Is there an ideal sleeping position?

Your sleep position and your mattress provide support for the body while asleep. Sleep can be disturbed by any number of things – things we do during the day, things we do before retiring for the night, and things we do while we sleep. Sleeping position can sometimes aggravate our normal aches and pains and rouse us.

A number of functions can be affected by sleep position: stability of the spine, blood flow to the brain, hormone production, oxygen supply, efficient breathing, muscular function and healing, joint and ligament integrity, digestion, cellular metabolism, blood pressure and heart function. During the night, when there is no pressure on the spine, water is drawn into the discs to heal wear and tear.

Working while you sleep – getting your ducks in a row!

We spend about one-third of our lives sleeping. For many animals, sleep represents a time of vulnerability. Some species even developed special defenses against danger from predators while they slept. Dolphins and many species of ducks and birds show “split brain” activity, where one half of the brain sleeps while the other half remains alert for dangers or performs basic movements like swimming or flipper movement to remain afloat.

If sleep is such a dangerous time, then why do we do it?

Research into the purpose of sleep looked first at what happens when sleep is disturbed. Studies have shown correlations between certain sleep disturbances and future health problems. Sleep and dreaming appear to play a role in memory consolidation and learning. Problem-solving may even occur during sleep. Have you ever awakened and found you “magically” have the solution to a problem?

How much sleep do you need?

Sleep used to be viewed as a passive, dormant state – seemingly insignificant. But research begun in the 1950’s changed that. We now better understand that sleep affects our physical and mental health. Sleep is part of the circadian rhythm, a 24-hour cycle driven by light and dark in our environment. The circadian rhythm controls at least 15% of our DNA, including our body’s repair mechanisms. Most hormone production is regulated by sleep. The recently discovered glymphatic system works to eliminate toxins from the brain while we sleep. And sleep is when we solidify learning and establish memories.

When we don’t get enough sleep we are tired during the day, have concentration and memory problems, decreased attention span, and bad moods. Over time, health problems can develop. The immune system may weaken; obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular issues can develop due to sleep deprivation.

Making and Breaking Habits

Habits are easy to form. Just look at everything you do every day on “auto pilot.” Some of our habits are good, healthy ones – others, not so much.

Habits can be formed by sheer repetition of actions. They can also be formed when the brain’s reward center is triggered by the release of dopamine. Actions or events we find enjoyable – including activities like smoking, overeating, gambling and even compulsive use of computers and social media – trigger dopamine release.

Both types of habits can become hard-wired in the brain. That makes them automatic, so we don’t have to consciously think about them.

Do You Pandiculate?

Have you ever watched a sleeping dog or cat wake up? What’s the first thing they do? They look like they stretch before even trying to get up. But that’s not really stretching – that’s pandiculating. Just about all mammals (including humans) pandiculate. And note that the animals repeat this motion many times during the day!

Webster’s Medical Dictionary defines pandiculation as “a stretching and stiffening especially of the trunk and extremities (as when fatigued and drowsy or after waking from sleep.” Pandiculating often includes a yawn.

Pandiculating could be better than stretching!

Are your adrenals tired?

You have two adrenal glands; they’re about the size of your thumb and sit on top of each of your kidneys.

The adrenal glands play a large role in human physiology. They secrete more than 50 hormones, some of which are essential for life. They help regulate blood sugar and blood pressure, help in protein and fat metabolism, support proper cardiovascular and gastrointestinal functioning and have a major responsibility in responding to stress.

When these tiny adrenal glands are subjected to a constant, even low level of stress, they can easily become overworked. Symptoms of adrenal fatigue (aka hypoadrenia) are non-specific; they are general in nature and are present in many conditions. There is no specific medical test for adrenal fatigue. That may be why adrenal fatigue is often overlooked until it has become severe. Doctors often do not acknowledge adrenal problems unless there is extremely little functioning (Addison’s disease) or way too much (Cushing’s disease).

April is National Stress Awareness Month – April 16 is Stress Awareness Day

Life = change. Change = stress. So you probably don’t need to look far to find stress in your life.

April is National Stress Awareness Month.

The Health Resource Network (HRN) started National Stress Awareness Month in 1992. They chose the 16th of the month as National Stress Awareness Day. Obviously, stress doesn’t take an 11-month vacation and just “show up” in April, but this is a reminder to sit down, take a deep relaxing breath, and consider the stress in your life. Where does it come from? What do you do about it? Stress is unique for each individual; take your own personal inventory.

Spring Cleaning the Feng Shui Way!

No, this is not a lecture on spring cleaning your house. This is a lecture on spring cleaning your life! We may not consciously be aware of it, but we constantly interact with our surroundings. Everything around us – both seen and unseen – carries energy and affects us.

Karen Kingston defines feng shui (fung shway’) as “the art of balancing and harmonizing the flow of natural energies in our surroundings to create beneficial effects in our lives.” The Chinese characters for feng shui are the characters for “wind” and “water.” Wind and water carry chi (life energy); in ancient times, good wind and good water meant good health and fortune. Like wind and water, energy flows all around us, including throughout our homes and offices.

Water, water everywhere. How much do you drink?

Water is H₂O – a combination of hydrogen and oxygen. It covers more than 70% of the earth’s surface. It is the basis for all the fluids in the body; every cell and organ needs water. It makes up about 50-65% of the human body, more than 75% of the brain, more than 80% of blood, and 90% of the lungs. Water is essential for life as we know it. A human being can go for 3 to 5 days (depending on a number of factors) without water.

Why do we need water?

Every single one of the thousands of biochemical reactions in the body needs water.

Water helps regulate our body temperature. It cushions and lubricates joints. It protects internal organs and nourishes the brain, spinal cord and other tissues. Water keeps our digestive and elimination systems working smoothly. Without water, skin becomes dry, flaky and prone to developing wrinkles.

Technostress will get you if you don’t watch out!

Why is technology so difficult? It’s invisible. Older, mechanical systems had parts we could take off, fix and reinstall. That’s not done with a computer! “We have difficulty understanding what we can’t see, touch or fix and it is human nature to fear or avoid what we can’t understand or explain” according to Weil and Rosen, authors of TechnoStress.

The term technostress was coined by clinical psychologist Dr. Craig Brod in 1984 (isn’t that ironic?). He defined it as “a modern disease of adaptation caused by an inability to cope with the new computer technologies.”

Techostress is the result of our struggles to accept technology and/or our over identification with technology. Signs of technostress can vary depending on age, gender and computer literacy.