Because learning about your brain and sleep can be fun . . .
Years ago, before I heard of light therapy lamps, I had been living in northern California during the winter. It was a place that was very different from where I had grown up. Fog blanketed the land in the mornings, and it was always cloudy in the afternoon. Some mornings I’d have to drive 35…
Slap a sleep patch on and go right to sleep—it’s that simple, right? Not so fast! Where and how you put them on can even be more important than what’s in the patch itself. That’s not to say that what’s in the patch doesn’t matter. It does. There are many different formulations. Some have a…
Sleep music continues to grow in popularity and availability. There are channels on YouTube, Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and a new one on SiriusXM this month. Why wouldn’t sleep music become popular? It’s an easy, drug-free solution to sleeping difficulties. Whichever service you listen to, you’ll want to choose a source that’s not interrupted…
In the week before Christmas 2021, Brad Harbert of Ankeny, Iowa, a Des Moines suburb, was woken out of his sleep in the middle of the night. It wasn’t the alarm going off. He was sleeping through that. Rather, it was his dog Roxy, a Husky-Coonhound mix. Typically mellow, that night she was anything but.…
If someone made a list of the top fitness secrets, doing isometric exercises before bed would have to be in the top 10. Many people have a dilemma. It would be best if they exercised, and they’re busy, and they only have so much time in the day. Regular exercise, after all, is part of…
It’s a fact: sleep aids in regenerating the body tissues. Sleep troubles like insomnia, restless leg syndrome, and sleep apnea mean your body doesn’t heal well. It’s a downward spiral that leads to a lack of sleep, predisposing your body to stress, anxiety, and tiredness. You might have tried exercising in the evening before. Maybe…
When you’re shopping for earplugs, you can buy either disposable foam ones or some more expensive ones that aren’t intended to be disposable. They both work. They’re both soft. They both contour to your ear canal. They help you stay asleep when there’s noise in the area. They can save your sleep just as well…
On the surface, prayer and meditation look the same. Someone closes their eyes and sits still. There may or may not be an image, some beads, candles (scented or unscented) perhaps some other object involved as well. They’re not. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, prayer is a request or statement to God or a god…
The big secret to sleeping on a busy, noisy street is getting used to it. The smaller secret is how to deal with occasional spikes in noise. That’s it. Getting used to traffic noise and the occasional spikes like blaring car horns can happen for almost anyone. Eventually. When they go out to the country,…
Hope is good; it’s important to be optimistic. It’s important to keep an open mind and to be perceptive, too. That’s how you go about improving things and fixing problems. That mindset leads to solutions. When it comes to alternative healing therapies, however, there’s a long history spurious treatments being long on promises and short…
Cannabis today isn’t the same plant it was 50 years ago. It’s important to update our perceptions and forget about using it to aid sleep. Jeff Spicoli, Sean Penn’s much-loved character in 1982’s Fast Times at Ridgemont High, is an example of the old stereotype of the typical marijuana user. Richard “Cheech” Marin and Tommy…
One much-talked-about weapon against insomnia these days is CBD tea, also known as hemp tea. What is it, exactly? How does it work? What are the benefits? What is CBD tea? CBD tea refers to a herbal tea infused with cannabidiol. Cannabidiol, commonly abbreviated as CBD, is a therapeutic compound whose popularity has grown tremendously…
Go walking before bed whenever you can. It has many benefits. It’s okay to take a leisurely pace unless there’s another reason to walk faster. Fitness experts consider walking at a leisurely pace a medium to light physical activity. Brisk walking is 3 to 3.5 mph and is considered moderate physical activity. While you should…