Smarter Sleeping 101

This week’s slip tip is from ABC News.  A new study indicates sleeplessness may be due in part to the fluctuating temperatures in your hands and feet.

“Studies show as helathy people fall asleep, blood from the core of the body moves to the limbs. This results in an increase of about one degree Fahrenheit in the hands and feet. In patients with sleep disorders, however, this temperature transfer does not occur. Sleep specialists are now testing temperature biofeedback in insomniacs to replicate the normal temperature response.

‘The best predictor of whether someone is going to fall asleep or not is an increase in their hand and foot temperature relative to their core,” said sleep specialist Mathew Ebben, PhD with The Center for Sleep Medicine in New York.

In normal sleepers, as we doze off the temperature of our hands and feet increases by about one degree. In a recent study, insomniac participants actually learned to change their hand temps through temperature biofeedback — a technique that trains the brain to control temperature responses.”

The solution?  Training your brain to initiate this process.

“In a recent study, insomniac participants actually learned to change their hand temps through temperature biofeedback — a technique that trains the brain to control temperature responses. ”

Dr. Ebben reports that 90% of his patients saw improvement with this biofeedback training.

Have a great weekend!

Recalling one’s dream can sometimes be the most difficult challenge of the day. We often find ourselves getting ready for work, in the shower, or making breakfast in the morning and thinking, ‘I know I had a dream last night, but for the life of me I can’t remember what it was…’

It can be a real pain, and taking SleepSmart will assist you in this regard. With such memory-enhancing ingredients as Vinpocetine, Huperzine, and Bacopa Monnieri, and 5HTP and Valerian which help to potentiate vividness, dream recall has never been easier.

There are many tips and tricks in addition to a memory and dream enhancing supplement to aid dream recall. Outlined below are six helpful hints to help you remember your dreams:

1. Sleep Well: It’s an obvious tip, but getting plenty of sleep is the first step to good dream recall. If you are rested it will be easier to focus on your goal of recalling dreams, and you won’t mind so much taking the time during the night to record your dreams.

2. Repeat After Me…:Before dozing repeat to yourself several times, “I will remember my dreams. I will react in my dreams.” This will cement in your mind the goal of recognizing that you are dreaming and increasing the odds of recalling your dream when you wake.

3. Write It Down: As soon as you wake, be it in the middle of the night or when your alarm goes off in the morning, write down as many of your dreams as you can recall in as great of detail as possible for you. This will not only train your mind to save your dreams in a sort of ‘mental cache’ for easy retrieval when you wake, but will also accustom you to transcribing your dreams. It will become easier and soon you will be able to recall your dreams in greater detail. A general rule would be to make a point of recalling colors, shapes, gender, water, weather and movement. These details are revealing details into the current state for your well-being.

4. Review: Before bed, break out your dream journal and reread previous dreams. This allows you to begin to reconnect with your dream memory. This is also an good opportunity to spot parallels and congruency between your dreams and your waking life.

5. Wake Up Slowly: It is sometimes extremely difficult not to panic/stress/freak out in the morning when our alarm goes off. This is often a direct cause of our inability to recall dreams. Next time you wake, turn off your alarm and lie still. Do not think about the day ahead, but try to concentrate your mind on whatever it was that you were just dreaming about, even if you don’t remember having a dream. The act of trying to remember will help train your mind to have your dreams on the cusp of retention when you wake, so the next time you attempt to recall your dream it will be top of mind.

6. Be Patient: Dream recall is a mental muscle which may require some time to get back into shape. SleepSmart will help you train this muscle and boost your memory processes (consolidation, sorting, and storing) to aid int he dream recall process, but the key here is not to try too hard. Do not take dream recall too seriously or risk straining yourself. The last thing we want is a forgotten dream and a migraine to boot. Relax and calmly retrace your dream steps as much as you can. The more often you do this, the farther you’ll go.

Rest Well. SleepSmart!

Time for another list of our Sleep Tips of the Week. This week we take a look at some tips to help you sleep smarter. A natural and organic way to optimize your sleep (in addition to taking SleepSmart, of course!) See below and have a restful weekend!

1. Reduce Screen Time Before Bed
A recent study shows people who consume electronic media just before bedtime report lower-quality sleep even when they get as much sleep as those who do not. The light penetrating the body stimulates the brain and slows the production of Melatonin, the hormone produced to help you fall asleep. Stop watching TV, checking Email, or looking at any other LED backlit screen an hour before bed to combat this issue.

2. Exercise to Enhance Sleep
Exercise at least 20-40 minutes each day. This provides immeasurable health benefits overall in addition to a better night’s rest. However, refrain from exercising at night as much as possible. The National Sleep Foundation reports that exercise in the afternoon can help deepen sleep and cut down on sleep latency. But, they caution, vigorous exercise leading up to bedtime can actually have the reverse effects. A 2003 study found that a morning fitness regime was key to a better snooze. Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center concluded that postmenopausal women who exercised 30 minutes every morning had less trouble falling asleep than those who were less active. The women who worked out in the evening hours saw little or no improvement in their sleep patterns.

3. Eat Healthy, Eat Wisely
Some foods are more conducive to a better night’s sleep than others. Foods such as warm milk, chamomile tea and turkey, bananas, potatoes, oatmeal and whole-wheat bread are all helpful. Warm milk and turkey contain Tryptophan, a key ingredient in the SleepSmart complex (as 5HTP).

4. The Dreaded Alarm
A major reason why many of us are not morning people is due to those annoying, obnoxious alarm clocks that rip us out of a peaceful slumber with a loud BEEP BEEP BEEP. Well until the Glo-Pillow hits retail markets, I suggest either a dual alarm clock (explained below), or an alarm that wakes you up slowly, with light, smell, and sound. Check out the Peacefull Progression Wakeup Clock.

Dual Alarm Clock: (from Lifehacker) Put one alarm clock on your nightstand, the other across the room and make sure they’re in sync. Set the alarm clock on your nightstand to go off at, let’s say, 6:30 a.m., if that is when you need to get up. I set that one to use the radio, and make sure it is loud enough to wake me up, but not too loud (I don’t want to wake my wife on purpose). The second alarm clock on the dresser is set to go off exactly one minute later, but using that dreadful buzzer. So, when my alarm goes off in the morning, it doesn’t startle me like the buzzer. Then, I know I have about 60 seconds to get up and turn the other one off before I hear a buzzing sound. At that point, I am out of bed, and no buzzer.

5. Solve Problems in Your Sleep
Wrestling with a tough decision, stuck in a creative rut or having a hard time solving a complex problem? Studies show that a little shut-eye can help you tackle problems and make tough decisions.

6. Beat Insomnia with Visualization
There’s nothing worse than laying awake throughout the night, watching the clock tick away seconds knowing you’ll be a zombie the next day. When insomnia’s kicking your sleepy butt, use a self-directed meditative visualization technique to quiet the whir of a racing mind.

So that we may all have a restful weekend, here are your sleep tips of the week. Have a great weekend everyone!

Don’t drink alcohol or caffeine before bedtime.

Don’t eat three hours before bedtime. You’ll fall off faster.

Hide bright clocks to avoid clock watching. Cover any other lights (such as LED lights on VCR’s).

Make the room as dark as possible—thick window coverings will also keep noise out.

Keep the bedroom cool, ideally between 65 and 72 degrees.

Use a noise machine or soothing CD. A constant, dull drone will soothe the mind and block out any sudden noises. Ever wonder why mother’s run vacuum cleaners to get their babies to fall asleep?

Wind down before bedtime. A pre-bedtime ritual like reading or taking a shower or bath will relax you.

Get into a sleep schedule. Try not to wake your mate if your sleep hours differ.

Use essential oil of lavender on the pillows.

Replace the pillow if you find yourself scrunching it up, folding it in half, or rearranging it through the night.

And of course, shameless plug, using SleepSmart ™ will do the trick!

I hope all of you have had a wonderful Sleep Awareness Week and have been blessed with some good solid rest. This week’s sleep tips come from dariana over at the ForsakenOrder blog. Hope these will be of help to some of you. She has a sixth tip but I won’t post it here Have a restful weekend!

1. Avoid complicated and unpleasant discussions before going to sleep. Otherwise you will have what to think about and you won’t catch any sleep. Try to relax!
2. Have an easy meal at dinner, but by no means are you to pass it. If you go to sleep on an empty stomach there’s a great possibility that your sleep is disturbed by hypoglycemia. Your body needs nutrients, ok? Offer it sufficient, but not too much!
3. How about having dinner at least one hour before actually going to bed? I’m doing this mistake, I often go to bed with a snack and eat while I’m reading a book and go asleep. Wrong! Your stomach should have time to process that food.
4. Maintain a low temperature in your bedroom, somewhere around between 15 and 18 degrees Celsius. It makes your body enter a relaxing state, preparing to…hibernate J
5. Oh, I’ve just heard about this and it explains a lot, especially during winter. Don’t take Vitamin C in the evening! Vitamin C prevents muscular relaxation and cerebral tension from happening. I’m not even going to mention that you should not eat or drink any products which contain caffeine…and…you should not smoke.

Patrick