamus gland. This gland regulates wakefulness and sleep, based on a variety of factors. Like any company, your hypothalamus gland has different departments. Your wakefulness department resides in the rear (posterior hypothalamus) and communicates directly to other primary brain structures that regulate wakefulness (basal forebrain and brain stem).

Your sleep department resides towards the front (anterior hypothalamus) and is composed of nerve cells that rely on GABA and glycine in order to function properly. Both your sleeping and waking departments have numerous nerve projections to other departments of your hypothalamus gland, the goal being to orchestrate correct sleeping-waking behavior for survival.

When your sleep pattern is normal then your sleep department gets a cue from your hormonal orchestra that it is bedtime, in turn activating GABAergic and glycinergic neurons which tell the wakefulness department to take a break. In the morning, your hormonal orchestra turns on light switches in the wakefulness department, and a message is then sent over to the sleep department to take a break.

The most basic problem individuals have getting to sleep is too much arousal in various parts of the wakefulness system compared to the relaxing influences of the sleep department. In many cases simply thinking about the stressors of the day or challenges of tomorrow will keep your wakefulness department revved up. Even being excited about the next day can do this. And of course, the more intense the stress the higher the chance for a problem with sleep, especially if there is stress right before bed.

Anything you do to manage stress better, solve problems, and implement solutions will help keep your wakefulness department not feeling so edgy. Building up relaxed reserves assists your sleep department to have better fitness (relaxing exercise, meditation/prayer, having fun, vacations, strategies to wind down your day, etc.).

A variety of nutrients can directly help your sleep department, meaning that they enhance GABA and glycine nerve transmission. Sleep Helper^™ boosts GABA, whereas RelaxaMag^™ boosts glycine. Adequate magnesium, and to a lesser extent calcium, are vital for the wakefulness system to cool off. For example, magnesium and glycine are the natural brakes residing within your brain stem. The most basic nutritional strategy to assist sleep is to boost the supply of nutrients that support relaxing neurotransmitters while helping the wakefulness centers to rest properly.*