NDNR

The importance of getting a good night’s sleep was on the minds of the early naturopaths. The causes in those days, as today, for sleeplessness and insomnia were as diverse and numerous as the recipes for a good night’s sleep. The realm of sleep took the early naturopaths into the uncharted unconscious mind where many fanciful notions about psychic factors invited explanation. For instance, the male doctors handily explained what they thought to be the differences between the sexes by speculating and theorizing about how men and women sleep. In any case, pondering the purpose of good sound sleep, many of those early doctors emphasized the importance in replenishing our energies and body. It was not enough just to sleep, but to get good quality sleep. Our thoughts at bedtime and our “mental attitude and [our] thoughts at the time [we] retire, have much to do with the restfulness and benefits of [our] sleep” (Evertz, 1917, p. 250).