Insomnia is one of the worst stress-induced conditions you can experience. Not being able to sleep after a hard-days-work can cause a plethora of issues. Is your job, family, or relationship related stuff causing you such stress that it affects your sleep? Although insomnia is not caused only by stress, it is most often the main cause.
Topics: insomnia, sleep hygiene, sleep habits
When it comes to sleep behavior, having to train your baby doesn’t usually come to mind. But for little ones who are just learning their new world, teaching them how to sleep independently builds life-long habits that both baby and parent will enjoy.
Topics: sleep hygiene, sleep habits, mothers, baby
What’s the best way to get a good night’s sleep? How long should we sleep for? And what’s the best way to prepare for it? With so much conflicting information, technology and advice available on how to get the best night of rest, it’s often hard to know what to believe, and whose advice to follow. Below you’ll find some of the most common preconceptions around sleep debunked.
Topics: sleep hygiene, sleep habits, myths
The latest from The National Sleep Foundation @ www.sleep.org.
Topics: Pediatrics, sports, sleep habits, sleep disorders
Since 1991, the National Sleep Foundation has conducted a national poll cataloging the state of sleep in America. The Sleep in America®poll provides valuable information to the general public and sleep community on specific topics of interest such as: Children and Sleep, Women and Sleep, and Technology and Sleep. We encourage everyone to prioritize their sleep for better health.
Topics: sleep habits
White noise
If you regularly struggle with insomnia, make sure you’re aware of these easy fixes. And if you’re trying to sleep in a loud environment, white noise might help you nod off more easily. A mixture of all sound frequencies at once, at the same level of intensity, white noise does a good job of masking other noises that can disrupt your sleep. Like a whirring fan or the hum of an air conditioner, white noise provides an even, steady stream of sound. In a study published in the journal Sleep Medicine, researchers at Brown University Medical School reported patients in a hospital intensive care unit awakened less frequently during the night with white noise present, because it decreased the difference between background noise and the “peak” noises that punctuated the hospital’s noise environment.
It’s no surprise that ocean waves are a popular choice for soothing sleep sounds. For many people, the rhythmic crashing of water onto sand and rock can be meditative—and meditation carries some surprising health benefits. By creating a mental state of relaxation, contentment, and gentle focus, the wave sound can be deeply relaxing. In an interview with LiveScience, Dr. Orfeu Buxton, an associate professor of behavioral health at Penn State University, described how the sound of the ocean can promote sleep. “These slow, whooshing noises are the sounds of non-threats, which is why they work to calm people, “Buxton explained. “It’s like they’re saying: ‘Don’t worry, don’t worry, don’t worry.’”
It’s not just ocean waves that can provide soothing sounds to go to sleep. Maybe it’s the light patter of a rain shower, or the steady flow of a running stream that helps you wind down at the end of a long day. One key to the power of water sounds to help us sleep, said Buxton, is the relatively gentle, gradual variations in the intensity of moving water sounds. Even more than volume, the abrupt, sudden presence of a noise can be jarring to sleep, Buxton and fellow researchers found in their 2012 study of how hospital noises disrupt sleep, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Topics: sleep habits, REM sleep, wellness, stress
Admit it: When reading your favorite magazine or website, you regularly check your horoscope. There’s no shame in it, everyone looks for reassurance when the best day to ask for that raise will be to better the odds.
Topics: sleep habits
On Sunday, November 6th, most of us in the U.S. will be turning our clocks back one hour. Just the thought of this change instills panic in parents who have just gotten their little one on that great routine!
Topics: sleep habits, losing sleep, daylight savings, sleep and children
For parents and kids all over the USA, Summer is over because the school year has begun. That means back to the grind of making lunches, driving to dance class, football practice or piano lessons. During a long week of schedules, school, and work, sometimes crawling under the sheets for a nice nap rounds out a long week.
Topics: naps, sleep habits
