5 Keys to Better Sleep

Written by Patricia Wagner


Continued from page 1

One of them isrepparttar temperature of your bedroom. Adjustrepparttar 115375 temperature of your bedroom so it's conducive to sleeping. It's usually best to have your room a little onrepparttar 115376 cool side, but be sure you have enough blankets on your bed.

Another environmental issue isrepparttar 115377 darkness of our bedrooms. Many people prefer sleeping when it's totally dark, so turn offrepparttar 115378 lights except for night lights.

A key bedroom environment factor is your bed. Purchaserepparttar 115379 best mattress you can afford since you'll spend a large proportion of your life on it.

Quietness is very important to our rest. Try to keeprepparttar 115380 noise down. If that's impossible, consider using ear plugs. Play calming music and avoid watching television just before bedtime. Violent scenes can lead to sleeplessness and violent dreams!

Design your bedroom to be a peaceful sanctuary in your home. Separate your work fromrepparttar 115381 bedroom area so your body knows repparttar 115382 bedroom is a place to rest - not work.

4. Prepare yourself physically, emotionally and spiritually for bedtime.

There are a number of steps you can take before going to bed to prepare yourself physically. Slowly stretching before hittingrepparttar 115383 sack can help you relax. Regular exercise during repparttar 115384 day will enhance your ability to fall asleep. Taking a warm bath - not a shower - can be helpful too. If you are still tense, a back massage can help you relax. Wear comfortable nonbinding clothing.

Here'srepparttar 115385 most important thing you can do once you've hit repparttar 115386 sack - let go ofrepparttar 115387 day's worries. Bedtime is a bad time to dwell on problems since worry can keep you tossing and turning for hours! I've found that readingrepparttar 115388 Bible and praying before going to bed is a wonderful way to endrepparttar 115389 day. Then I can truly relax and lay down my problems. My sleep is much sweeter and so are my dreams!

5. Seek specialized help if needed.

A medical condition could be preventing you from getting your full rest at night. See your doctor if you have continuing difficulty with falling asleep. Usually it's not wise to take sleeping pills since they can become addictive. They also interfere withrepparttar 115390 body's own inner sleeping rhythm.

Here are three organizations that offer specialized help:

National Sleep Foundation http://www.sleepfoundation.org/about.cfm

The American Academy of Sleep Medicine http://www.aasmnet.org/

National Center on Sleep Disorders Research http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/about/ncsdr/index.htm

The suggestions in this article have been listed to help you get a better night's sleep. Now try putting them into practice and enjoy a more rested and energetic lifestyle.

Pleasant dreams!

Copyright ©2004 by Patricia Wagner

Patricia Wagner offers informative tips on living a more energetic lifestyle at http://www.a-to-z-wellness.com and through her free "A to Z Health Tips" newsletter. Contact Patricia at wagner.art@verizon.net


Santa Claus Made me smoke - Ian Clark helped me quit

Written by Ian Clark


Continued from page 1

The Reality A reward of slow suffocation, is it perhaps that we do not like ourselves enough to want to damagerepparttar very thing that carries us through life. In some cases it is likerepparttar 115374 experiment that was carried out inrepparttar 115375 1960's. It was calledrepparttar 115376 Great Marshmallow experiment. It involved 100 4-6 year olds, they were individually placed in a room with 2 way mirrors. The tester would then place a single marshmallow in front onrepparttar 115377 child and tell them that he had to leaverepparttar 115378 room for a few minutes, if they did not eatrepparttar 115379 sweet, on his return they would receive 3 marshmallows as reward. 75 ofrepparttar 115380 children aterepparttar 115381 marshmallow almost as soon asrepparttar 115382 tester leftrepparttar 115383 room. This experiment proved a human craving for instant reward. The same applies to smoking, It is instant and anything that happens after you smoke a cigarette seems to have no bearing onrepparttar 115384 last one but creates a need forrepparttar 115385 next one.

The first cigarette ofrepparttar 115386 day is linked closely torepparttar 115387 amount of anxiety you feel. The morning isrepparttar 115388 time when you are thinking about what is going to take place that day. The journey to work, will I be late, will I surviverepparttar 115389 busy roads. What will happen when I arrive at work, will my boss be in a good mood. Will there be work that is too difficult for me or will there be too much to do and not enough time. Most people will have run through their whole day before they even leaverepparttar 115390 house. This instils anxiety and because ofrepparttar 115391 misunderstanding that exists in your mind about real and artificial anxiety created byrepparttar 115392 last cigarette you feel destined to smoke.

The last one at night is another myth. I used to think that I could not go to sleep without my cigarette but what was I thinking. Nicotine which is primarily a stimulant, was never going to be a calming agent, all it did was increase my breathing to cope withrepparttar 115393 lack of oxygen that in turn released endorphins that in turn made me tense. Not only that but allrepparttar 115394 carbon monoxide in my blood was slowly poisoning me. No wonder I woke up every morning with a headache and no wonder I thought I felt so bad because I needed another cigarette. Once you quit you will sleep soundly, you will wake refreshed. As life intended it to be.

The issue of mealtimes is a strange one for me, I too would have agreed withrepparttar 115395 statement above regarding a cigarette being like another course however I now know differently. What could be nicer than eating your favourite food and then being able to savour and taste it for a long time after eating it. When you smoke all you are doing is replacing that lovely experience withrepparttar 115396 rancid taste of cigarettes. It seems to me that for any smoker having a meal is an inconvenience andrepparttar 115397 food is somehow just inrepparttar 115398 way. All you want to do is getrepparttar 115399 food out ofrepparttar 115400 way to get torepparttar 115401 cigarette. It does not enhance a meal it destroys it. Then there isrepparttar 115402 matter of waiting for everyone to finish before lighting up and even then you may have to leaverepparttar 115403 table and your company and have a cigarette, missing conversation and enjoyment all for a selfish act like smoking.

I have been helping people quit smoking for over 2 years through my book and support website at http://www.fullstop-smoking. I am married with one daughter. You can purchase the full book at the website


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