A power nap is a short nap, normally between 10 and 30 minutes long, taken in the middle of the day in order to reinvigorate and refresh you for the next part of the day. Power naps are not similar to normal sleep, so you will not be groggy after taking one. While you might have “dreams”, power naps are more similar to meditation, where thoughts are allowed to move from the sub-conscious mind to the conscious mind and back again without you concentrating on them.

How to Power Nap Effectively:
- Don`t be shame - be proud of your nap, announcing your intentions in advance toworkmates or family members. Napping is great for your health and productivity.
- Choose a time of the day when you are most likely to crash, such as the mid-morning or in the middle of the afternoon. Plan to nap between 10 and 30 minutes in your quiet spot during those times. The time limits may vary depending on how much sleep your body will need to renew its energy.
- Choose a quiet, location to power nap. One thing you want to make sure is that you have a silence place that you can power nap without being interrupted or distracted by environmental factors, such as cars or ground maintenance workers. If you choose to power nap in your office, then make sure that you post a sign that lets people know that you are power napping and not to disturb you.
- Collect your equipment blankets, pillows and, where possible, a foldout bed will ensure you get the most out of the rest, and help you separate naptime from the rest of the day
- Eat right - Avoid caffeine and sugar. If you choose to practice power napping, then you want to make sure you avoid eating too much caffeinated or sugary products before you power nap, as these can obviously obstruct with your ability to sleep. Read The Full Story…

Choosing the right sleeping position is the most important thing what you need to consider to help you sleep better and wake up more rested.There are a number of sleeping positions that you might find comfortable and at the same time promotes proper blood flow. Having a correct sleeping position would prevent that stiffness and soreness you might experience during mornings.

1. Sleeping on your side (with arms on the sides or with legs bent)
Sleep on your side with your legs drawn up slightly toward your chest and a pillow between your legs. Use a full-length body pillow if you prefer.
This position can help keep your skips level and reduce any pain you might have there.
Also , this position may be particularly helpful if you have osteoarthritis in the spine, spinal stenosis — a narrowing in the spine — or hip pain.

2. Sleeping on your back (with arms by the side or with arms by the head)
If you sleep on your back, place a pillow under your knees to help maintain the normal curve of your lower back. You might try a small, rolled towel under the small of your back for additional support. Support your neck with a pillow.This position is helpful if you have low back pain. Read The Full Story…

There are many factors, both internal and external, that can influence the quantity and quality of your sleep. Food can be a common source of creating a chemical origin for insomnia. You may not be able to control or eliminate all of the factors that interfere with your sleep, but you can create an environment and adopt habits that encourage a more restful night.

Here are a ten “Not-to-do” lists that may improve your quality of sleep:

1.Eat right, sleep tight. Try not to go to bed hungry, but avoid heavy meals before bedtime. An over-full belly can keep you up. Some foods can help, though. Milk contains tryptophan, which is a sleep-promoting substance. Other foods that may help promote sleep include tuna, halibut, pumpkin, artichokes, avocados, almonds, eggs, bok choy, peaches, walnuts, apricots, oats, asparagus, potatoes, buckwheat, and bananas.

2. Avoid napping. Napping can only make matters worse if you usually have problems falling asleep. If you do nap, keep it short. A brief 15-20-minute snooze about eight hours after you get up in the morning can actually be rejuvenating.

3. Avoid watching TV, eating, and discussing emotional issues in bed. The bed should be used for sleep and sex only. If not, you can end up associating the bed with distracting activities that could make it difficult for you to fall asleep.

4. Avoid smoking. Cigarettes contain nicotine, which has been linked to difficulty falling asleep and problems awakening. Also, when smokers fall asleep, they experience nicotine withdrawal, which may cause them to awaken. Read The Full Story…

This revolutionary sleeps technique enables you to sleep better by stopping the nightly struggle. In most cases, sleep devices are safer and less intrusive than medications to treat sleep problems. It also helps you increase energy levels during the day with unique power naps or performance breaks.

Here are some of the main types of sleep devices:

1. Dreamate uses accupressure techniques to gently massage the “sleeping golden triangle” on your left wrist. Used 30 minutes before bedtime, you can retune and reset your biological clock and train your body to relax and sleep. See results in as little as a week’s worth of use, with best results after eight weeks. These precise pressure points, when gently massaged, calm the body, lower stress levels, and induce sleep. Unlike addictive sleeping pills that knock you senseless, but offer little improvement in your sleep quality.

2. CPAP device. One way to treat people who have sleep apnea is a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) device. A CPAP device includes a mask, tubes and a fan. It uses air pressure to push your tongue forward and open your throat. This allows air to pass through your throat. It reduces snoring and prevents apnea disturbances.You should put your CPAP device on whenever you sleep, even for naps. A CPAP device does not cure sleep apnea. But, when you use the device correctly, your sleep problems should get much better.

3. Anti snoring pillow. Anti snoring pillows are available to help stop snoring and to provide comfort while on your sleep. These are designed in such a way that the central pillow area is thinner than the portions around the edges. With anti snoring pillows, the user’s head is aligned with the spinal column regardless of the sleeping position. This provides for no obstruction on the breathing airway.Anti snoring pillows come in standard sizes and are usually white in color. The fillings may vary, and mainly covered with anti-allergy material.

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Does the full moon affect our sleep? How about the cycles of the moon? Many disorders seem to follow the phases of the moon. When the moon is full, some people may suffer from insomnia, nightmares, strange dreams, and some people even sleepwalk. There is one more interesting fact that some people sleep better when the moon is full, even if its shine falls into their faces.

… But: Austrian scientists have shown that sleep patterns are not affected by the phases of the moon.

• Numerous studies have tried to find lunar effects. Reuters reports that researchers with the Austrian Society for Sleep Medicine & Sleep Research examined the sleep patterns of 391 people in several European countries. About half the subjects had sleeping disorders, but no one knew the researchers were interested in the effect of the moon. “When I deal with patients with sleep problems, so many say that the full moon stopped them (from) sleeping, that even I was expecting some small difference to show up in the study,” Gerhardt Kloesch, the Vienna University psychologist who led the current research, told Reuters.

• In fact, just 8 percent of those surveyed had problems sleeping while there was a full moon, compared to 25 percent who said they had a particularly good night’s sleep on the night of a full moon. Read The Full Story…

What does food have to do with sleep? Our nutritional status and the food we eat always influence our sleep. Luckily, some foods actively aid falling asleep and staying asleep.
They relax tense muscles, quiet buzzing minds, and/or get calming, sleep-inducing hormones - serotonin and melatonin - flowing.

The following foods can make getting a good night’s sleep a dream come true:

1. Warm milk. It is not a myth. Milk has some tryptophan - an amino acid that has a sedative - like effect - and calcium, which helps the brain use tryptophan. In addition, there is the psychological throwback to infancy, when a warm bottle meant, “relax, everything’s fine.”

2. Turkey. Turkey contains tryptophan. To get the most from the tryptophan in turkey, eat a slice of white turkey meat on a slice of whole-wheat bread in the middle of the evening.

3. Honey. Drizzle a little in your warm milk or herb tea. Lots of sugar is stimulating, but a little glucose tells your brain to turn off orexin, a recently discovered neurotransmitter that’s linked to alertness.

4. Chamomile tea. Chamomile tea’s mild sedating effect has helped many restless people fall asleep - it is the perfect natural antidote for restless minds/bodies. Read The Full Story…

Between 20 to 40 percent of adults snore. It is a problem if you are disturbing yourself or your sleep partner. Snoring stops sleep patterns, which can cause to sleep deficit. The effects of sleep deficit can include low energy, foggy thinking and daytime sleepiness. The absence of oxygen flowing to the brain that occurs when someone snores can lead to diabetes, high blood pressure and stroke. Here are a few tips on how to help to get liberate of snoring problems that may help get free of the problem: It is important to remember that different remedies will have varying success depending on the individual.

• Tips1: Eliminate alcohol, tobacco from your diet. These elements relax the throat, enlarging and inflaming the muscles that contribute to snoring. If this is not possible, avoid those 2 hours before going to bed.

• Tips2: Try to maintain a healthy diet. Eat a variety of food, keeping a low eating of fat. You should aim to eat five servings of fresh, frozen or canned fruits and vegetables in your daily diet.

• Tips3: Make a regular sleeping pattern. Follow a regular sleep routine so that your body sticks to it. Moreover, sleeping on your side instead of your back will definitely stop snoring for you as it positions the body for a good sleep. Prepare the surroundings clean without any congestion while you are asleep.

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Insomnia is a very important problem because one-third of the population has symptoms of insomnia. There are three different types of insomnia. These are transient, acute, or chronic insomnia. Transient insomnia lasts only a few nights to a few weeks. This is often the result of jet lag, medication side effects, caffeine, transient stress. Acute insomnia lasts over a period no longer than six months, no shorter than 3 weeks. Chronic insomnia occurs nearly every night for a period of a month or longer.

You can heal insomnia naturally without resorting to sleeping pills by developing these simple habits:

Basic Sleep Hygiene:

- Exercise at night. Insomnia is often caused by too much stress. Doing exercise at night makes blood to flow in our brain and body. This in turn makes us calm and stress free.

- Temperature reduction and optimisation. A slight lowering of body temperature which occurs at night plays a very important role in modulating the chemical signals which induce sleep. While trying to fall asleep in bed always take steps to achieve a comfortable temperature as being too hot or too cold can inhibit sleep. If you are bothered by cold feet in the night, or wake up in the night feeling cold, wear socks to bed. The average optimum temperature for quality sleep is 19 degrees, although this may vary from person to person.

- Read books not TV watches. Read books, magazines or anything that interests an insomniac instead of watching television. Television enhances attention, which makes a person awake. Reading on the other hand while in bed causes the eye to get tired and creates a sleepy feeling.

- Use organic cotton bedding. Permanent press bedding can give off low-grade chemical fumes while you sleep. Your body can deplete nutrients such as zinc and magnesium trying to detoxify these types of chemicals.

- Take a Warm Bath. It is a great way to relax your body. Do not overdo it, however. You merely want to relax your body, not exhaust it. Too long in hot water and your body is drained of vitality. Use bath salts, or throw in Epsom salts and baking soda—one cup of each. These will relax you and help remove toxins from your body. Read The Full Story…