Because learning about your brain and sleep can be fun . . .
In lots of occupations—and in many situations—we get to see man’s inhumanity to man. When it comes to bedtime, this can affect the ability to sleep. Police officers would fall into this category. Nurses and EMS do too. They often get to see the worst of humanity. Dealing with violence, crime, neglect, narcissism, anger, and…
What does “self-care” really mean? Everyone will agree that taking care of yourself is important, but how do you really know you’re doing a good job of it? There are certainly indirect indicators that can be observed. Blood pressure, cholesterol levels, weight, and other similar metrics can be a good gauge of how much attention…
Get the jet-lagged, crummy feeling of an intercontinental airplane ride with none of the excitement and none of the bills—suffer from social jet lag! You can go far to the south or north, all the way to a different country, even another continent. Physically, you’ll feel fine. Your physical location won’t disrupt your circadian rhythm.…
Admit it. It doesn’t seem right to put your mattress on the floor. It’s dirty down there and hard to keep clean. There might be bugs. There might be all kinds of conditions on your floor. Furthermore, the floor is beyond firm; it’s hard. Way too hard. Floor sleeping doesn’t seem right. Is that true?…
Here are 5 different techniques to use to regain control of your thoughts. Learn and remember to use at least a couple of them to use when your thoughts seem out of control. Having the same thoughts repeat in your mind isn’t always useful. If you need to remember to do something, maybe. Even then,…
I slept like a baby. Saying that may or may not inspire an image in the listener’s mind of someone who slept well. Practically every parent has had the experience of trying to soothe a colicky baby all night at least once. However, babies sometimes sleep through all kinds of things. It’s a mixed metaphor.…
They say variety is the spice of life. Maybe they should say the same thing about playing. Being playful brings all kinds of good things our way. It’s a disposition, an indirect root cause. Sometimes it’s not seen that way because sometimes playfulness can be confused with silliness or foolishness. They can look the same…
An area that intrigued me when I started writing this blog was the spiritual side of sleep. It seemed to be the health dimension nobody else was writing or thinking about. The spirit is one dimension of health, along with emotional, environmental, intellectual, occupational, physical, and social. This means that as the other health dimensions…
Meditation has become a big business as part of the increased attention paid to the idea of wellness. Venture capitalists are investing millions in it. When they put so much money into it, they hope to make a lot back. Meditation has been studied to treat high blood pressure, stress, pain, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcerative colitis,…
People come up with all kinds of health advice. Some of it’s very good, very perceptive. Some of it is terrible. One of the stupidest bits of advice I’ve come across recently is that you should do calisthenics and other exercises in bed. It’s not repeated in just one place. It’s repeated in many places…