Tag Archives: sleep

Don’t go to bed if you’re not tired. Try this instead!

08 Wednesday Apr 2020

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Next time bedtime rolls around and you’re not tired, don’t go to bed and lie there awake. You’ll just condition yourself to associate your bed with staring at the ceiling and frustration, instead of peaceful slumber. Instead, stay up half an hour – or an hour – later. But set your alarm to get up at the usual time the next day. According to the Annals Of Internal Medicine, that’ll help you get sleepy before you hit the hay. And then, because you missed 30 to 60 minutes of sleep the night before when you go to bed the next night, you should conk out right away.

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Sleepwalkers feel no pain…

16 Monday Mar 2020

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…even if they fall down the stairs! A study in the journal Sleep found 80% of sleepwalkers who injured themselves felt no pain and never woke up! And this goes WAY beyond bumping their head on something. One study subject jumped out of a third-floor window! Another fell off his roof and broke his leg! And neither knew what happened – or felt any pain – until they woke up. In the study, nearly half of all sleepwalkers reported injuring themselves while asleep – but only 10% woke up the moment they got hurt. Why is that? The researchers think sleepwalking switches off the neurons that send pain signals to the spinal cord and brain.

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Friends help you sleep better!

31 Friday Jan 2020

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People who spend quality time with friends sleep better at night. But those who feel lonely have trouble dozing off, and feel less energetic and less focused the next day. Research at the University of Rochester found that strong friendships reduce stress and anxiety, and make us feel more secure and relaxed. And that reduces activity in the brain area that stays vigilant at night. Basically, if we’re lonely, we feel vulnerable, insecure, and unprotected, even while we sleep, and part of our brain stays on alert for self-protection. So hanging with your friends during the day is your brand new sleeping pill.

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Here are some sleep facts:

14 Tuesday Jan 2020

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You need sleep more than you need food. You can survive two weeks without food, but 10 days without sleep will kill you.

Next: All-nighters make you feel drunk. Going 16 hours without sleep makes you feel as loopy and out of it as if you’d had a couple beers.

Finally: Messing with your sleep cycle can cause cancer. The evidence is so strong that the World Health Organization considers poor sleep quality and a lack of sleep carcinogens.

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Do you drool when you sleep?

10 Tuesday Dec 2019

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When you’re asleep, it’s NOT normal to drool – that’s when you salivate, but don’t swallow. Because even at night, we swallow about 3 times an hour. So why do we wake up in a pool of drool? One reason: We sleep on our side, so saliva doesn’t collect in our mouth and trigger our swallowing reflex. Also, people with sleep apnea drool because their swallow-reflex is damaged. We also drool when we smell delicious food, even if we’re sleeping or the aromas are in our DREAMS. So, you drool at night because you’re a side sleeper, you have sleep apnea, or someone’s baking cookies at 2AM, at least in your dreams.

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Having a hard time falling asleep?

15 Friday Nov 2019

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Get a whiff of lemongrass! According to Stanford University, the scent of lemongrass boosts the brain’s production of sleep-inducing alpha waves within 5 minutes. That’s because the scent dampens activity in the part of the brain that controls tension and emotional outbursts. So, mix 3 drops of lemongrass essential oil with a little unscented lotion – and rub it into your neck and shoulders. It’ll help you drift off in no time.

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Are your anxieties keeping you awake at night?

07 Thursday Nov 2019

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You might sleep better under a blanket with weights sewn inside it. Kind of like a comforter, but with weights and polyfill stuffing in every square. Several studies have shown that weighted blankets feel like you’re being hugged – which helps calm people with ADHD and autism. So, researchers at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst decided to try it on people with garden-variety anxieties. The result: When anxious people slept under weighted blankets, 75% of them fell asleep easily and stayed asleep.

Want to try it? Just Google the phrase “weighted blanket.” You’ll find a variety of fabrics and weights between 10 and 30 pounds. And they start at about $100 dollars.

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Are your feet freezing? Try this!

30 Wednesday Oct 2019

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Here’s a home remedy for warming your feet on those days when they’re chilled to the bone: A bottle of sesame oil and an old pair of wool socks. But don’t use toasted sesame oil, unless you want to smell like Chinese take-out.

Now, here’s what to do: Pour a quarter-sized amount of oil into your palm and massage it all over each foot – top and bottom – for 5 minutes… or have someone else do it. Then, put on the socks. It’s an Ayurvedic medicine technique – which is one of the oldest forms of holistic medicine. That’ll warm up your chilly feet fast, because sesame oil is instantly warming, and one of the most nutrient-rich and easily absorbed oils around. It’s also known to reduce anxiety and encourage restful sleep.

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Naps don’t work for everyone.

12 Thursday Sep 2019

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So how do you know if they’ll work for YOU? Take one for 20 minutes, and see how you feel when you wake up. UC Riverside psychology professor Dr. Sara Mednick says if you wake refreshed, you’re one of the 45% of adults who’ll enjoy clearer, more creative thinking, and sharper motor skills after napping. But if you wake up groggy, naps just aren’t your thing and they NEVER will be! Dr. Mednick says the ability to wake up energized can’t be learned. It’s in your DNA. And you’re either wired to benefit from naps or you’re not! And if you’re a habitual napper who takes at least a couple naps a week, you can’t STOP! Because if you decrease the amount of sleep you’re getting – including those naps – your thinking and motor skill function will go down the tubes. It’s a huge productivity killer.

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Now you can go to the gym… to nap!

31 Wednesday Jul 2019

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It’s a trend our researchers spotted, with many fitness centers offering a class called “Napercize” – where you work out for a while, then go down for a nap with a bunch of strangers. The temperature is taken down to 67 or 68 degrees, which is ideal for sleeping, and each person gets a little cot, a blanket, and an eye mask.

The class is designed to help boost your mental and physical wellbeing and reinvigorate the mind and body.

While it may seem ridiculous to some people, taking naps has remarkable benefits for our mental health, which is backed by research from Pennsylvania’s Allegheny College. And think about it: Nap-time has been working for years in kindergartens all over the planet. So, maybe it’s time for us adults to give Napercize a try.

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