Sweet Sleep Blog

Sleep and Quality of Life This article is directed towards those who suffer from kidney disease.  It shares the importance of adequate sleep in the quality of life patients have. " Among individuals with chronic kidney disease, those who slept 7 hours/day had higher health-related quality of life than those who slept ≤5 hours/day or ≥9 hours/day." Read the full article Here ! 

Exercise for Better Sleep The best exercises for sleep are those that help you rest, relax, and start getting your body ready for bed.  Some great options are  Yoga  Meditation Stretching Easy and gentle exercises such as lungs, situps, leg raises, etc.  The key is to go slow and deliberate, alleviate the tightness in your body and warm up.  Don't raise your heart rate high, simply warming and then the cooling of your body will ease you before bed.  Exercise for Better Health Exercise is an important part of your health.  Not everyone feels that they have the time or motivation for exercise.  If you're a complete beginner to exercise the best exercises you can start with are: Yoga Walking Swimming Dancing Biking Pilates

Effects of Missing Sleep When you miss out on a good night's sleep there are some serious effects on you that could be affecting your relationship!  Sleep deprivation causes physical appearance changes and can result in you looking less healthy and even less attractive to your partner.  Your sense of humor goes right out the window. Sleep directly affects how you're feeling.  You will feel more distant, less secure, and have less positive input into your relationship. Arguments are more common and full of negativity when one of you is lacking on sleep.  You're more impulsive and more likely to make rash decisions when tired.  Your physical performance can be severely affected by poor sleep.  All of these can be taking a toll on your relationship!  If you are suddenly feeling annoyed with your partner, have a low sex drive, and feel yourself snapping a lot take a look at how much sleep you are getting.  If your partner seems ...

Sleep is a Super Power! It may sound extreme but getting a greats night sleep heals you faster and keeps you healthier.  While you're sleeping your body releases hormones that are responsible for the growth of tissue.  Your cuts, sore muscles, and various injuries do most of their healing while you're asleep!  And Keeps You Healthy! While you're sleeping your body produces more white blood cells.  White blood cells attack things inside your body that can cause harm such as viruses and bacteria.  Making sure you're getting your 8 hours of sleep may help you fight off that cold going around next time! 

Fascinating Things Can Happen While You Sleep This article talks about 5 things that you can do while sleeping!  Some of these are sleep disorders or conditions that you should be aware of and some are just crazy things that happen! " Have you ever woken up in the morning to the sight of a disgruntled partner, upset that you gave them a long speech in your sleep?" Read the full article here ! 

Talking in Your Sleep Sleep talking is not dangerous and shouldn't be a huge concern if you or someone you know does it.  Sleep talking can cause some awkward situations or become annoying to your bed partner, but the talker is not usually aware of the incident.  It can range from full conversation to mumbling and can be triggered by someone talking to the sleeper, or it can be completely spontaneous.   Treatment  Treatment is usually not needed at all.  However, if you want to minimize the events there are some things you can do.  Stick to a schedule, get plenty of sleep, avoid alcohol and heavy meals before bed.  Stress will also increase the likelihood and severity of the events.  

Article of the Week Have you ever fallen asleep while driving?  Have you ever driven while drinking or drunk?  You may actually be surprised that while driving drunk is a huge no for most everyone and almost everyone knows that it is not only illegal but incredibly dangerous, driving tired can be just as dangerous.  Read more here . 

Start your day off right We've got the perfect breakfast recipe to get your day off right.  Starting your day with the proper nutrition will set you up for a day full of better choices a happy tummy and a body ready to work for you!  Check out this delicious breakfast here ! 

Article of the Week!   Your sleep affects not only your mood but your health.  Without the proper sleep, you can develop many health issues and not just the obvious ones.  Read more here ! 

Bedtime  Having a regular bedtime is important for all ages.  When you go to bed around the same time and get up at the same time every day your body will find it easier to naturally get tired and be ready for sleep around the same time every day.   Ages 3 to 5 10 to 13 hours of sleep is the goal for this age range.  When your child stops their afternoon naps they will need to add an hour of sleep onto their night time sleeping.  The easiest way to determine bedtime is counting backward from the time they need to wake up for the day.  If you are waking them at 7:00 AM to get ready for the day, bedtime should be 6:00 to 9:00 PM to get 10 to 13 hours of sleep.  Ages 6 to 13 19 to 11 hours of sleep is the goal for your school-aged children. Having the right amount of sleep is the best way to prepare your child for the next day.  They will perform better and be healthier with the right amount of sleep.  Count backward from ...

Article of the Week!  This is an article that will give you some great insight into the sleep needs of your teens and why they may be sleeping in on the weekends!  Read it Here ! 

Exercise and Sleep A study conducted by  Mental Health and Physical Activity, showed that 150 minutes of activity a week improves sleep quality by 65%.  Being active also decreased daytime sleepiness, leg cramps during sleep, and improved concentration.  It can seem like a struggle to get this amount of exercise into your busy schedule, so how can you do it?  Fitting in Exercise 150 minutes breaks out into 2.5 hours.  It's generally not recommended to just cram all of this activity in at once.  Instead, try spending just 30 minutes each day taking a walk. Maybe take the dog for a nice long walk in the evening with the kids or an evening bike ride with the family around the neighborhood.  Or even playing tag with the kids!  It does not have a be a vigorous regimen done in the gym with tons of equipment. If you can do this 5 of the days in the week you will be doing so much to improve your health.  

Snoring  Many people snore.  It can happen when you have a cold or if the air is dry, or even if allergies are bothering you.  Snoring is caused by your throat becoming so relaxed that it becomes narrowed and soft and then your tongue falls backward.  The more your throat narrows the greater you snore.  This is due to the vibrations of air through the passageway. Sleep Apnea  As your throat relaxes and narrows it can happen that it actually collapses.  This is a very serious condition we know as sleep apnea.  The most noticeable sign of sleep apnea is very loud and frequent snoring.  If your bed partner is snoring every night at a loud volume, pay attention to their breathing.  If you notice that they stop breathing during their sleep it's time to seek medical help for this.   Signs If you do not have a partner to tell you about your snoring habits you may not be aware if you are struggling with sleep ap...

Article Find of the week! This week's article is about snoring!  That little thing most of us have experienced at least some in our lives. It can be a little cute baby snore or the super loud snore of our bed partner that wakes you up at night.  Read more about snoring here!   

Why We Love Yoga Yoga is a relaxing exercise that is amazing for your health.  It can help with flexibility, controlling your anxiety, pain management, warming your muscles to prevent injury, and so much more.   Yoga and Sleep Yoga helps with sleep by reducing stress and getting your body and mind into a relaxed state where it is ready for sleep.  Regardless of your physical abilities yoga is a gentle way to introduce your body to exercise and relaxation all at once.   Yoga Poses

Do You Have RLS?  One of the biggest factors with RLS is a feeling that you need to move your legs that you cannot help.  This is accompanied with uncomfortable feelings that  include creeping, itching, pulling, creepy-crawly, tugging, or gnawing.  RLS may also include movement of your legs that can inturrupt your night's sleep.  These movements are known as PLMS and can occure every 20 to 30 minutes.  If you feel the uncomfortable sensations to move and do move your legs the sympotoms ease, this is also a sign that you may have RLS.  The longer you are at rest, the greater the chance the symptoms will occur and the more severe they are likely to be and they will usually be worse at night. If you are experiencing signs of RLS or any sleep disorder come see us at the Sweet Sleep Studio to take control of your sleep again.  Check out our website here . 

Delicious and Healthy Bedtime Snacks These mixes of carbs and protein increase serotonin levels which leads to better sleep. 1/2 cup whole-grain cereal with 1/2 cup nonfat milk 6 ounces low-fat yogurt and a sprinkling of berries 1 slice whole wheat toast and 1 tablespoon peanut butter 3.5 ounces fat-free vanilla pudding and 4 graham crackers 1/2 whole wheat pita and 2 tablespoons hummus 1 oatmeal raisin cookie and 8 ounces skim milk 6 whole-grain crackers and a small handful of walnuts

Article of the Week This week we're going to be going over RLS.  RLS stands for restless leg syndrome.  This week's article gives you an overview of RLS and more great info.   Read this week's article here ! 

What is Meditation Meditation  is the practice of turning your attention to a single point of reference (Psychology Today). Meditation is not a complicated technique and is simply focusing on the moment and clearing your mind of outside distractions and chaos to really just breathe and relax.  Benefits of Meditation There are many benefits to meditation. A few of the benefits include: Helping Normalize Blood Pressure Reduces anxiety, burnout, improves stress-related disorders Promotes the experience of relaxation throughout the day Decreases insomnia Improves concentration  A study from UCLA was conducted on individuals who had been meditating for an average of 20 years and found that they actually had more grey matter in their brains than those who did not meditate (Forbes).  So beyond the immediate benefits of relaxation, meditation actually helps preserve our minds as we age. Read more here ! How to Meditate Meditation is not complica...

Weekly Article This week we're going to look at excessive sleepiness.  We're starting with this great informative article we found and then we'll be talking more about what excessive sleepiness is, advice, tips, and more.  http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/115/6/1774