Life and Spirituality

  T here is an older article in this blog on the Neem tree and its medicinal benefits but it does not mention its effects on sleep. For years now what was happening to my sleep is that after sleeping well for a few hours, sometime in the middle of the night I used to get up and feel completely awake. If   I stayed awake after that, I would feel tired the next day. Therefore I would just take a cup of tea, sit out in the patio for about half an hour, or work on a computer when after an hour or so a second round of deep sleep came. However, this also delayed the morning hour to get up. Four days ago, due to some unrelated reasons, I took a bunch of Neem leaves from a tree nearby and chewed them in the evening at around 5 pm. That night, I woke up again in the middle of the night for a visit to toilet and from old habit decided to check emails for an hour or so. But the moment I turned on the computer, I was sleepy again and began to doze off on the keyboard so I shut off t

  Mr. Squirrel sun bathing on his Neem Patio A zadirachta indica , also known as Neem , is a tree in the mahogany family. It is native to South Asia and also grows in islands in the southern part of Iran. Its fruits and seeds are the source of Neem oil . It is a fast growing tree that can reach heights of up to 20 meters easily. If a tree is to be regarded as the symbol of humility, it has to be the Neem Tree. It grows without any care in arid areas. Birds and squirrels love its fruit and to build homes amongst its branches. At the same time it repels insects, bacteria, viruses and other microbes. Mosquitoes like to move away from areas where it grows. And planted as some of the trees of an orchard it will discourage infestations that sometimes attack orchards lacking biodiversity ( see here for bio-diverse orchards) . Presently the olive groves of Europe are under such an attack. Neem leaves are dried and placed within clothes and in rice bins to keep away infestation.