Archive for July, 2007
5 Keys to Better Sleep
Title: 5 Keys to Better Sleep Author: Patricia Wagner
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5 KEYS TO BETTER SLEEP
by Patricia Wagner
Do you have trouble getting a good night’s sleep?
What you are about to read may make a huge difference to your future health! Being well rested is essential to our wellbeing and is a major key in living an energetic lifestyle.
Here are some of the benefits of a good night’s sleep:
- You will look and feel your best.
- Relating to others will come easier with enough rest.
- You’ll be a safer driver and be less likely to fall asleep at the wheel.
- More alertness and creativity on the job will be a major benefit.
- You’ll feel less stressed.
- There’ll be an increased ability to fight off illness.
- You’ll enjoy life more.
Here are some keys to getting a better night’s sleep:
1. Set your body clock.
Choose a bedtime schedule by deciding how many hours of shut-eye you need and try to stick with it. That’s because we are all creatures of habit.
Try not to oversleep too often because this tends to throw your body clock off. If you are tired, try taking a short nap. However, it should not be longer than about one half an hour because more time than that and you will wind up not being able to fall asleep that night.
2. Be wise about eating and drinking.
Drinking too much fluid in the late afternoon and evening can cause you to wake up in the middle of the night to trot off to the bathroom. Also consuming food and beverages that contain caffeine before bedtime can cause you to toss and turn for hours. So it would be wise to avoid coffee, tea, soft drinks and chocolate before going to bed. However, a hot non-caffeinated drink can relax you.
3. Prepare your sleeping environment.
You have control over a number of factors in your sleeping environment that will make or break a good night’s sleep.
One of them is the temperature of your bedroom. Adjust the temperature of your bedroom so it’s conducive to sleeping. It’s usually best to have your room a little on the cool side, but be sure you have enough blankets on your bed.
Another environmental issue is the darkness of our bedrooms. Many people prefer sleeping when it’s totally dark, so turn off the lights except for night lights.
A key bedroom environment factor is your bed. Purchase the 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 keep the 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 from the bedroom area so your body knows the 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 hitting the sack can help you relax. Regular exercise during the 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’s the most important thing you can do once you’ve hit the sack - let go of the 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 reading the Bible and praying before going to bed is a wonderful way to end the 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 with the 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
Weight Loss Drug Acomplia and Suicide Risk
You may have heard of that effective prescription weight loss drug called Acomplia. It’s drug name is rimonabant, but it is marketed by drug company sanofi-aventis, and the European council that recommends drug warnings and polices the drug industry by there, our equivalent (sort of) to the FDA here in the United States, has asked the drug maker to put a new, more stern warning on the drug for its users about the possibility of increased suicidal thoughts or tendencies in some.
They stressed that it is vital for those who suffer from depression, particularly extreme depression, or who are currently being treated for depression or the more serious profile of clinical depression, to completely stay away from that drug, as a prudent measure against possible suicide tendencies. It’s interesting, considering most prescription diet and weight loss drugs do have some sort of biochemical effect on the brain activity, but that one apparently can actually produce feelings of potential suicide in those that may already have depressed tendencies.
Makes you wonder about other diet drugs and how they affect the brain’s activity too. Supposedly, I’ve read that Acomplia does only aftermath in short term weight loss, and that whether the drug is stopped, the weight will return unless healthy habits are adhered to. Acomplia is supposed to work by suppressing desire for sweets and “bad” foods, as well as overall appetite suppression. Natural appetite suppressants, it should be noted, have not been shown to cause depression or possibility of suicidal thoughts.
Upon the European approval of the serious weight loss drug, which is recommended in conjunction with a healthy diet and moderate exercise, there were concerns cited about the possible depression side effect, and a warning was placed on the label. that new suicide warning is being added (hopefully) in addition, as they see that that could be a potential real problem for those with depression and feel they must be adequately warned. The drug has been available as a weightloss drug in Europe since mid 2006.
Original post by EatingToLive
Trouble Sleeping? Insomnia Cures Are Here!
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Title: TROUBLE SLEEPING? INSOMNIA CURES ARE HERE! Author: Dave Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW Email: mailto:editor@overcoming-depression.com copyright: by Dave Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW Web Address: http://www.Overcoming-Depression.com Word Count: 946
Category: Health
TROUBLE SLEEPING? INSOMNIA CURES ARE HERE!
I yawn, stretch my arms behind my head and stare at the ceiling. I’ve been in bed for a few minutes. Ahhh, the peaceful quiet all around. The room is dark. The kids are asleep. It’s an expansive moment for my mind. My mind seems to fill the entire room.
Okay, it’s been 20 minutes now. The novel meditative moment has passed. Now my mind seems to be filling up like a bowl that’s been left outside in a torrential downpour. I can’t seem to slow down or empty out my mind. So many things to think about, not the least of which is why in tarnation can’t I fall asleep?
I am tired, but cannot sleep. I begin to feel agitated and become physically restless. I turn this way… I turn that way. I cross and uncross my legs. I lay on my stomach, side and back. Each passing moment lends itself to increased anger and frustration. Now my mind has jumped ahead to tomorrow, lining up all those things I have to accomplish knowing that I’ll only do so by dragging this haggard, exhausted and fatigued body around for the entire day. This process goes deeply into the night.
Any of that sound familiar?
Recent estimates indicate that approximately 25 million Americans suffer from chronic insomnia. Some reasons for insomnia include:
1. Restless Leg Syndrome 2. Circadian Rhythm Disorders 3. Depression
4. Alcohol and other drug abuse 5. Life changes and/or accumulation of life stressors 6. Anxiety
7. Sleep Apnea
You should consult with your physician in order to determine the exact cause of your sleep problems. He/she may order a sleep study, give you a depression screen, check social stressors, order a blood panel to check for vitamin and mineral deficiencies, suggest you stop drinking, give an anxiety scale or any number of interventions to identify a cause and get you focused on appropriate solutions.
In the meantime here are a few “Do’s and Don’ts” on how to reclaim your beauty sleep.
1. When you lay down to sleep, deepen and lengthen your breathing patterns — shoot for five second inhales and five second exhales. You’ll be taking 6 breathes per minute. This takes some practice but works nicely.
2. Take a deep breath and hold it. While holding your breathe, tense up the muscles throughout your entire body and hold both for 30 seconds. Exhale completely and relax. Take several relaxed breathes and repeat three times.
3. Choose any relaxing color (blue, green, yellow, etc). Place your hands on your stomach and imagine that you are expanding a colored balloon in your stomach. Exhale an insomnia/anxiety color (red, black, etc) through your mouth. Continue this for 5-10-50 times, whatever it takes. It is impossible to focus on your body/breath while entertaining thoughts.
4. Take a hot shower or bath before bed, or get up and do so
if you are unable to fall asleep within 15 minutes.
5. Take some sleep food for the brain. Before going to bed eat 1 ounce of protein, 1 ounce of cheese and 5 grapes or the equivalent.
6. Get out of bed if you have not fallen asleep within 15 minutes. The brain is quite easily programmed. I don’t want your brain to associate “bed” with “awake.”
7. Once you’re out of bed do not watch TV, get on the computer, listen to stimulating music, turn on a bunch of lights or do anything else that stimulates your brain into high gear.
8. Once out of bed do sit quietly, meditate on emptying the
mind, listen to quiet, soothing music or do some “light” reading. The research shows that deep meditation is as restorative as sleep and takes less time than sleeping for 8 hours.
9. Purchase a Brain Entrainment CD and some ear buds (they are the most comfortable to sleep on). Make sure the CD is designed for sleep. I won’t go into all the scientific details here. Just know that the brain needs to be in delta wave state 60 minutes for you to wake up feeling fresh. My favorite is “Sleeping Through The Rain” by a company you can find at www.hemi-sync.com. Don’t try this on just a boom box. The ear buds are very important to make this work.
10. Make sure your bedroom is dark. Lights out!
11. Exercise regularly. Exercise does a fantastic job of regulating sleep cycles. The only catch here is do not exercise within two hours of bedtime, as this can activate mind and body systems that will keep you awake.
12. Drink Chamomile Tea an hour before bedtime and take Valerian root with it. If you open up your first bottle of Valerian root and it smells like rotten socks, don’t throw it away, it’s supposed to smell like that! Can you believe it!? 
13. If worse comes to worst, consult a doctor. There are many effective medications used for sleep which can be prescribed by your doctor. Some of these include Ambien, Temazepam, Sonata, Remeron, Benadryl (non- prescription), Melatonin (Don’t take this if you have Seasonal Affective Disorder) Trazadone and others.
14. Stay away from alcohol as a sleep aid. Many will argue that alcohol gets them to sleep, but brain wave studies show that once asleep, an individual does not reach the restorative level of sleep that results in feeling well rested in the morning.
Too many sleepless nights can lead to what feels like a psychotic break, so don’t push yourself over the edge. Good self care is so important. After just 2 nights without sleep, intervention is necessary! Please take care of yourself. A great night’s sleep after not sleeping well for a long time can be an absolutely wonderful gift to give yourself.
I welcome you to more restful nights!
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Dave Turo-Shields, ACSW, LCSW is an author, university faculty member, success coach and veteran psychotherapist whose passion is guiding others to their own success in life. For weekly doses of the webs HOTTEST success tips, sign up for Dave?s powerful ?Feeling Great!? ezine at http://www.Overcoming-Depression.com \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
Build Health: Cut Through The Calcium Hype
The initial success of penicillin generated an assumption which has stuck with us as a cultural belief in the Quick Technological Fix. That assumption is:
A single variable can be divided out from all other variables, tested for its result, and it will prevent or promote disease.
Most people have come to believe nutrition is divisible, and that a single substance will maintain vibrant health. The touting of calcium for the degenerative disease osteoporosis provides an excellent example.
Every day the media, acting as proxy for the milk lobby, sells calcium as a magic bullet. Has it worked? Definitely for sales of milk; but for American health it has been a disaster.
Brainwashed by magic bullet thinking, so-called “experts” tell us to take more and more calcium. But calcium is antagonistic to magnesium. And the American diet is woefully short in magnesium.
When you load up your system with excess calcium, you shut down magnesium?s ability to activate thyrocalcitonin, a hormone that under normal circumstances would send calcium to your bones.
Next, your excess calcium proceeds to wander around creating all sorts of mischief in blood vessels, joints, kidneys and eyes.
Why is it that supposedly nutritionally disadvantaged countries, with low calcium intake but enough magnesium in their soils, exhibit little if any evidence of osteoporosis?
Because the people in these countries do not consume large amounts of calcium that antagonize or work against magnesium, or zinc, and a plethora of other minerals required by our metabolic enzyme systems.
?Experts? do not tell us that in living systems minerals work interdependently as a team.
In 1993 medical researchers claimed that calcium was a magic bullet that could help prevent osteoporosis. They told us dairy products, such as milk, provide one of the best sources of calcium.
Every day the media gives us a dose of that finding.
In 1997, however, medical researchers claimed there was no evidence consuming dairy products prevents osteoporosis. How so?
They decided dairy products are high in sulfur amino acids that lead to calcium depletion.
Has the media told you this? No.
And they are not going to tell you anything about this because the milk lobby advertising budget helps finance media payrolls.
Think about what awaits all those poor folks who have been fooled by the myth that taking lots of calcium will save their bones.
About the Author
Bill Quesnell, author of ?Minerals: The Essential Link to Health,? is a health educator and Price-Pottenger Nutrition Foundation member. He helps people recover energy and vitality. Subscribe to FREE monthly ezine, ?Where Health Comes From? at info@mineralsbuildhealth.com. Write Bill at 5039 Voltaire St. #3, San Diego, CA 92107 See critical reviews & 15 harmful health myths at http://www.mineralsbuildhealth.com
Bill@mineralsbuildhealth.com
Are you addicted to exercise? Take that quiz.
Lately, I’ve run across several women who seem controlled by eating and exercising. I must confess… I have been there, and I have to keep myself in check to build certain I stay balanced. It really is a fine line amoung exercising suitable and becoming obsessive about it to the point of over-exercising. For me, I monitor that by keeping close tabs on both my inner attitude toward my workouts, as well as the physical signs of over-training. Again, I confess that recently I’ve caught myself leaning toward a NEED to exercise and a general anxiety at the thought of lost workouts. that is coming dangerously close to an exercise addiction. Every 12 weeks, I force myself to take a break from weights in order to give my muscles and joints moment to rest and recover. I hardly ever take instance off from cardio, though. So, I need to be very careful not to allow the desire to exercise to become a need to exercise. It’s such a fine line.
I found a very helpful quiz in a book called Appearance Obsession: Learning to Love the Way You Look by Joni E. Johnston, Psy. D. I’m quoting that verbatim, so I hope I’m not breaking any copyright laws!
When Exercise Takes Control
Who’s in control, you or your exercise routine? The following questions will help you assess the degree to which your exercise may be getting out of control.
Are You at Risk For Overexercise?
Answer True or False to the following questions.
- The way my body looks to me depends on whether I have exercised that day or not.
- I often exercise when I have an injury or don’t feel well.
- For one year or longer, I have exercised five or more times a week for one hour or more.
- I feel depressed and/or irritable whether I miss exercising for three days or more.
- I find myself continually adding newer and stricter goals to my exercise routine.
- I will dramatically alter my schedule in order to work out.
- I feel anxious whether I miss even one workout.
- At times I have used exercise to avoid dealing with work or relationship problems.
- I often feel like I hate my exercise routine, but feel unable to stop it.
- I exercise primarily for weight control and muscle tone.
- I keep detailed records or logs of my workout sessions.
- It would be very difficult for me to change my exercise. (For example, whether you are a runner, you would be unwilling to switch or alternate with aerobic dance or bicycling.)
- I frequently find myself thinking about exercising in amoung workouts.
- While I am exercising, I often find myself daydreaming about the possibility of a “new, improved” physique.
Scoring: Give yourself one point for every true response. Add up your total points and see where you fall on the exercise continuum as pursues.
0-3: You are normally in control of your exercise schedule. Like many of us, you may at times have mixed feelings about your exercise schedule - sometimes enjoying it, sometimes not. It may be helpful to assess your exercise motivation to see how “looking good” fits in. However, your answers propose that you are not presently at risk for overexercising.
4-6: You are in the borderline range of overexercise. It will be fundamental to assess your exercise behavior to see how it may be affecting other areas of your life. Even whether it is not, your pattern of responses suggests that you are not getting a lot of enjoyment out of your current exercise pattern.
7 or more: You are likely to depend on exercise for a sense of self-worth. that dependency may cause problems in other areas of your life, or you may be feeling like exercise is controlling you rather than the other way around.
If you found that you are over-exercising, she gives helpful suggestions in her book in order to help you have a healthier mental outlook regarding your exercise routine. Remember, life is not about exercise, eating, or your appearance! You want to take care of yourself physically through proper nutrition and exercise so that you can maintain a healthy lifestyle in order to achieve whatever it is you were put on that earth to do. I have to remind myself of that all the date!
Original post by fitnesspro
Exercise Addiction
Lately, I’ve run across several women who seem controlled by eating and exercising. I must confess… I have been there, and I have to keep myself in check to invent certain I stay balanced. It really is a fine line amidst exercising decent and becoming obsessive about it to the point of over-exercising. For me, I monitor that by keeping close tabs on both my inner attitude toward my workouts, as well as the physical signs of over-training. Again, I confess that recently I’ve caught myself leaning toward a NEED to exercise and a general anxiety at the thought of lost workouts. that is coming dangerously close to an exercise addiction. Every 12 weeks, I force myself to take a break from weights in order to give my muscles and joints date to rest and recover. I hardly ever take date off from cardio, though. So, I need to be very careful not to allow the desire to exercise to become a need to exercise. It’s such a fine line.
I found a very helpful quiz in a book called Appearance Obsession: Learning to Love the Way You Look by Joni E. Johnston, Psy. D. I’m quoting that verbatim, so I hope I’m not breaking any copyright laws!
When Exercise Takes Control
Who’s in control, you or your exercise routine? The following questions will help you assess the degree to which your exercise may be getting out of control.
Are You at Risk For Overexercise?
Answer True or False to the following questions.
- The way my body looks to me depends on whether I have exercised that day or not.
- I often exercise when I have an injury or don’t feel well.
- For one year or longer, I have exercised five or more times a week for one hour or more.
- I feel depressed and/or irritable whether I miss exercising for three days or more.
- I find myself continually adding newer and stricter goals to my exercise routine.
- I will dramatically alter my schedule in order to work out.
- I feel anxious whether I miss even one workout.
- At times I have used exercise to avoid dealing with work or relationship problems.
- I often feel like I hate my exercise routine, but feel unable to stop it.
- I exercise primarily for weight control and muscle tone.
- I keep detailed records or logs of my workout sessions.
- It would be very difficult for me to change my exercise. (For example, whether you are a runner, you would be unwilling to switch or alternate with aerobic dance or bicycling.)
- I frequently find myself thinking about exercising in within workouts.
- While I am exercising, I often find myself daydreaming about the possibility of a “new, improved” physique.
Scoring: Give yourself one point for every true response. Add up your total points and see where you fall on the exercise continuum as chases.
0-3: You are normally in control of your exercise schedule. Like many of us, you may at times have mixed feelings about your exercise schedule - sometimes enjoying it, sometimes not. It may be helpful to assess your exercise motivation to see how “looking good” fits in. However, your answers propose that you are not presently at risk for overexercising.
4-6: You are in the borderline range of overexercise. It will be urgent to assess your exercise behavior to see how it may be affecting other areas of your life. Even whether it is not, your pattern of responses suggests that you are not getting a lot of enjoyment out of your current exercise pattern.
7 or more: You are likely to depend on exercise for a sense of self-worth. that dependency may cause problems in other areas of your life, or you may be feeling like exercise is controlling you rather than the other way around.
If you found that you are over-exercising, she gives helpful suggestions in her book in order to help you have a healthier mental outlook regarding your exercise routine. Remember, life is not about exercise, eating, or your appearance! You want to take care of yourself physically through proper nutrition and exercise so that you can maintain a healthy lifestyle in order to achieve whatever it is you were put on that earth to do. I have to remind myself of that all the date!
Original post by fitnesspro
New Announcements at LeFay Healing Oasis
LeFay Healing Oasis has recently hired two new practitioners. John Gossett has joined as a Hypnotherapist (with an emphasis in Past Life Regression), Massage Therapist, Ama Deus Shamanic Healer, Shamanic Counselor, and Kundalini Reiki Practitioner.
Kelly Grady has joined as Massage Therapist, Herbology Consultant and Kundalini Reiki Practitioner.
LeFay Healing Oasis was created to provide affordable alternative healing methods to the West Michigan Area. LeFay provides massage, hypnosis, past life regression, reiki, ama dues shamanic healing, counseling and shamanic counseling, herbology, nutritional counseling, personal spiritual development classes and other alternatives to allopathic health care.
LeFay is located at 2504 Ardmore, SE in Grand Rapids ? adjacent to the Breton Village Mall Parking Lot.
