Sleeping problems is among the most common of contemporary healthcare issues.
It seems that nearly everybody, from teenagers to the aged, tends to suffer from sleep-related problems. While there are plenty of sleeping aids in the form of prescription medicines, it is always better to seek natural, safer alternatives. This means using simple techniques to fall asleep instantly without undertaking risk of addiction caused by common, sleep-inducing chemical formulations.
Understand Why Counting Sheep Makes Sense
Among the oldest and perhaps, the most controversial and debated of natural sleeping aids is the theory of Counting Sheep. There is nothing special about sheep and visualizing or counting them doesn’t turn you into a freak of any sorts. The idea behind this theory is highly rational.
When psychologists started advocating the principle of Counting Sheep to sleep better what they meant was using it as a tool to disengage your mind. When you are lying in bed, concentrating upon counting sheep, you are essentially diverting your mind from other worldly worries.
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Health Benefits of Sleeping
Often referred to as an important part of our daily schedules, Sleeping has a lot more to offer besides offering a chance to escape the chaos that surrounds us. Researchers across the world have confirmed many health benefits of sleeping, such as:
Sleeping is Body’s Repair & Growth Time
We are exposed to infectious microorganisms and pollutants on a daily basis. Sleeping is essential because it sharpens our immunity against such threats and gives the body sufficient time to heal itself from various injuries or any other physical trauma.
This fact is even stressed upon by gym trainers who insist upon sleeping to allow the strained muscle fibers to recover and grow. Sufficient sleep is also vital from a cardiovascular perspective. The cardiac muscles are vulnerable to everyday stress and inflammations which can lead to heart diseases over a period. Sleep ensures that antibodies are directed towards the cardiac chamber.
Sleeping allows the body to regulate elevated cholesterol levels and high blood pressure that are known causes of heart attacks. Vital nutritional elements like protein molecules are directed towards cellular repair and growth during sleep. Human Growth Hormone (HGH) that is commonly found in gym supplements and is considered critical for the physical development of a child is metabolized primarily during sleep.
Sleeping is a Stress-buster
Stress induces the body to release various hormones that are detrimental to our overall health, including our psychological, sexual and reproductive health. Actions of these hormones are the underlying causes for many health problems, including an increased tendency to fall ill, infertility among women and erection problems among men. Sound sleep ensures that the level of stress hormones is controlled.
Mood disorders are usually diagnosed after understanding the sleep pattern of a person where irritability, bouts of anger and cyclical depression are directly related to sleeping problems.
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Urban Sleeping Problems and How to Change Them
Sleeping is Body’s Repair & Growth Time
We are exposed to infectious microorganisms and pollutants on a daily basis. Sleeping is essential because it sharpens our immunity against such threats and gives the body sufficient time to heal itself from various injuries or any other physical trauma.
This fact is even stressed upon by gym trainers who insist upon sleeping to allow the strained muscle fibers to recover and grow. Sufficient sleep is also vital from a cardiovascular perspective. The cardiac muscles are vulnerable to everyday stress and inflammations which can lead to heart diseases over a period. Sleep ensures that antibodies are directed towards the cardiac chamber.
Sleeping allows the body to regulate elevated cholesterol levels and high blood pressure that are known causes of heart attacks. Vital nutritional elements like protein molecules are directed towards cellular repair and growth during sleep. Human Growth Hormone (HGH) that is commonly found in gym supplements and is considered critical for the physical development of a child is metabolized primarily during sleep.
Sleeping is a Stress-buster
Stress induces the body to release various hormones that are detrimental to our overall health, including our psychological, sexual and reproductive health. Actions of these hormones are the underlying causes for many health problems, including an increased tendency to fall ill, infertility among women and erection problems among men. Sound sleep ensures that the level of stress hormones is controlled.
Mood disorders are usually diagnosed after understanding the sleep pattern of a person where irritability, bouts of anger and cyclical depression are directly related to sleeping problems.
read more
Urban Sleeping Problems and How to Change Them
If you've ever lived in a rural/semi-rural setting, you'll have noticed that despite the lack of air conditioning, a plush bank account or even a book to read at night, people tend to fall asleep easily.
Whereas, us city folks, hopped up on caffeine and Facebook, and depressed about salary and sex need more time, even medicine to fall asleep.
This is how you can get back to the natural night-is-for-sleeping ways.
Sleep Schedule
In the village, you sleep two hours or so after sundown because there's nothing to do after that, and then wake before sunrise. You have to milk the cows and pick up fresh eggs from the poultry shed. This creates sleep hygiene, a regularity of going to sleep and waking up at the same time everyday - even Sundays.
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How to Avoid Sleepless Nights?
Having a sleepless night can ruin the entire day, making us feel lethargic and irritated.
Sleeping problems are perhaps the most common of health problems and they surface repeatedly due to a host of reasons. This includes poor nutrition, stress, anxiety, side-effects of medications, bad sleeping habits and many other underlying causes that are often hard to decode. However, you can avoid sleepless nights by using some of the following tips:
Avoid Caffeine
This is rather easy to understand. We tend to prefer coffee over other forms of beverages because it awakens us. It stimulates our senses, helping us refresh our mind. This is because caffeine is a natural stimulant. When you go to bed, you don’t need a high concentration of stimulants in your bloodstream as they will keep you awake. Thus, keep your daily intake of coffee low and try to avoid any form of caffeine after the evening.
Increase Daytime Exposure to Sunlight
Our sleepiness or daytime lethargy is a direct deterrent to how well we sleep at night. A sleepy brain is more prone to napping during the daytime. Lack of exposure to sunlight is a major reason for daytime laziness. This also makes it difficult for the body’s inherent sleeping cycle to function properly. Thus, ensure that you spend a few minutes outside your office cubicle, under the sun or in the shade with a bit of sunlight peeing in.
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10 Worst Body Language Mistakes
When you don't look someone in the eyes, it can signal deception or a lack of respect.
Bad posture signals to others that you lack confidence and have poor self esteem or low energy levels.
A handshake that isn't firm will signal a lack of authority. One that is too firm could make you seem overly aggressive.
This stance creates a sense of being closed off and may signal to others that you are disinterested in them or don't buy into their message.
If giving a presentation, when you look down while making a point, it loses all of its power and can may you look weak. In everyday interactions, it can make you look uncomfortable or self-conscious.
Too much physical distance, angling the body away from the person you're speaking with or not leaning into a conversation shows that you are uncomfortable, distrustful or disinterested in the subject.
Fidgeting and playing with hair or clothes can reveal an excess of energy, which signals discomfort or anxiety.
When you are closer than 1.5 feet away from a colleague or you treat their possessions and office space as if it were your own, it signals disrespect and that you don't have a clear understanding of personal boundaries
Glancing at the clock or at your watch or even looking past a person who you're speaking with will communicate disinterest or arrogance.
Scowls and frowns, often unintentional and unconscious, communicate unhappiness and disagreement.
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