Getting through the holiday season can be stressful with office parties, family dinners, dealing with crowded stores and finding those perfect gifts. Have you ever asked yourself how the holiday season is affecting your sleep? Stress is the number one nonmedical reason people suffer from insomnia. Now is the time of year many people make a New Year’s Resolution. How many of you have decided this year is the year I will drop a few pounds? STOP the stress about dieting and losing weight and make your New Year’s Resolution GET MORE SLEEP! Here are some reasons getting a good night’s sleep is essential for your mind and body. Read more »
Causes of Insomnia Part 2 Clinophobia The Fear of Going to Bed
Clinophobia (derived from the Greek “klinein” as to bend, slope or incline during sleep and “phobos” meaning fear) is an abnormal and persistent fear of going to bed. Unlike somniphobia the fear of going to sleep that is a symptom of an anxiety disorder usually caused by an apprehension about not being able to wake up or frightened of not being aware of what goes on around them as they sleep. Even though clinophobia sufferers realize that going to bed is normal and is not a threat to their well-being, they worry about having uncontrollable nightmares, not being able to fall asleep easy or wetting the bed. If they do fall asleep, they wake often and overtime this phobia causes insomnia. Read more »
Causes of Insomnia Part 1 Grief Cycle
Last Monday I had to lay my father to rest. Dad was 82 and even though some consider that he lived a full life no one understands the pain of losing a parent. 12 million Americans lose a parent annually and adult children often feel abandonment and panic when caught by a sudden death which can lead to depression and insomnia. We may live many years, but we will always be a child in relation to our parents. Our lives are full with our careers, family, friends but we naturally expect our parents to be there for us. When they die our world becomes a different place. No matter what age or how their death happened, the pain for the surviving adult children can be very hard. Read more »
Kindle for Sleep Kindle about Sleep
Do you like to read before going to bed at night because it helps you to relax? Reading is another popular way to relax. Pick something that you enjoy reading, something with a nice pace and nothing too scary. Curl up in a comfy spot and read away. Before you know it, you will be ready for bed and relaxed enough to go right to sleep. Do you read from a book or one of the new electronic e-readers like iPad or Kindle? Read more »
Lark Personal Sleep Coach
Lark announced today its association with sleep experts on its new Personal Sleep Coach. Lark the same company that has the first, patent-pending silent and natural-feeling wake-up silent alarm clock and wireless sleep tracker. The Personal Sleep Coach goes beyond simple sleep monitoring; it will help you to understand your sleep patterns and sleep health while giving you ideas on how to improve the quality and quantity of your sleep. Over time your Personal Sleep Coach will track your improvement and urges you to improve with words of encouragement. The new Lark coaching experience is a great Christmas gadget gift for those who have trouble falling asleep easy or can’t get enough sleep during the night. Read more »
How to Sleep Easy with Sciatica Pain
Sciatica is the pain associated with the sciatic nerve that runs from your spinal cord through your hip bone down your legs to your feet. Your lower back pain can be caused by a herniated disk that applies constant pressure on your sciatic nerve. This pressure produces muscles spasms, numbness in legs and feet, a sharp stinging pain, tingling and sometimes loss of movement. Simple tasks from walking, sitting, standing and even sleeping can greatly be affected by these symptoms. Treatment for sciatica depends on the severity of the pain and its symptoms. If there is no disk or nerve degeneration or difficulty moving then more conservative, natural treatments are most effective. Read more »
Cheap Christmas Sleep Gifts
The Christmas season is upon us and the rat race has begun from decorating, get-togethers, family fun and shopping, who has time to sleep! We crave sleep and we just don’t have time for it. 43% of Americans between the ages of 13-64 have reported that they rarely or never get a good night’s sleep during the week. If you or someone you know has run raged this holiday season and needs a good night’s sleep…get them the gift of sleep along with some Christmas sleep gifts. Sleep gift gadgets are helpful, but their effectiveness does not replace good sleep habits like; going to bed the same time every night, limiting caffeine and giving yourself (or them) some “me” time to relax at night. So, give yourself or your sweetie a night off, take a nice bath with lavender scented oil or curl up on the couch and read a good book. Some sleep related gadgets can help you to doze off. Here are a few ideas to promote sound sleep. Read more »
Sleep Easy with Exercise
A new study published in the Journal Mental Health and Physical Activity reported that those who exercised at a moderate to vigorous level for 50 minutes three times a week had a 65% chance for better sleep quantity than for those that exercised less. These people also stated they felt more alert all day and had fewer leg cramps while sleeping. There now is evidence that regular physical activity may be the next step to improve sleep without prescription sleep aides. Using exercise guidelines that have been used for cardiovascular health can make you stronger, improve your heart health and benefits your sleep. The study included health data from more than 3,000 men and women between the ages of 18 and 85. They wore a monitor on their right hip for a week and were questioned on their quality of their sleep as well as how easy it was to fall asleep. Read more »
Performance Sheets Sheex Review for Sleep Comfort Bedding
What are the best sheets on the market today? There have been many articles and advertisements lately on Sheex bedding. Sheex Inc. was founded by Susan Walvius and Michelle Marciniak, two former basketball coaches at the University of South Carolina. Susan Walvius graduated from Virginia Tech in 1986 a went on to coach Division I women’s college basketball for 21 years starting as an assistant coach at Bradley University and finished her career at the University of South Carolina in 2008. Michelle Marciniak graduated from the University of Tennessee, was an 11 year veteran of USA Basketball and was then the assistant coach for USC until 2008. Read more »